He developed a patent for a device to transmit sound waves in 1900 but was preceded in this idea by Marconi. Tesla fought him over a patent for the radio, arguing that Marconi's invention used a coil Tesla had previously patented without his permission. A lengthy lawsuit drove Tesla into bankruptcy. The final blow came when Marconi was awarded the Nobel Prize for developing a radio, despite his use of solutions created by Tesla. Tesla appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and eventually, the court upheld the appeal. Unfortunately, the trial was won after Tesla's death.
