I'm sure there are a lot of awesome products we all use that were some poor schmucks idea...taken advantage by someone else.
No doubt. The first thing that comes to mind is television. Farnsworth vs RCA. Not hard to guess who was going to win that battle.
Life is not easy for the little guy/inventor who comes up with a great idea. In addition to doing the R&D he has to defend his idea from corporations who have deep pockets and lots of lawyers.