Inventing a successful aircraft at the time required getting many things right at once, which they tackled one at a time over several years. They invented the modern wind tunnel. They were the first to systematically test and accurately measure lift-to-drag ratios for a variety of airfoil shapes. They built an aluminum engine from scratch (the first use of aluminum in aircraft), to deal with the lack of engines with sufficient power-to-weight ratios. They don't get much credit for this, but they invented modern propeller theory!!! They were the first to realize the importance of control, when most others prioritized power. They invented the first viable aerodynamic control scheme. There might be even more I am omitting, but know that they did this all on their own. In fact, they were offered financial support from Octave Chanute, but refused, as they did not want to be tempted to quit their successful bicycle business. Even Samuel Langley, a highly reputed, generously-funded, government-backed contemporary, failed. Flight was a really hard problem that required getting many things right at once.
What's more, they shared their early successes and discoveries with an un-powered glider with others at an aeronautical conference that Octave Chanute invited them to speak at. It seems no one actively attempting to build flying machines took advantage of their discoveries, because they did not realize what was at the heart of the problem (controls), which is just one of the reasons (but a big one) of why the Wright brothers succeeded first.
A lot of people do not realize that although their first flight was in 1903, most did not know flight had been achieved until several years later. Of course, the Wright brothers' claims and some pictures were made public, but people did not believe, and even accused them of being frauds. Especially in France, where nationalistic pride in being leaders in aeronautics was high. By 1908, some French aviators (e.g. Santos Dumont, Henry Farman) had achieved simple flights maybe similar or even slightly better than what the Wright brothers had achieved in 1903. But by then, the Wright brothers had far advanced from their 1903 machine. In 1908, in Le Mans, France, Wilbur Wright made the first public demonstration of their flying machine, staying in the air far longer than anyone else, and performing acrobatics never before seen. It was stunning and utterly sensational in global press, and all accusing the Wrights of being frauds (essentially all prominent French aviators) immediately retracted their accusations, and admitted that the Wrights were in fact the first to fly in 1903.
The point of the previous paragraph is to say that before the Wrights' public demonstrations, flying machines were not practical. After the Wrights' public demonstrations, although they made and continued to hold world records for some time, machines made by others improved rapidly. The Wrights were at the very least hugely influential to all aviators. I recommend the highly entertaining and informative biography on the Wright brothers written by David McCullough. I really think it could make for an excellent modern biopic!
Edit: more to the point, as rayiner points out in his comment, ailerons were actually covered in the Wrights' original patent.