Rolin White applied for a renewal, and renewals were routinely granted. According to McDowell in COLT CONVERSIONS, The Army was upset with him in not making his patent available to them in the War.
Surprise, Surprise! The renewal was refused!
The Army and Colt celebrated by immediately issuing the Richards conversion revolver and the .44 Martin (aka .44 Colt) cartridge. These developments had been in the works for some time, just waiting for Rolin White to go away.
The rest of the gunmaking world thought the Rolin White patent was bogus, and very properly ignored him.
P.S: The Rolin White patent actually had the effect of thwarting firearms developement, not encouraging it!