Hello frens,
As a great opponent of any form of IP, I have been following the event of Disney’s Steamboat Willie entering the public domain with great amusement. The incidents where creators have been falsely demonetized on youtube for rightfully using this film is further underpinned by Disney’s decades-long shameless practices. The linked article sums it up quite well I think.
Yes, nobody is stopping you from doing everything you planned to do with your invention.
In real life, IP does not benefit those it is supposed to protect, but those who can afford to sue everyone else into the ground.