Comment by notsureaboutpg

It's weird because design decisions certainly aren't copyrightable. Using X,Y,and Z tools in a project is absolutely not a copyrightable / IP-able concept.

And yet, this is exactly the kind of stuff that can be very crucial to a business. The tools you use and how you use them can be very very valuable and if other people use your tools the way you use them they can replicate your value.

It's both a threat and one you can't really defend against.