Comment by throw0101c

> Patents (what protects inventions) have nothing to do with copyright.

Besides sibling comment, see "The Spies Who Launched America’s Industrial Revolution":

> Long before the United States began accusing other countries of stealing ideas, the U.S. government encouraged intellectual piracy to catch up with England’s technological advances. According to historian Doron Ben-Atar, in his book,[1] Trade Secrets, “the United States emerged as the world's industrial leader by illicitly appropriating mechanical and scientific innovations from Europe.”

* https://www.history.com/articles/industrial-revolution-spies...