Comment by dw_arthur

This was a huge problem before AI due to Amazon and global internet marketplaces. Why spend R&D dollars developing an amazing product when Chinese knockoffs will show up 6 months later? I wonder how many great consumer products don't exist because there's no way to recoup your R&D costs and develop a healthy market.

Imagine if there were no intellectual protections for pharmaceuticals. The government would have to take over R&D.