Was watching the “Food That Made America” and they showed how C.W. Post stole the recipes for their breakfast cereals from the Kellogg brothers.
This was when America was much younger and people more ruthless and had no regard for others and their intellectual property.
But as the saying goes the more changes we endure; the more things remain the same. We have a number of allegations of Amazon stealing intellectual property from William Sonoma, West Orb and Mercedes parent Daimler AG.
These are just a sampling of the larger companies, there are allegations from a number of small businesses as well who sold on Amazon. Amazon tracked the data, analyzed the risk and then brought out their own product and undercut their clients.
Small manufacturers need outlet to get their products off the ground, but then don’t need those outlets becoming the competition. There is little to protect small manufacturers, the courts are expensive and favor those who can spend the money.
JP Morgan threatened George Westinghouse in the same fashion with the threat of a frivolous lawsuit. Westinghouse ended up selling to Morgan, because Morgan had more money to fight with, even if he thought he would lose. The costs would bankrupt Westinghouse.
Be careful of whom you partner with.