Copycat products have triggered rafts of law, and disputes from time immemorial, but they continue to be a fast track to market dominance, for larger companies that move to copy the innovations of their competitors or newcomers.
Social media giant Facebook, for instance, has for the last year copied the features of its competitor, Snapchat, as a way of retaining its users. This, in turn, has slowed its competitor’s growth rate as its users opt to embrace the new features on their existing Facebook accounts, rather than open a new account with Snapchat in order to enjoy them.
