TBH, what most of us are doing here is basically copying each other's idea anyway. If we are not, we are copying other well establish companies' idea. The only credit I would give to those who are selling their mini35 under a brand name (beside the endless hours of efforts they put in to perfect the idea) is that they managed to market their products.

The key to getting ahead of everyone else is to be innovative and keep coming out with newer and better ideas.

Unfortunately the original itself is a copy of another. So how can it be an original. The idea of a mini35 is about vibrating or spinning a screen which has been tried and tested by company like P+S. The only original I would say in the mini35 field would be the RED. But even that is a copy of almost all other camcorder out there. Just made to function differently.

And everything that records video is a copy of the Lumiere camera. Which is simply a copy of other cameras which improve on a still photography camera. Which copies oil painting or painting something on the wall of a cave. Which is actually a better medium when comparing to drawing something using fingers on sand or mud but the basic idea did not change much.

In my experience in the legal field, I have come into contact with cases of foreign manufacture of products and or components for things sold and or assembled here in the United State. My experience in this case was with Chinese manufacturers, and exercise equipment.

What became clear in that is that when the American company ordered a bunch of components manufactured for a particular product, the foreign manufacturer would produce a lot more product than ordered, and warehouse the rest for replacement of returns, or a fulfilling subsequent orders. If that product is not eventually used or sold, the manufacturer looks elsewhere to unload the inventory. In addition, unless there is specific contractual provisions, the manufacturer does not seem concerned about sale of the product to third parties, because of any "intellectual" property issues.

I guess what it finally comes down to is the blessed gift of humans to be self-aware, to imagine, to contrive (in the positive sense), to make things and to choose to believe or not in an almighty creator.

At this point all the concepts of creation, from writing, lensing, recording sound are well and truly merged and this is beginning to drift a little from the purpose of this forum.