> Do these companies ever actually innovate and build social/intellectual capital beyond reverse engineering skills Yes. See the industrial history of the US,

> Do these companies ever actually innovate and build social/intellectual capital beyond reverse engineering skills Yes. See the industrial history of the US, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and everywhere else that ignored patents and trade secrets for more details. Cisco would be highly profitable if it could only sell to the US market and if you’re the market leader your stuff is just better for years to minimum, a year. People want the best, they want quality, so they pay a premium for it. That’s why brands exist, otherwise people would have to do their own quality control for each individual thing they bought.