Sounds like the US used the loose IP protection model we complain about with China: https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Slater https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki

Sounds like the US used the loose IP protection model we complain about with China: https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Slater https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Slater > Samuel Slater (June 9, 1768 – April 21, 1835) was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" (a phrase coined by Andrew Jackson) and the "Father of the American Factory System". In the UK, he was called "Slater the Traitor"[2] and "Sam the Slate" because he brought British textile technology to the United States, modifying it for American use. He stole the textile factory machinery designs as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British industry before migrating to the United States at the age of 21.