> If our work was unprotected then larger companies could just sit and watch the small companies try, and then swoop in and take over the market if the idea is

> If our work was unprotected then larger companies could just sit and watch the small companies try, and then swoop in and take over the market if the idea is valid and the market is there. But could you actually take on a large company and win? Or is it just a theoretical possibility? Do you have the means, or it's only luck? In fact there is a much worse fate that having your precious idea "stolen": when you are the one sued, because someone (small troll or big Sauron company) has a patent on doing square roots on the internets.