I've said it before, and I'll say it again: ideas cannot be "stolen", because an idea expressed is an idea shared. The moment Steve Jobs announced the iPhone is

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: ideas cannot be "stolen", because an idea expressed is an idea shared. The moment Steve Jobs announced the iPhone is the moment Apple freely gave the world the idea of a keyboard-less and stylus-less touchscreen smartphone. Google didn't have to break into a vault to learn about this.