In the world of technology, people copy everyday. Sometimes the copy are even better than the original.
Steve Jobs, Apple founder, in this video in 1996 said: "Picasso had a saying -- 'good artists copy; great artists steal' -- and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."
I guess you just have to be smart in how you "steal" the ideas. By steal, I guess he meant study and try to bring out a more sophisticated product that solves a need.
Though we have people that just lift or copy and paste other people's ideas without changing a thing. I think they are the real copy cats.
RE: Why You Need To Be Careful of Copycats