That's why the patent system doesn't really account for real world business, either. In the real world when you have a "product category" you will have competitors that copy each other's features and try to do them better.
This happens everywhere, in every single product category. Yet, if the patent system was actually enforced for every infringed patent, you wouldn't be able to do that at all, which would dramatically slow down competition in each product category.
Having a "product category" by default means that 80% of the product is similar between competitors, otherwise if it were 100% original you'd have completely different products not in the same product category.
And the patent system doesn't account for that all, and acts as if it's ok to not let anyone do something remotely similar (see Apple vs Samsung case in Europe) for 17 years.
This happens everywhere, in every single product category. Yet, if the patent system was actually enforced for every infringed patent, you wouldn't be able to do that at all, which would dramatically slow down competition in each product category.
Having a "product category" by default means that 80% of the product is similar between competitors, otherwise if it were 100% original you'd have completely different products not in the same product category.
And the patent system doesn't account for that all, and acts as if it's ok to not let anyone do something remotely similar (see Apple vs Samsung case in Europe) for 17 years.