[My partner's answer]
Recently I read that imitation is an innovation strategy (Washike, 2019) and I agree with this statement. Certainly, innovation is perhaps the base of our evolution and the intellectual property protected by several patents around the world and throughout the time certify the importance of innovation.
By taking as an example the design of modern seat belt (three point belt). The starting point was the two point belt considered inconvenient, uncomfortable and ineffective. Volvo’s engineer, Nils Bohlin, created the new sea belt model and Volvo’s president rather than protect the design with patents realize the design to their competitors to be imitated and therefore save more lives. This example makes me think that beyond the profit, innovation-science can help the humanity, by making use of the strategy of imitation. Therefore, I believe that imitation is not innovation but is rather a strategy of this process.