I consider that imitation is a process of innovation. I personally think that it imitation is not only just copying, it is improving the thing already made.
She said no. She regards imitation is all about repurposing previously developed items while innovation adds value to a product.
I’m still regarding that imitation could be innovation. Although which my partner said makes sense, but I personally think it could called innovation if something have same base with the previous item but improved a lot.