Think about what Sony did when RCA decided that their patents were not worth enforcing. We still got WEGA, my man. If there are dollars to be made, SOMEBODY will pick up the technology and move it to profitability. The point is that the company that does this will not always be American, and we had better get used to that, and learn to compete more effectively unless we want the trickle to turn into a flood.
GREAT.
So company A spends millions developing a new semiconductor manufacturing process (embodying a veritable ton of IP - intellectual property) and company B, located in the far east (YOU take a guess at which country) is 'free' (by your rules now) to reverse engineer those products (ICs) fabbed (fabricated) by company A and then begin production in company B's facilities - with company A receiving *no* payback for their R & D!
THAT is not right ...