Is web-site cloning considered as IP theft?
<p>If any company in any country launches a website combining the functionality of say, Facebook, and Google and YouTube, would it be considered as an IP theft?</p>
<p>I am only talking about 'functionalities'. I am not talking about web-URL, graphics, color scheme, logo, and so on.</p>

<p>It depends on how they do it. If they write their own code that functions like these services, and use their own graphic design, this is legal. If they (somehow) copy the code from these service or copy their graphic design, that is copyright infringement (commonly called &quot;IP theft&quot;). They could also violate trademark law by appropriating one of the trademarks of these companies, e.g. if they call theory web search division &quot;gooogle.com&quot; (never mind that some pirates have taken that name for nefarious purposes). It is possible (an actual fact) that some aspect of those companies and what the platforms do is also protected by patent. It is highly likely that some of Google's methods for translating are protected by patent, so to have that functionality, you would have to develop a completely different technology (study their patent to see what is protected, then don't do <em>that</em>, do something else).</p>

intellectual-property