In this s?ction att?mpt to id?ntifyth? factors that aff?ct th? ?as? or oth?rwis? of imitating busin?ss mod?ls. Ona sup?rficial l?v?l all busin?ss mod?ls might s??m ?asy to imitat? c?rtainly th?basic id?a and logic of th? cas? for a n?w mod?l is unlik?ly its?lf to ?njoyint?ll?ctual prop?rty prot?ction. In particular, th? n?w busin?ss mod?l that ismor? g?n?ral than a busin?ss m?thod, it is highly unlik?ly to qualify for a pat?nt,?v?n if c?rtain busin?ss m?thods b?hind it, can b? pat?ntabl?. D?scriptions ofbusin?ss mod?ls can ?arn b?n?fit from copyright prot?ction, but this is unlik?lyto b? an obstacl? to copying it th? main “id?as”. It would s??mappropriat? thr?? factors that can so quickly ?rod? th? busin?ss mod?l pion??r’sadvantag?. First, to impl?m?nt th? busin?ss mod?lmay r?quir? syst?ms, proc?ss?s and ass?ts that ar? difficult to r?produc?, forinstanc? th? situation that was in citi?s which ar? too small to comp?t? with”Wal-Mart”.
Similarly, whil? at som? l?v?l th? busin?ss mod?l of dir?ctacc?ss to th? us?r (consum?rs and busin?ss?s) of D?ll Comput?r obvious (youjust ignor? th? whol?sal? and r?tail sal?s), wh?n Gat?way Comput?rs tri?d toimpl?m?nt?d a similar mod?l, th?ir failur? to achi?v? anywh?r? n?ar th? p?rformanc?l?v?l of th? D?ll has b??n attribut?d with low impl?m?ntation proc?ss?s.Opportuniti?s ar? important. Similarly, wh?n N?tflix first d?liv?ry of DVDs bymail using a subscription syst?m, Blockbust?r vid?o r?spond?d with a similaroff?r. But N?tflix has h?ld on its l?ad?rship, and b?caus? h? had pat?nts for”ord?r?d list” (which it lat?r accus?d Blockbust?r in violation),through which subscrib?rs indicat?d th? Int?rn?t for th?ir pr?f?r?nc?s in movi?s.