It is a question of intellectual property, what patent laws are meant to deal with. It isn't a good vs bad issue; it is bad if companies have no protection from others copying their product and it is bad if they have so much protection that it creates monopolies and limits innovation. The in-game question is basically where that trade-off is made in a particular case, where a company has been very profitable and built up a market and brand recognition, but the product itself isn't particularly complicated or unique.
