At the current rate of change 1 year is more than enough for an iPhone/iPad/kindle/etc... to completely dominate the market in terms of mindshare. Software patents need to go away immediately, and technology patents, if needed at all, need to be a year at most. If your idea is so easy to copy, then it probably wasn't that great of an idea anyway. It's taken 5 years for Google to truly catch up to the iPhone/iPad and be a real competitor.