But what was the breakthrough? The iPhone and iPad are successful because of design, attention to detail, and Apple's marketing muscle. There isn't anything technically earth shattering about either product - they're just minor improvements on other companies' products brought to a high polish.
True; however, I would argue that the marketing portion of their success comes as a result of painting each new product as a picture of revolutionary innovation. It's part of the image. Take that rouse away and you might be left with a less successful product.
Simply put, Apple relies on the lie.
For a counterpoint, see e.g. Johanna Blakley's excellent TED talk on how the copyright-free fashion industry thrives despite rampant legal counterfeiting:
http://www.ted.com/talks/johanna_blakley_lessons_from_fashio...
Please read "Are software patents evil?" http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2011/08/09/are-software-patent...
In a world where everyone just copies everyone else freely (e.g. the desktop PC world) there is/would be much less innovation.
The investments that go into many breakthrough products (iphone, ipad) are made with the understanding that IP protections are in place to prevent copycats from waltzing in and taking all the benefits later on.
Take away those protections and the initial investments aren't made in many cases and the customer sees far fewer breakthrough products.