Yeah, that theory's a load. If the fear is formal IP theft then as you point out there are harder protections for that. If the fear is they'll learn your business practices and use them to compete with you, then you suck and they deserve to win. Because you're the established business with all the advantages and existing customers, even if they have the capital lying around to start a copy-cat business tomorrow you should be able to wipe the floor with them and make sure they never get off the ground.