A Picnic Table Burglary

As a student constantly being reminded of the dangers of plagiarism, the chapter was actually quite refreshing to hear. Gladwell introduces his readers to a law professor name Lawrence Lessig who makes a very valid point; if one day you go and steal your neighbor's picnic table, then that is clearly stealing. But if you simply get the idea to go and make your own picnic table, should that be considered stealing also? Should using your neighbor's idea be an action that can essentially ruin your academic life? I understand that yes, plagiarism is often more serious than building your own picnic table, but if your neighbor is the only one who can ever build a table for the purpose of a picnic, how can he expect his idea to modernize and grow and be built upon if he is the only one who legally has access to the concept? As a person who wants to do cardiovascular research after med school, I fully understood Gladwell's point. The sharing of ideas is not considered plagiarism, yet the using of them is, but can we effectively define and enforce the difference between sharing and using? If we can, I would like to know how.