Analogous to nature, really ?
As living beings are the result of innovations and changes over the years, so are "inventions".
I refuse to believe that prior to Mr. Bayliss *innovation* there wasn't someone somewhere who played around with clockwork and tried the *idea* of a wind up radio ...
Rinse and repeat backwards.
As Newton famously said, "If I see farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants..."
At what point does the idea became a plan become a thing become a thing that can be sold ????