Patents have never protected against infringement. A patent simply allows the owner to seek legal redress when an infringement occurs. Just because you have the rights to a patent does not mean someone else won't copy it. You can buy patent infringement insurance to help with court costs but there is no insurance that will keep you out of court if an infringement occurs.
Ideas are often copied but usually only if they are successful.
Copiers either want to see potential or demonstrated potential. They make no money when they copy a dud product. They will go to trade shows, invention and new product conventions and just about anywhere else they can find a good idea. And that is the difficulty. By doing a good marketing job and getting your product out in the marketplace you also increase the exposure of your patented ideas to theft.