Unfortunately the only way to avoid being copied in a Global marketplace is to file for international patents, and then the design can be slightly modified to sidestep patent law.
The only way to be competitive is to offer higher precision, better quality materials, and good customer service. How do you think Honda, KTM, Blata, and Polini feel about their engines being copied? Well they're not worried I suspect, since they offer a product that is commensurate with the price they charge, and when the clone parts start failing at the grain boundary level, you end up buying replacement parts from the OEM manufacturer. Case in point: the KTM50 clone cylinder heads are made out of pot metal and warp, eventually leaking no matter how much you lap the gasket surface, the only real fix is to get a genuine KTM50 head which is made out of better metal and comes with a nice hardcoat black anodized finish which cools better than any black paint will.
As a fellow New England Yankee I commend CRMachine for building a small business in an area that has been hit hard by the recession, I remember there not being any interesting jobs back before the bubble bust a decade ago, I can't imagine how it is now.
