In the world of business, beating Competition via a deep strategy comes later, but first a market defense mechanism is reuired to build around your product to avoid getting copied or replicated initially. 

Necessity is mother of invention - Not just customer problems or soltions. Invention giveway you easiest way to create competition barriers. You can invent yourself, hire someone to invent or lease an invention.

The critical thinking should not be just around innovating extra unique benefits for your customers against competition offering, but how do you create I.P (Intellectual Property) of your product or services and packaage it into life long economic rents.

Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks are imperative and fundamental to long term business growth. 

Its just not what and how you create innovative product or services, but how well you guard them via I.P (intellectual property) - Both are equally important.

Especially in the world of Technology and Mobile Apps, many enterprenuers have a wrong notion that unique processes of softwares cannot be patented.