Is it possible to "plagiarize" scientific knowledge ?

Answer 1

Yes and no.

If you quote someone else's research word for word without giving them credit, it's plagiarism. If you paraphrase someone's explanation of scientific knowledge without giving them credit it's plagiarism. At my college, the majority of plagiarism charges were in the science and engineering departments.

BUT there's also a rule that you don't have to cite general knowledge. The difficulty is defining what is and is not general knowledge: the general rule is that if you can find it in more than three sources, it's general knowledge. (i.e. you don't need to cite someone if you say that plants get nutrients from photosynthesis, or what the speed of light is). I tend to err on the side of caution and cite if there's any doubt whatsoever. Better safe than sorry, right?

Answer 2

While "plagiarize" may not be the most appropriate term, Yes, indeedy, corporate espionage (and collegiate espionage, etc.) is far more common than national espionage.
How do you think that the Japanese got the chip? It was invented by Texas Instruments. Most of our inventions are stolen by the British, French, Spanish, Russians, Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, and all the rest.
No doubt the U.S. is guilty also...

Answer 3

Not legally.