Tricky topic. Seems there would be a difference between the ideology and the functional application, in most cases.

I trademarked a healing modality I created because in my primary field (alternative healing/metaphysics) it's not uncommon for larger groups/publishers to scout the web for ideas, make them "their own," trademark them and then sue the person who had the original idea so the inventor can no longer legally use what was — in essence — their own idea. On top of which, the "little person" typically lacks the resources to fight back.

I would be nice to not need at that legalese, though.