I agree but you'll pardon me if I still think Novell's new owners are a bunch of jerks. Just less so.

That said I think this goes beyond IP for Xamarin. As you said they get the existing customers but they're also available to new customers a few months earlier. Mobile development is growing blazingly fast right now and even a months delay can mean someone decides to go with another product.

With the major financing that companies like Appcelerator have gotten Xamarin needs all the advantages it can get.