Marketing things as "pro" is nothing new. I'm sure others could go back farther than this.
1980 Koga Miyata Pro https://www.speedbicycles.ch/velo/193/koga_miyata_pro_racer_...
1978 Centurion Pro Tour https://vintagecenturion.com/models/touring/protour.shtml
1969 Brooks Professional Saddle https://www.brooksengland.com/en_us/standard-professional.ht...
As for "rip-offs," the design language of every aluminum Macbook has basically been Leica rangefinder.
https://www.rustmag.com/gear/2020/12/16/4-reasons-to-buy-a-l...
Which is a double "rip-off," as the IBM Thinkpad goes back a lot farther and it was intentionally made black-with-red-accents to pay homage to Nikon while having the form factor of a bento box.
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/htmls/m...