How To Sort Out 3rd Party Technic Clones From LEGO Originals?
Regarding the Bushings, I think the loss of their gripping/clutching power has less to due with a phantom cloning agent, and more to due with the quality of the official LEGO piece, and how plastic degrades over time. 

My collection has Bushings that are weak too, but its due to age (over 25+ years) and normal play.  Mine are not clones.

Now the issue with copyright holders is a little different. LEGO doesn't hold the patent design for the classic brick, becasue they didn't invent it, so now it's a friggin' free for all with clone "bricks" manufacturers.  

As for non-brick designs like the Technic Bush, and that thin blue piece,  LEGO owns those, and could bring forward litigation to copyright infringers.