Depends on how much is copied for it to be illegal. A similar interface is fine if you've coded it yourself and not gone and stolen the code... Reasonable limits of course, but then law/lawyers isn't/aren't usually reasonable...
There's a site somewhere that tracks Aqua (the Apple look) rip-offs... I forget the site name though... Then try and count how many programmers copy the Aqua look in their applications... too much.
Also, try and count how many sites have ripped Yahoo. Impossible. There are far too many.
It just shows how unimaginative some people are. But then again... Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery 