They were using smaller amounts of blood and diluting them outside the machines' spec.

Not much even German engineers can do about that.

Why can't she claim they made some dumb modification - and combined with using the Siemans machine out of spec - that it was the "Theranos Machine"?

This seems like startup 101.

On one hand, I can see why it's fraud. On the other hand, I can't - because it seems indistinguishable from a lot of businesses.

> This seems like startup 101. On one hand, I can see why it's fraud. On the other hand, I can't - because it seems indistinguishable from a lot of businesses.

This is the problem right here. Fake it till you make it bullshit. Rather than actually innovating, just pretend you are.

> Why can't she claim they made some dumb modification - and combined with using the Siemans machine out of spec - that it was the "Theranos Machine"?

Well, because we're talking about medical diagnosis, not a note-taking app. You don't get to just make claims, you need to prove them.

They didn't work with the amount of blood that they were providing.