Yeah, and that word also carries the heavy burden of that statement. I don’t want to be pedantic but the US law states theft is the taking of another person’s personal property with the intent of depriving that person the use of their property. And for patent infringement it is defined as the unlawful use, selling, or copying of a patented invention.
The laws for infringement and theft are different precisely because they come from different reasons. For theft to occur, someone must be deprived of something that they already have.
Infringement on the other hand, can be done without needing to take anything at all from the owner.