It's also similar to
The Equalizer, not to mention
The A-Team. And also
Leverage. Let's face it, "some guy(s) with special skills who help(s) out regular people in bad situations" is a pretty generic set-up for novels, movies, TV, what-have-you. Also,
Burn Notice is very loosely biographical, with aspects of the Michael Westen character based on those of Michael Wilson, a person who is a consultant for the show and who has a background in private intelligence and security. I recall him posting a few times on The Engine, Warren Ellis' successor forum to The Warren Ellis Forum, in 2007. According to him, the real-life inspirations for the characters of Fiona and Sam Axe are much, much scarier than the TV versions on the show.
On a related topic, I'm a pretty avid paper and pencil RPG player (D&D, etc.) One of the character I tend to play in modern or futuristic settings is a kind of stoner/slacker tech prodigy named Andru Clayton. I first started playing the character regularly around 1998 or so. Andru was a kind of blend between David Lightman from
Wargames and Bill from the Bill and Ted movie. I remember being a little startled and slightly pissed when the Dell Computer ads featuring the so-called Dell Dude hit the air because it felt like they'd somehow reached into my brain and "stolen" the character and mannerism of Andru, who was, of course, my original character.
Except that he wasn't. About a year ago I was going through some old book boxes and I found a book called
Captive Planet.
http://www.gamebooks.org/gallery/eq1-17.jpg
It was still in pretty good condition despite being in a box for over 30 years. And it told the story of Andru Clayton, young computer prodigy. I'd read this book when I was 15 or 16, put it away and pretty much forgotten that it had ever existed. However, many years later, I claimed the book's protagonist as my own character. Up until I found that book, I'd have sworn before God that Andru (obvious previously named influences aside) was completely original to me, instead of being based on a character I'd played as 14 years previously.
Did Fringe steal Dr. Wilson's ideas? Maybe. Yes, I can see some writer recalling
Masque/DNA Wars and consciously copying those ideas. But I can also see someone who read that book over a decade ago putting those ideas into Fringe's shapeshifters but completely forgetting from where they'd originally came, because that's what happened with Andru. And it caused me to shitcan a series of stories I'd written about him and for which I was planning to seek publication.