Well, back in 1970 the parent company of Smith & Wesson purchased 54 % of the stock in Taurus, and thereby both companies freely shared designs and information. Later in 1980 it was full bought out by it's present day owner, severing ties with S&W.
In 1980, Italian manufacturer, Beretta had completed it's manufacturing of pistols for the Brazilian Government and sold the Sao Paulo manufacturing plant along with the tooling, technical drawings, and work force to Taurus Arms. So it may be no wonder if some Taurus pistols look like clones of Beretta, as well as Smith & Wesson. cite:
Taurus (manufacturer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia