LSAT PrepTest 139 - Section 3 - Passage 3 - Question 19

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Passage A is from a 2007 article on the United States patent system; passage B is from a corporate statement.

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Critique · Of patent system

In theory, it should only be the "nonobvious" inventions that get patens.

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Example · Patent upheld for "obvious" translation between Internet address and telephone number

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Critique · Patents too broad

In theory, patents should be narrow enough so others can "invent around" existing patents. But recently, patents are so broad that that's getting difficult.

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Negative Consequence · Large tech companies stockpile patents

This way, if they get sued for patent violations, they can countersue. If you're not a part of this "arms race" then you are defenseless against law suits.

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Negative Consequence · Software

This problem is particularly bad in software. A critical component can be patented. It can be challenging to discover whether something is under patent protection.

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One Company's Perspective · Patents impede innovation; open-source is better

Whereas Passage A describes the problem with patents in software from a high level, Passage B takes the perspective of one software company affected by this problem and how they are responding to it.

Agreement · Software patents are a problem

This company agrees with Passage A that the "arms race" is bad for the industry.

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Behavior · Amass a portfolio of patents

The company participates in the "arms race" but expresses regret. They have to do this even though they recognize that this is not good for the industry.

Passage Style

19.

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Question Type

Author’s perspective

Implied

Split Approach: After passage A, eliminate any recommendation that isn’t supported by the claims of author A. Then, after passage B, choose the remaining recommendation that’s supported by the claims of author B.

Sequential Approach: The easiest way to predict what both authors would recommend is probably to start with passage B, because that passage is all about justifying a certain course of action: prudence dictates that you should stockpile patents. Author A also agrees with this advice. He says in P3 that it’s a mistake not to stockpile patents.

amass their own ██████████ ██ ████████ ███████

Author A would agree. He states that failing to stockpile patents is a mistake.

Author B would also agree. She states that prudence requires taking this approach.

82%

attempt to license ████████ ████████ ██ █████ █████████

Unsupported as something author A would agree with. He doesn’t discuss whether this is a good or even feasible alternative to stockpiling patents.

Unsupported as something author B would agree with. She doesn’t explore this option. Instead, she decides to stockpile patents like everyone else.

exploit patents already █████ ██ ███████████

Unsupported as something author A would agree with. He recommends stockpiling patents not owned by competitors in order to deter them from suing you.

Unsupported as something author B would agree with. Like author A, she believes the prudent approach is to stockpile patents not owned by competitors.

refrain from infringing ██ ███ ███████ ████ ██ █████ █████████

Unsupported as something author A would agree with. He recommends stockpiling patents like everyone else. And the purpose of stockpiling patents is to deter companies from suing you if and when you infringe on their patents. So rather than refraining from patent infringement, author A thinks you should just protect yourself from the consequences of infringement.

Unsupported as something author B would agree with. Like author A, she believes the prudent approach is to stockpile patents. So she thinks what matters is protecting yourself from the consequences of infringement.

11%

research the patents ████████ ██ █████ ████████ ████ ██████████

Anti-supported as something author A would agree with. He says it’s prohibitively expensive to find and research all relevant patents.

Unsupported as something author B would agree with. She doesn’t discuss patent research at all.

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PrepTest 139 - Section 3 - Passage 3 - Question 19

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