PT139.S3.P3.Q17 > Analytics

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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

17.

Which one of the following █████ ███████ ██ █████████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ███████ ███████ ██████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ ███████ ███

Question Type

Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)

Structure

This question only deals with passage A. The author brings up “inventing around” others’ patents in response to the problem discussed in P1 and P2. Some patents are so broad in what they protect that other companies can’t help infringing on those patents when they try to invent anything similar. But ideally, patents would be narrow (i.e., specific and limited) enough that one company could just “invent around” (i.e., avoid) another company’s patents when trying to create something similar.

invent a product █████ ███ ██ ██ ███████ ████ ██ ███ ███ ████ █ ██████ ██ ██

This describes inventing something that’s unpatentable. But when the author says that ideally, companies should be able to “invent around” each other, he doesn’t suggest that companies should create outright unpatentable inventions. He just means that companies should be able to avoid infringing on each other’s patents.

conceal the fact ████ █ ███████ █████████ █ ██████

The phrase “invent around” refers to finding ways of working around patents to avoid infringing on them at all.

implement a previously ████████ ████ ██ █ ███ █████ ████ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████

The phrase “invent around” refers to avoiding previously patented ideas altogether. It describes one company inventing something similar to another company without stepping on the toes of that second company’s patented ideas.

develop new products █████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███ ████████ █████████ ████ █████ ███ ████████ ████████ ██ ████████████ ███████

Too strong and too specific. The author doesn’t suggest that to “invent around” something, you need to use entirely different principles from existing products. “Invent around” just means inventing something that comes close to a competitor’s invention without infringing on any patents.

devise something that ██████ ███ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ████████ █████████ ███████ █████████ ███ ██████

The author brings up “inventing around” others’ patents in response to a problem: one company can hold patents that are too broad, meaning if another company tries to make something with a similar intent, it won’t be able to avoid infringing on the too-broad patents. He’d prefer an alternative situation, where companies can “invent around” each others’ patents. By “invent around,” he must mean that if a company tries to make something that comes close to an already-patented invention, the company can avoid infringing on any existing patents.

83%

PrepTest 139 - Section 3 - Passage 3 - Question 17

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