Self-study
The following passage was adapted from a law journal article published in 1998.
P1
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Intro topic ·
Intellectual property protection for biotech discoveries
Both industries and academia support protection.
Question ·
How much does patenting in biotech hinder basic research?
P2
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Other people's (OP) perspective ·
Patents hinder basic research through enforcement of patent rights or through contractual agreements
This isn't necessarily the author's view, because of the phrase "perceived threat." We're getting other people's perception of the threat.
Potential way patents slow research ·
Patent infringement
Patent holders might sue or threaten to sue researchers who use patented biological materials.
Potential way patents slow research ·
Contractual agreements
Patent holders might charge researchers incredibly high fees or want other benefits in return for allowing use of patented biological materials.
P3
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Historical context ·
Some researchers have always tried to hinder access to biological materials
Critique of OP ·
There's reason to think patents won't be enforced in basic and non-commercial research
Just because someone has a patent doesn't mean they can enforce it.
Support for critique ·
Patent litigation is expensive and judges traditionally grant patent exceptions for noncommercial research
Benefit of patents ·
Spurs research by giving financial incentive to innovate
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Problem-analysis
11.
The author refers to
a
furnish a brief ███████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████████ █████████████ ████████
The purpose isn’t to explain the evolution of biotechnology research. It’s to show that researchers didn’t have free access to biotechnology material even before patenting.
b
establish that present ███████████ █████████ ██ █████████████ ████████ ███ ███ ████████ █████████████
This best captures the purpose, which is to show that even before patenting of biotechnology, researchers didn’t have free access to biotechnology materials. In other words, the author shows that the present competitive practices (attempts to prevent others from using research materials) are not entirely unprecedented (they’ve happened before).
c
express nostalgia for █ ████ ████ █████████████ ████████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████████ ███████
The author never suggests that there was a time when biotechnology research was not tainted by commercial motives.
d
argue that biotechnology ████████ ██ ████████████ ████ █████████████ █████ ████ ██ ███ ██ ███ ████
The purpose isn’t to argue that research was more sophisticated in the past. The author doesn’t comment on any higher level of sophistication.
e
provide a historical █████████████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████████████ ███████
The author doesn’t try to justify opposition to biotechnology patents. Rather, the author tries to rebut the view of those who oppose biotechnology patents.