Reading comp PrepTest 139 · Section 3 · Question 18

Passage

Passage A is from a 2007 article on the United States patent system; passage B is from a corporate statement Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Legal


Passage A

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Example of how permissive patent office has become in granting patents.
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Ideal situation: patent office only gives patents for nonobvious inventions (first sentence)
    • Example of how this is being ignored: court held that technology company infringed on patents covering computers that perform translation from Internet address to phone number (second sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “theoretically” (first sentence); “seems obvious” (first sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Patent-granting departing from ideal; patents being granted for very broad inventions.
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Ideal situation: patents granted narrowly so others can “invent around” them (first sentence)
    • Actual situation: patent office granting very broad patents so that others can’t invent around them (fourth sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “in an ideal world” (first sentence); “narrow enough” (first sentence); “unfortunately” (second sentence); “dramatically lowered” (third sentence); “so broad” (fourth sentence); “practically impossible” (fourth sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Technology companies racing to accumulate patents as defense mechanism.
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Result of permissive patent regime: large technology companies racing to accumulate patents, so that if it is sued for patent infringement, it can countersue the other party based on infringement of one of a large group of patents (first-second sentences)
      • Some tech companies haven’t joined the arms race = mistake (third sentence), because this leaves them defenseless against lawsuits (fourth sentence)
      • Analogy: accumulating patents like accumulating nuclear weapons (first sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “bad patents” (first sentence); “nuclear stockpiling” (first sentence); credible deterrent” (second sentence); “fundamental mistake” (third sentence); “find itself defenseless” (fourth sentence)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Consequences of permissive patent regime for software industry: particularly bad.
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Software particularly vulnerable to permissive patent regime
      • Reason 1: software assembled from modular components (first sentence)
        • If patent office allows those modules to be patented, impossible to develop software product without infringement (second sentence)
      • Reason 2: Software is complex
        • Prohibitively expensive to find all patents a given software product might be infringing (third sentence), so couldn’t find and license all the patents even if you wanted to (fourth sentence)
      • Author’s attitude: “ripe for abuse” (first sentence); “almost impossible” (second sentence); “prohibitively expensive” (third sentence); “unlikely to be able” (fourth sentence)

Passage B

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Software company: software patents impede innovation.
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Some software makers believe software patents impede innovation and are inconsistent with open-source/free software (first sentence)
      • This company aligns itself with those who oppose patents (second sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “makers like ours” (first sentence); “consistently” (first sentence); “inconsistent with” (first sentence); “promote this position” (second sentence); “join our colleagues” (second sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Current patent regime allows for abuse of patents by large companies.
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Small number of large companies have a huge stockpile of software patents (second sentence)
    • These patents can be misused because:
      • Reason 1: questionable nature of software parents (third sentence)
      • Reason 2: high cost of patent litigation (third sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “forced to live” (first sentence); “ripe for misuse” (third sentence); “questionable nature” (third sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Software company has decided to stockpile patents in spite of inconsistency with previous stance.
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Defensive strategy against large companies stockpiling patents: amass your own war chest of patents (first sentence)
      • Many software makers do this (second sentence)
    • The company has decided to do this, even though it is inconsistent with their previous stance against patents, because they have to be prudent (third sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “defensive purposes” (first sentence); “in the interests of our company” (third sentence); “protect and promote” (third sentence); “reluctantly” (fourth sentence); “perceived inconsistency” (fourth sentence); “prudence dictates” (fourth sentence)

Main Points:

Passage A - The current patent regime is very permissive, leading to technology companies amassing patents to defend themselves against infringement suits; this is a particular problem in the software industry.

Passage B - A software company spokesperson declares that, though they believe software patents inhibit innovation and are inconsistent with open-source software, they have decided to stockpile patents in order to defend themselves against infringement suits, as other companies have done.

Key Lines?

Passage A:

Passage A, Paragraph 2, Sentence 4 (PA P3 S4) - Problem with current patent regime: too permissive

PA P3 S1-2 - Generalization: how technology companies respond to patent regime

PA P3 S3 - Have to engage in patent stockpiling

PA P4 S1 - Example: Software industry; reason 1 for particular vulnerability

PA P4 S3 - Reason 2 for particular vulnerability

Passage B:

PB P1 S1 - Statement of previous policy

PB P2 S3 - Problem

PB P3 S1 - Possible solution

PB P3 S3 - Adoption of solution

Meta-Structure? Relationship Between Passages?

Passage A: Generalization/Example - This passage uses a Generalization/Example Meta-Structure. The author points out a problem with the current patent granting and enforcement regime: patents are granted too easily and for very broad purposes. This means that companies are not able to innovate without infringing existing patents. The generalization that the author states is that technology companies respond to the patent regime by amassing war chests of patents in a defensive way so that if they are sued for infringement, they can countersue any potential adversary. The example the author gives of an industry in which this is a particular issue is the software industry, which the author states is particularly vulnerable to patent abuse.

Passage B: Problem/Solution - This passage uses a Problem/Solution Meta-Structure. The author of this passage is a spokesperson for a software company acting in precisely the way that the author of passage A described. The author of passage B states that the fact that other companies are amassing war chests of patents is a problem for them, because they don’t have a similar war chest. Though the company in question believes in open-source software and is against software patents in principle, the solution they have decided to adopt in order to solve the problem they face is to amass a war chest of their own.

The relationship between these two passages is fairly straightforward: passage A describes a general state of affairs and then points out a specific example, and passage B validates this example by showing that the predictions of the author of passage A are correct in practice. The arguments and contentions of the two authors are roughly equivalent, with both pointing out the same problems of the permissive patent regime, the misuse of the patent system by companies amassing large numbers of patents for defensive purposes, and the consequences for the particularly vulnerable software industry. These authors are in agreement, with the author of passage A providing an overview of the issues involved and then the author of passage B following up with a perspective taken from a particular industry.

Last Thoughts?

These passages are similar in viewpoint but different in scope. Passage A deals with the patent regime in general, discussing technology companies as a sector, then drilling down to software. Passage B is much narrower in scope and is written from the perspective of an insider in the software industry responding to the forces described in passage A.

Question prompt

Which one of the Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Strategy Overview

Review the main point of both passages, consider how the main points relate to each other, and find the answer choice that describes the primary similarities and differences between the two passages.

Answer Anticipation

This question asks us to identify the overall relationship between the two passages. This big-picture question often shows up on comparative passages. For this reason, we should always take a moment to consider the passages’ overall relationship after reading the two passages.Generally speaking, the authors of the two passages will draw similar conclusions about a similar topic or draw opposing conclusions about a similar topic. Additionally, the scope of the authors’ arguments might be different — the authors might discuss the same topic, but one author might take a broad, bird’s-eye view of the topic, while the other may dive into a more specific issue related to that topic.In this case, we determined that the passages are related in that passage A points out issues with the current patent granting and enforcement system, eventually drilling down to the software industry as an example of how these problems play out in industry. Passage B shows how a specific software company is reacting to those problems. The company in passage B is acting very much in accordance with how the author of passage A would expect them to act, and the passages are in agreement with respect to most of their points and beliefs. The major difference is that passage A covers problems with the patent system more generally and passage B is limited to the perspective of one software company. Let’s find an answer reflecting this relationship.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Passage A objectively reports Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this answer choice match our understanding of the relationship between the two passages?

    No. Passage A is not objective at all; there are many judgments and evaluative statements made by the author. Principally, these include pointed criticisms of the current patent granting and enforcement regime. Phrases like “in an ideal world” (PA P2 S1), “unfortunately” (PA P2 S2), and “ripe for abuse” (PA P4 S1) show that the author is definitely not objective.

    Passage B is certainly subjective because it’s written from the perspective of a representative of a software company affected by the developments related in passage A, but the author of passage B doesn’t “take issue with” the points raised in A; indeed, they agree with the author of passage A that software patents impede innovation and the current patent regime is not ideal (PB P1 S1, PB P2 S1).

  2. B
    Passage A discusses a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem

    (B) Does this answer choice match our understanding of the relationship between the two passages?

    Yes. Passage A does discuss a problem (broad granting of patents and subsequent stockpiling of patents by companies, PA P2 S4, PA P3 S1) in an industry (software industry, PA P4 S1) and passage B does state the position of a party dealing with that problem (PB P1 S1, PB P3 S3).

    Because it matches our anticipation so well, we can be sure this is the right answer.

  3. C
    Passage A is highly Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this answer choice match our understanding of the relationship between the two passages?

    No. Passage A says it’s unfortunate that the patent regime incentivizes the stockpiling of patents to defend against infringement suits (PA P2 S2, PA P3 S1-2), but the author doesn’t criticize those doing so. Passage B is not a “clarification” of this stockpiling strategy; it’s an example of the strategy in use (PB P3 S3).

  4. D
    Passage A describes an Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Does this answer choice match our understanding of the relationship between the two passages?

    No. Passage A doesn’t describe an impasse; it lays out the incentives that cause companies to stockpile patents to deal with an overly permissive patent regime (PA P2 S2, PA P3 S1-2). Rather than describing an impasse, the author shows the path forward that companies have taken.

    The software company in passage B is availing itself of the path forward described in passage A, so it could be said that they suggest it, but because this answer choice mischaracterizes the purpose of passage A, we can eliminate it.

  5. E
    Passage A lays out Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this answer choice match our understanding of the relationship between the two passages?

    No. Passage A merely describes a situation and its problems, then the remedy that some have come up with (PA P2 S2, PA P3 S1-2). The author does not present two sides or frame the issue as a debate. Passage B does not focus on one of the sides, because there weren’t two sides presented in passage A.

    Because this answer choice mischaracterizes the passages, we can eliminate it.

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 4%
  2. B Credited 86%
  3. C 4%
  4. D 5%
  5. E 2%

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