PrepTest 157, Section 4, Question 24
This passage was adapted from an article published(444 more words not shown)
On the basis of the(17 more words not shown)
- AAn algorithm is(10 more words not shown)
- BThe discovery of(15 more words not shown)
- CSequences of computer(12 more words not shown)
- DProponents of software(10 more words not shown)
- EThe encoding of(11 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
This is an open question about the author's view, so the answer could be a supporting idea rather than the main recommendation. Keep the key distinction available: a particular invention can receive a patent, while a generic principle cannot. The author places underlying algorithms on the generic-principle side of that distinction.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The second paragraph excludes laws of nature and logical axioms from patentable inventions, then says “On similar grounds” that algorithms should not be patentable. That phrase expressly connects the cases. The analogy concerns their status as generic principles, not a claim that every algorithm is literally a law of nature.
- B
The author doesn't make this claim about the effort usually required to discover an algorithm. More importantly, the discussion classifies algorithms as generic principles rather than treating their discovery as the patentable invention.
- C
This adds a previously-unused-algorithm requirement that the author never imposes. The proposed copyright protection attaches to particular encoded expressions. It isn't made conditional on the underlying algorithm never having been used before.
- D
The proponents want additional protection against copycatting. Nothing shows that they underestimate the problem's severity. The author disputes their proposed remedy, not their awareness that copying is a problem.
- E
The author treats code as the expression of ideas in specific texts and places it within copyright's domain. That supports, rather than denies, the relevant analogy to a literary work.
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