PrepTest 157, Section 4, Question 26
This passage was adapted from an article published(444 more words not shown)
Based on the passage, it(19 more words not shown)
- AThe sequences of(23 more words not shown)
- BSoftware algorithms are(16 more words not shown)
- CPatent protection should(15 more words not shown)
- DBoth the algorithms(18 more words not shown)
- EAs the number(12 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Switch to the proponents of software patents. They compare the encoding of algorithms to process design, and the opening says they believe patent protection is “also needed.” That additional protection is meant to reach beyond the specific expression that copyright already protects.
What we’re looking for
Our prediction is therefore broader protection, covering the underlying algorithm as well as its particular expression. We shouldn't replace their position with the author's objection that algorithms are generic principles.
Working the answers
- A
No comparison ranks the code as more genuinely inventive than its underlying algorithm. Their argument is an analogy between encoding and process design, not a claim about which part displays more inventiveness.
- B
This is the classification the author uses to argue against patents. It isn't the proponents' argument for treating encoded algorithms as patentable process designs.
- C
Also needed means added, not substituted as the sole form of protection. The proponents aren't described as wanting to abolish copyright protection for software.
- DCorrect
Patent protection would cover the underlying design, while copyright protects the particular expression. Adding the former to the latter therefore protects both levels. That connects the opening's also needed language with the final paragraph's explanation of what each form of protection does.
- E
Programming languages and changes in their number aren't discussed. Nothing establishes a prediction about how that number would affect copycatting.
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