Patenting Software

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct57% picked this

   An algorithm is analogous to a law of nature or a

   Why this is right

   This comports well with the author's thinking, since the author doesn't think that algorithms are the sort of thing that should be patentable, and her two previous examples of such a thing were laws of nature or logical axioms. In the 2nd half of the 2nd paragraph, the author is saying - in order to be patentable, it must be a genuine invention, not a law of nature or a logical axiom She gives an example that you couldn't patent the general natural principle of "harnessing wind to produce energy". Then she says - On similar grounds, algorithms should not be considered patenable. If she thinks algorithms are on similar grounds, they are similarly not patentable because they represent general principles, then she thinks they're analogous in some way.

   Skill tested: Author Opinion · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

   57%
2. B

   Wrong Viewpoint12% picked this

   The discovery of an algorithm that can be used in a software program usually requires

   We'd have a hard time supporting the specific language that genuine inventive effort is required in at least 51% of cases. Also, the author thinks of algorithms more like laws of nature / logical axioms (can't be patented) than like genuine inventive effort (can be patented). This answer is the point of view of proponents of patent protection for algorithms.

   12%
3. C

   Unsupported13% picked this

   Sequences of computer code should not be copyrightable unless they encode a

   This is a very harsh, limiting rule for what should / shouldn't be copyrightable. This author barely talks about copyrighting, other than to say it already provides pretty good protection and it covers unique expressions of encoded algorithms. She definitely never issued an extreme decree that "No code shall be copyrightable unless ____ !"

   13%
4. D

   Contradicted7% picked this

   Proponents of software patents underestimate the severity of the problem of

   The purpose of this passage is for the author to tamp down the concerns of these patent proponents. THEY are freaked out by the risk of copycat programming; they want to patent algorithms in order to thwart it. Our author is saying to them that they're overestimating the risk. The author thinks that adequate protection could be afforded "with only slight modification to existing copyright laws".

   7%
5. E

   Contradicted11% picked this

   The encoding of algorithms is not analogous to the composition of

   The author thinks these two things are analogous. Both writing a novel and writing code are copyrightable intellectual property. She refers to the encoding of algorithms in the final paragraph as, "the expression of ideas in the form of specific texts", which sounds pretty analogous to composing a literary work.

   11%