LSAT 69, Reading Comprehension, Q17

DISCUSSION: Lines 14-15 say it’s impossible to invent around a patent if it is too broad.

You can assume that ‘inventing around a patent’ has a straightforward meaning: finding a way around the patent.

In other words, finding a different way of achieving the same goal, which does not infringe the patent.

If a patent is too broad, there’s no way to invent around it.

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1. Inventing around a patent lets you bypass a patent held by a competitor. This answer instead describes bypassing the process of getting a patent in the first place. Not the same thing.This also has a subtle error. It’s not the ‘use’ of a product that’s supposed to be non-obvious. It can be quite difficult to invent an object that seems obvious to use. (e.g. the original iPhone)
2. This describes lying, or fraud. The passage didn’t recommend infringing patents. Inventing around a patent means finding a different way of achieving the same goal.
3. This sounds close, but the meaning is completely different. An example would be: “A company patents the internet, to allow people to exchange emails. You use the internet patent to allow people to shop, a use that was not intended.”
   Inventing around the patent would be finding a different way to send emails over something similar to the internet, in a way that didn’t infringe my patent.
4. The principles don’t have to be entirely different. They just have to be different enough that they don’t infringe on the patent. Also, the principle should be different from the competitors’ patents, not different from products you own that are affected by those patents.
5. CORRECT. This lets you make use of the same ideas, while avoiding getting sued for infringing a patent.You can read ‘inventing around a patent to mean ‘getting around the obstacle’.

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