LSAT 139 | Section 3 | Reading Comprehension: Q20

RC Question 20 Explanation

DISCUSSION: If you read around line 60, ‘this same stance’ refers to amassing a defensive portfolio of patents.

The thid paragraph in passage A talk about stockpiling defensive patents. The second sentence of the third paragraph of passage A, ‘a credible deterrent’ is the best answer. A deterrent is something you use to warn others not to attack you.

___________

1. This refers to the standards for issuing a patent: a patent shouldn’t be for an obvious idea.
2. ‘Invent around’ describes the old strategy to avoid infringing a patent.
3. This phrase describes how it’s now easier to patent an obvious idea.
4. CORRECT. See the explanation above.
5. You don’t need to know exactly what modular components are to eliminate this answer. Modular components are mentioned in the first two sentences of the fourth paragraph of passage A, those lines say software is assembled from modular components.So modular components are part of software, not a defensive portfolio of patents.(For the records, modular means assembling something from finished components. So a modular house would use a preset kitchen, bathroom, etc. and arrange them in a useful order)