The system of patent-

granting, which confers

temporary monopolies for

Line  the exploitation of new tech-

(5)   nologies, was originally

established as an incentive

to the pursuit of risky new

ideas. Yet studies of the

most patent-conscious

(10)            business of all—the semi-

conductor industry—suggest

that firms do not necessarily

become more innovative as

they increase their patenting

(15)  activity. Ziedonis and Hall,

for example, found that

investment in research and

development (a reasonable

proxy for innovation) did

(20)  not substantially increase

between 1982 and 1992,

the industry’s most feverish

period of patenting. Instead,

semiconductor firms simply

(25)  squeezed more patents out

of existing research and

development expenditures.

Moreover, Ziedonis and

Hall found that as patenting

(30)  activity at semiconductor

firms increased in the

1980’s, the consensus

among industry employees

was that the average quality

(35)  of their firms’ patents

declined. Though patent

quality is a difficult notion

to measure, the number of

times a patent is cited in

(40)  the technical literature is

a reasonable yardstick, and

citations per semiconductor

patent did decline during

the 1980’s. This decline in

(45)  quality may be related to

changes in the way semi-

conductor firms managed

their patenting process:

rather than patenting to win

(50)  exclusive rights to a valuable

new technology, patents

were filed more for strategic

purposes, to be used as

bargaining chips to ward

(55)  off infringement suites or

as a means to block

competitors’ products.

The passage is primarily concerned with discussing

A.   a study suggesting that the semiconductor industry’s approach to patenting during the period from 1982 to 1992 yielded unanticipated results

B.    a study of the semiconductor industry during the period from 1982 to 1992 that advocates certain changes in the industry’s management of the patenting process

C.   the connection between patenting and innovation in the semiconductor industry during the period from 1982 to 1992

D.   reasons that investment in research and development in the semiconductor industry did not increase significantly during the period from 1982 to 1992

E.    certain factors that made the period from 1982 to 1992 a time of intense patenting activity in the semiconductor industry

答案有Ａ和Ｃ两个版本，请ＮＮ指点一下．．．到底哪个，为什么呢？我选的是Ｂ．．．５５５５５５

I think is A.

The system of patent-                   {Introduction of a Topic}
     granting, which confers

temporary monopolies for

Line       the exploitation of new tech-

(5)          nologies, was originally 

established as an incentive

to the pursuit of risky new                        {Scope of Topic--Original Intention of patent}
 ideas. Yet studies of the                                  {Switch to Major point }
     most patent-conscious

(10)            business of all—the semi-

conductor industry—suggest

that firms do not necessarily

become more innovative as                    {Define the major point}
    they increase their patenting

(15)  activity. Ziedonis and Hall,

for example, found that                       {Explanation /Evidence of major point}
      investment in research and

development (a reasonable

proxy for innovation) did

(20)  not substantially increase

between 1982 and 1992,

the industry’s most feverish

period of patenting. Instead,

semiconductor firms simply

(25)  squeezed more patents out

of existing research and

development expenditures.

Moreover, Ziedonis and

Hall found that as patenting

(30)  activity at semiconductor

firms increased in the

1980’s, the consensus

among industry employees

was that the average quality

(35)  of their firms’ patents

declined. Though patent

quality is a difficult notion

to measure, the number of

times a patent is cited in

(40)  the technical literature is

a reasonable yardstick, and

citations per semiconductor

patent did decline during

the 1980’s. This decline in

(45)  quality may be related to

changes in the way semi-

conductor firms managed

their patenting process:

rather than patenting to win

(50)  exclusive rights to a valuable

new technology, patents

were filed more for strategic

purposes, to be used as

bargaining chips to ward

(55)  off infringement suites or

as a means to block

competitors’ products.

刚做过，hehe.

Whitney分析得很好啊。就是一个新旧观点对比，但作者并没有加入自己的态度，比如支持哪一种观点。

所以选A.

Yet studies of the most patent-conscious business of all—the semiconductor industry—suggest that firms do not necessarily become more innovative as they increase their patenting activity 

这不也是再说 innovation 和 patenting的关系？不会因为P变得I也变多？

我阅读几乎不错的，这道题的答案我很不爽，始终认为是C

退一步说，即使这是说了study发现了yielded unanticipated results，那也不是关于industry’s approach to patenting ，那只是一个例子而已！

整篇文章讨论的都是 innovation 和 patenting的关系，80年代的approach只是一个例子说明这种关系

不要忘记了“主题题”的要则：不偏激，非细节 

approach只是一个细节

LS说的真好，由衷的赞一个！

另外，prep上的答案，这道题的正解确实是C.