The system of patent-granting, which confers temporary monopolies for

Question 1 Answer Choice A, Explained

An answer choice can be a true statement while still being an incorrect answer choice. That's because the correct answer choice is the one that best answers the specific question being asked. This is a minor distinction in wording, but it's a major difference in how we eliminate answer choices and select the choice that is truly correct for a given question. It's all part of the joy of test-taking in GMAT Land.


Like answer choice (E), choice (A) on its own is true. However, is the author primarily concerned with discussing a study and its results?

Nope. Instead, this passage is structured to:

• Introduce us to the original purpose of granting patents.
• Present studies on the semi-conductor industry (especially the study by Ziedonis and Hall) to illustrate the point that firms do not necessarily become more innovative as they increase their patenting activity.
• Analyze the findings of the Z&H study in the context of measuring patent quality.
• Suggest a possible explanation for why semi-conductor patent quality declined during the 1980s.

Studies, and in particular the Z&H study, make up a crucial piece of this passage. However, the author's overall purpose is to analyze the relationship between patents and innovation.


Choice (C) best expresses this overall purpose.

Question 3, Explained

Answering this question is entirely process of elimination, so let's start with A and make our way down the line.


The passage tells us that Ziedonis and Hall studied trends in semi-conductor patenting between 1982 (the early 1980's) and 1992 (a decade later). Then, the author writes:

"Moreover, Ziedonis and Hall found that as patenting activity at semiconductor firms increased in the 1980's, the consensus among industry employees was that the average quality of their firms' patents declined."

Between the early 1980's and a decade later, the average quality of firms' semiconductor patents declined. Therefore, patent quality was higher in the early 1980's than it was a decade later. We'll keep (A) as the best choice for now.


Choice (B) is not supported by any statement we can see in the passage. Furthermore, this choice is contradicted by the very same portion of the passage that reinforces choice (A):

"...as patenting activity at semiconductor firms increased...the average quality of their firms' patents declined."

The author links the rise in number of patents granted to a fall in quality, so let's eliminate (B).


The author doesn't mention any change in R&D expenditures. In fact, the author suggests that there was little change in these expenditures during the time period being studied:

"...investment in research and development (a reasonable proxy for innovation) did not substantially increase between 1982 and 1992."

So let's eliminate (C), too.


This is also contradicted in the passage, when the author writes:

"Though patent quality is a difficult notion to measure, the number of times a patent is cited in the technical literature is a reasonable yardstick, and citations per semiconductor patent did decline during the 1980's."

The technical literature seems adequate enough for the author to use as a reference point in this passage. Eliminate (D).


The very same portion of the passage we used to rule out choice (D) can be used to rule out choice (E). The author thinks that quality was measured by "a reasonable yardstick" in the technical literature.

Eliminate (E), and we're left with (A) as the best answer choice.

Who's Got GMAT Fever?

When someone does something "feverishly," she is putting a great amount of energy or excitement into it. If I write GMAT explanations feverishly, then you might picture me staying up all night, writing many, many explanations, one after the next, without taking a break.

This is related to the idiomatic use of "fever" or "crazy" in a statement showing how much a person is driven to a certain action:

• My friend's got GMAT fever! He spent seven hours reading and posting on GMAT Club last night.
• Oh, Peter is crazy about mangoes. Once mango season begins, he'll eat them feverishly, until he's literally sick.

By using the word "feverish," this passage tells us that the period between 1982 and 1992 was the semiconductor industry's most prolific, enthusiastic, energetic period of patenting. For the record, I'm personally much more crazy about reading and mangoes than I'll ever be about patents.

A Closer Read to Answer Question 5

At the start of the passage, we're told:

"The system of patent-granting, which confers temporary monopolies for the exploitation of new technologies, was originally established as an incentive to the pursuit of risky new ideas."

Later, the author writes:

"rather than patenting to win exclusive rights to a valuable new technology, patents were filed more for strategic purposes, to be used as bargaining chips to ward off infringement suites or as a means to block competitors' products."

We know that the intended purpose of the patent-granting system was to incent companies to develop new technologies. The author then identifies the use of patents as bargaining chips in order to show that firms turned away from this intended purpose, and towards a different strategic purpose. That's why choice (C) works.

Thanks for the questions, everyone! I hope this helps.