SudiptoGmat wrote:
Naturally occurring chemicals cannot be newly patented once their structures have been published. Before a naturally occurring chemical compound can be used as a drug, however, it must be put through the same rigorous testing program as any synthetic compound, culminating in a published report detailing the chemical’s structure and observed effects.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must also be true on the basis of them?
(A) Any naturally occurring chemical can be reproduced synthetically once its structure is known.
(B) Synthetically produced chemical compounds cannot be patented unless their chemical structures are made public.
(C) If proven no less effective, naturally occurring chemicals are to be preferred to synthetic compounds for use in drugs.
(D) Once a naturally occurring compound has been approved for use as a drug, it can no longer be newly patented.
(E) A naturally occurring chemical cannot be patented unless its effectiveness as a drug has been rigorously established.
- Naturally occurring chemicals (NOC) cannot be newly patented after their structures have been published.
- Before NOC can be used as a drug, it needs to be tested and its chemical structure and observed effects published.
This implies that if an NOC is to be used as a drug, it cannot be newly patented. This is so because if it is to be used as a drug, it will be tested and its chemical structure will be published. If its chemical structure is published, it cannot be newly patented.
(D) Once a naturally occurring compound has been approved for use as a drug, it can no longer be newly patented.
If an NOC has been approved for use as a drug, it means it was tested and its chemical structure was published. This means that it cannot be newly patented.
Hence (D) is correct.
(E) A naturally occurring chemical cannot be patented unless its effectiveness as a drug has been rigorously established.
Whether one can patent an NOC does not depend on whether its effectiveness as a drug has been established. It may or may not be established as a useful drug (during testing). It doesn't affect whether we can patent it.
Whether one can patent it depends on whether its structure has been published or not.
Hence (E) is not correct.