Text When an invention is made, the inventor has
three possible courses of action open to him: he can give the invention to the
world by publishing it, keep the idea secret, or patent it. A
granted patent is the result of a bargain struck between an inventor and the
state, by which the inventor gets a limited period of monopoly and publishes
full details of his invention to the public after that period
terminates. Only in the most exceptional circumstances is the
life-span of a patent extended to alter this normal process of events.
The longest extension ever granted was to Georges Valensi; his 1939 patent
for color TV receiver circuitry was extended until 1971 because for most of the
patent’s normal life there was no color TV to receive and thus no hope of reward
for the invention. Because a patent remains permanently public
after it has terminated, the shelves of the library attached to the patent
office contain details of literally millions of ideas that are free for anyone
to use and, experts often advise anyone wishing to avoid the high cost of
conducting a search through live patents that the one sure way of avoiding
violation of any other inventor’s right is to plagiarize a dead patent.
Likewise, because publication of an idea in any other form permanently
invalidates further patents on that idea, it is traditionally safe to take ideas
from other areas of print. Much modern technological advance is based on these
presumptions of legal security. Anyone closely involved in
patents and inventions soon learns that most "new" ideas are, in fact, as old as
the hills, it is their reduction to commercial practice, either through
necessity or dedication, or through the availability of new technology, that
makes news and money. The basic patent for the theory of magnetic recording
dates back to 1885. Many of the original ideas behind television originate from
the late 19th and 20th century. Even the Volkswagen rear engine car was
anticipated by a 1904 patent for a cart with the horse at the rear. A.
Patent. B. Publish the details of his invention. C. For Georges, there is
neither color TV to receive nor reward for the invention. D. extend it E.
steal F. no use for it G. it is put in use From this passage we learn that an invention will not benefit the inventor unless ______ .