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  3. When an invention is made, the inventor has three possible courses of action open to him: he can give the invention to the world

When an invention is made, the inventor has three possible courses of action open to him: he can give the invention to the world

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问题     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 lifespan 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, if older than half a century, sometimes even repatent. Indeed, patent 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 1886. Many of the original ideas behind television originate from the late 19th and early 20th century. Even the Volkswagen rear engine car was anticipated by a 1904 patent for a cart with the horse at the rear.
Georges Valensi’s patent lasted until 1971 because______.
选项 A、nobody would offer and reward for his patent prior to that time
B、his patent could not be put to use for an unusually long time
C、the color TV receiver was not available until that time
D、there were not enough TV stations to provide color programmes
答案B
解析 文章的第四段以Georges Valensi所申请的专利为例表明了作者在第三段所提到极其特别的例子：他的专利之所以从1939年一直持续到1971年，是因为“most of the patent’s normal life there was no color TV to receive’’，这句话的意思与选项B的内容表达相吻合。
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