MGT Midterm 2

Inventive activity (i.e., the creation of new inventions) is nearly always driven by what:

• An explicit research prize given by an organization or government

• A large group of academics working together in a laboratory

• A profit-seeking motive

• Government research labs

Which of the following is not a type of patent?

• Practical

• Utility

•  

  Design

• Plant

Which is the most likely example of a design patent?

• A patent on a new machine that produces soda cans for cheaper

• A patent on the shape of the new VolksWagen Beetle car design

• A patent on a new corn hybrid plant that is much more resistant to draught and disease

• A patent on a new light-bulb that allows users to change the light color with their phone

A trademark is an: 

• exclusive right granted to avoid misdemeanor charges such as parking and speeding tickets

• exclusive right granted for a product or a process that provides a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem

• exclusive right granted for a word, name, or symbol that indicates the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others

• exclusive right granted to an “original work of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished

Patenting is important for economic growth, but is subject to a “balancing act”. Why is this the case?

• The Patent Office must make sure that inventors who die are not preventing people from using their inventions

• The Patent Office needs to encourage initial invention, but make sure protection does not discourage future inventions

• Patents provide broad legal protections and therefore the Patent Office must be careful to prevent “bad” people from receiving patents even if they successfully invented something

• The Patent Office must closely watch over the actions of inventors with patents to make sure that they do not profit off their invention

What was the main purpose of the Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970?

• Create the first U.S. Patent Office

• Create the United Nations

• Create a unified procedure for filing patents in more than one country

• Allow patents in the U.S. for the first time

While most economists focus on the number of patents, Moser (2005) examined whether patents affect the types of innovation that occur within a country. What does she find?

• Countries without patent protection did not send any inventions to be studied

• Countries without patent protection focused on a wide range of inventions

• Countries without patent protection focused on inventions that were not easily copied

• Countries without patent protection were mostly located in Asia

Why did we argue that American technology was not necessarily superior to the British technology?

• British technology was labor-heavy because British wages were relatively low, and American technology was capital-heavy because the U.S. rental rate of capital was relatively low

• America and Great Britain had high barriers to technology flow and no technology could be exchanged

• American technology was labor-heavy because U.S. wages were relatively low, and British technology was capital-heavy because the British rental rate of capital was relatively low

• America and Great Britain wanted to produce different types of goods

Which of the following was not a reason why manufacturing was initially so small in the U.S.?

• The U.S. did not have sufficient raw inputs (e.g., iron, coal, etc.)

• Previous British laws largely prohibited manufacturing in the colonies

• The U.S. set tariffs rather low for most goods

• British textile firms were much more efficient and established

How is total profit calculated?

• Total revenue minus total costs

• Total revenue divided by total costs

• Total revenue minus average total costs

• Total revenue minus variable costs