Nursing Professional Development Certification (NPD-BC) Practice Exam

If the NPD practitioner designs a new type of protective gear, the design can be protected through:

1. trademark

2. patent

3. copyright

4. trade secret

The correct answer is: patent

The design of a new type of protective gear is best protected through a patent because a patent grants the inventor exclusive rights to their invention for a specified period, typically 20 years in the U.S. This protection is specifically tailored for new inventions or significant improvements to existing products, which is exactly what a newly designed protective gear would represent. Securing a patent ensures that the inventor can control how the design is used, manufactured, or sold, preventing others from making or selling the same design without permission. While trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets provide forms of intellectual property protection, they do not apply as directly to the invention of a new product design. Trademarks protect brand identifiers, copyrights cover original works of authorship, and trade secrets protect confidential business information that provides a competitive advantage. None of these would adequately cover the functional and utilitarian aspects of a new type of protective gear, making the patent the most appropriate form of protection in this context.