STEP 1

In this first step, you will read carefully the presentation of this unit (phrasal verbs have been highlighted in yellow). A full glossary below will help you understand it better. To get information in Spanish, just place the arrow of your mouse on any highlighted word without clicking.

Harper & Grant are hoping to enter the box-file market. Their research department has come up with a very new, simple and quick device to hold papers together in a box-file. Before the Sales Manager, John Martin, can get the authority to spend money on a new project like this he has to find out the chances of success. He therefore asked a firm of Market Research consultants to examine the prospects, that is, report on the size of the present market for this type of file. The firm of consultants who have carried out the market research were first given terms of reference, that is, they were asked to supply particular information. John Martin wanted to know if the market was growing or contracting, getting smaller.
When the marketing report comes in, it shows that there is a growing interest in box-files. The report also gives details of all the other firms who produce box-files: the ones who do the most business are called the market leaders.
When Mr. Grant sees the report he wants to know what the average price was to the user or buyer. In this case the average price was ten shillings each file. The wholesale price, the price paid by the retailer, is twenty-five to thirty-five per cent off the retail price. This is the gross margin the retailer makes, out of which he must pay all expenses and make a profit.
When launching a new invention it is vitally important to register the new idea with the Patent Office or patentor. A patent gives the patentee the sole right, the only right, to make, use or sell his invention during the time the patent remains in force, that is, as long as the annual patent fee is paid. It can be up to sixteen years. After that anyone can use the idea. If the fees are not paid, then the patent is said to have lapsed.
The next important step is to register the file and decide on a trademark for it. John Martin goes along to Hector Grant's office to bring him up to date on the box-file situation so far.

GLOSSARY:
box-file: a file in the form of a kind of box or folder, in which papers and documents are kept in position by a metal clip (fichero, archivo);
to come up with: to produce or introduce new ideas (innovar, aparecerse con algo novedoso);
to find out: to search or inquire about (averiguar, consultar, investigar);
Market Research: the investigation of present and future market requirements. An investigation of a market for a product; to discover, for example, who are the leading producers, what type of customers they appeal to, what are the present sales figures, whether a new manufacturer could successfully enter the market, what type of advertising would be required, etc. (investigación, estudio del mercado);
to carry out: to fulfill, to perform, to put in practice (llevar a cabo, realizar);
terms of reference: the details of a job which are referred to a person or organisation. For instance, John Martin asked Smith-Weston to report whether the market for box-files is growing or contracting; which firms met the demand; the market share enjoyed by each major supplier; price levels and methods of distribution. He did not invite comments on his own sales organisation. The consultants had to restrict their activities to their terms of reference (marcos o términos de referencia);
marketing report: details collected by a team of researchers about all the information required on a certain market, for example, the number of firms supplying the market (informe de comercialización);
comes in: is received (llega, se recibe);
market leaders: firms which do the most business in a particular field and set the pace on design and price (líderes del mercado, empresas que ocupan los primeros lugares en ventas);
to register: to fill out the necessary documents required by the Patent Office (registrar, inscribir);
Patent Office: where inventions, etc., are registered or patented and thus protected from imitation (oficina de patentes);
patentor: an official department which issues patents (el que otorga una patente);
patent: an official document granting an inventor sole rights to make or sell an invention (patente);
patentee: the inventor to whom a patent is issued. If a patented invention is copied without authority the patentee can bring a legal action against the person or company infringing the patent (el que obtiene una patente);
lapsed: ended (caducado);
trademark: a formally registered symbol identifying the manufacturer or distributor of a product and marked on his goods to show that they are made by him (marca de fábrica o de comercio);
to bring up to date: to inform someone the latest news (actualizar, informar las últimas novedades, poner al tanto).