Question

Because colgate owns patent number 5,547,091, only colgate sells toothpaste with a flip-top cap, while others use the more traditional screw top. a patent probably wasn't a necessary incentive for colgate to develop the flip-top cap, so why did it patent the cap? to increase consumer demand for toothpaste to establish market power to decrease fixed costs to decrease the marginal cost of production

Answer 1

They patented the flip-top cap most likely to ensure that only their toothpaste products can be dispensed in a quick and easy manner that would not be of added inconvenience to the user. The contents of the toothpaste tube can also be easily properly secured unlike screw caps which could be misplaced.