HELP! A monopolist, unlike a perfectly competitive firm, has some market power. It can raise its price.....?

Both a) and b) would apply. One could argue that patent protection is a government-created barrier. However, companies can license patents to others (at their own discretion - there's no law saying they must allow competitors to produce products for which they hold the patent) so one could consider production rights to be a scarce resource... but it's more likely b).