Today, we, pioneers and leaders of electronic commerce, are meeting here to call for changes in US patent laws. We believe such changes are needed to deal with new business models related to the growth of the Internet.
I share the same view with Jeff Bezos, chief executive of online bookseller Amazon.dot.com. Mr. Bezos argued in an open letter that current patent laws could end up harming all kinds of businesses if the laws were not adapted to new business methods used in e-commerce.
今天，我們這些電子商務(wù)的創(chuàng)始人和領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人在此集會(huì)，共同呼吁修改美國(guó)專利法。我們認(rèn)為互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的發(fā)展已形成了一些新商業(yè)模式，專利法必須加以修改才能應(yīng)付這種新情況。
我同在線書店亞馬遜電子商務(wù)公司的首席執(zhí)行官杰夫?貝索斯持有相同的觀點(diǎn)。貝索斯先生在一封公開信中指出，現(xiàn)行的專利法若不加以修正以適應(yīng)電子商務(wù)的新模式，最終將影響所有商務(wù)活動(dòng)。
I think U.S. Patent laws are designed to protect the commercial rights of people who have invested in new products, systems or methods. Hereby I propose that the period of protection offered by patents should be cut from 17 years to about 4 years. I also propose a one-month period of public consultation before patents are issued. The purpose of these changes is to ensure that patented business models and software are more quickly released into the public domain.
Amazon was once under criticism for allegedly abusing current laws by patenting business methods that are so general in scope they should be available to everyone. Two examples include Amazon's patent for the so-called one-click purchasing option on its World Wide Web site and its program for paying other web sites that refer customers to the Amazon site.
From my experience of working with hi-technology companies in California's Silicon Valley, the biggest problems arise when existing patent protections for business methods are combined with the Internet.
我認(rèn)為，制定美國(guó)專利法的根本出發(fā)點(diǎn)是為了保護(hù)那些投資開發(fā)新產(chǎn)品、新系統(tǒng)和新方法者的商業(yè)權(quán)利。我在這里提議，專利權(quán)的保護(hù)期應(yīng)該從原來的17年縮短為4年。同時(shí)我也建議，專利發(fā)布前應(yīng)該有一個(gè)月的公示咨詢期。這些改革的目的是為了確保獲得專利權(quán)的商務(wù)模式和軟件能更快地進(jìn)入公共領(lǐng)域。
亞馬遜公司曾遭到一些批評(píng)，有人指責(zé)亞馬遜公司濫用現(xiàn)行法律，使一些極其普通的商務(wù)方法得到專利保護(hù)，這些商務(wù)方法沒有任何特殊之處，所有人都有權(quán)使用。亞馬遜公司有兩個(gè)典型的專利保護(hù)例子，一是所謂的網(wǎng)上一次點(diǎn)擊購(gòu)物法，一是對(duì)向亞馬遜公司轉(zhuǎn)讓客戶的其他網(wǎng)站支付費(fèi)用的程序。憑我在加州硅谷高科技公司的工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)，當(dāng)現(xiàn)行的商務(wù)模式專利保護(hù)與因特網(wǎng)聯(lián)系在一起時(shí)，就會(huì)出現(xiàn)最嚴(yán)重的問題。
When you combine the ability to patent business methods with the advent of the Internet you have a very interesting coincidence. The Internet provides a new way of doing just about everything. You can have electronic shopping carts on the Internet that mimic the shopping carts in the real world. But because it is in a new environment, a new medium, that is sufficiently novel to obtain a patent on that idea.
If changes in the patent laws are going to have any real impact, they must be made soon, before too many more new business method patents are issued. Some of my colleagues in the industry have already begun lobbying lawmakers to make the changes. But we have to be a little bit more patient because it will take at least two years for any changes proposed now to be approved by lawmakers and established as law.
當(dāng)你把商務(wù)模式專利保護(hù)與因特網(wǎng)使用結(jié)合在一起時(shí)，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)十分有趣的巧合。因特網(wǎng)可以提供做事的新方法。你可以在網(wǎng)上使用電子購(gòu)物手推車，所謂的電子購(gòu)物手推車不過是對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中的手推車的模擬，但由于出現(xiàn)在一個(gè)新的環(huán)境中，出現(xiàn)在一個(gè)新的媒介中，這種模擬方法因其新穎而可以申請(qǐng)專利保護(hù)。
如果想讓專利法的修改真正起到作用，那就必須加快修訂步伐，不然的話，等越來越多的商務(wù)模式新專利頒布之后再進(jìn)行修改，為時(shí)也就太晚了。電子商務(wù)產(chǎn)業(yè)的一些同行已開始游說立法人士修改法律。但是我們還得耐心等待，現(xiàn)在提出的修改建議至少要等上兩年才能被立法部門確定為正式的法律。
責(zé)任編輯：admin
上一篇：口譯例文——睡眠與夢(mèng)/Sleep and Dream
下一篇：口譯基本功
微信公眾號(hào)搜索“譯員”關(guān)注我們，每天為您推送翻譯理論和技巧，外語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)及翻譯招聘信息。