[2009.04.23] Battle of ideas 知识战争

Intellectual property in China
中国的知识产权

Battle of ideas
知识战争

Apr 23rd 2009
From The Economist print edition

Chinese companies are enforcing patents against foreign firms
中国公司正在实施抗衡外国公司的专利保护

FOR over a decade Schneider Electric of France has bombarded a Chinese firm, Chint Group, with lawsuits accusing it of copying its technology. But the tables turned on April 15th when the two companies settled an infringement case—with the French firm forking over $23m to Chint. The rich settlement against a foreign firm is a landmark. It serves as a reminder that Chinese companies are just as eager to defend patents as Western firms, and that China’s intellectual-property regime has been tightened in recent years.
事隔法国施耐德电气（Schneider Electric of France）起诉正泰集团（Chint Group）抄袭其技术已愈十年了。但从4月15日两公司对于产权侵害案的了结结果来看，这种位置似乎颠倒了过来，这次法国公司不得不向正泰集团支付2300万美元（$23,000,000）的赔偿金。这次针对外国公司的高额和解金无疑具有里程碑式的意义。它警示人们中国公司同西方公司一样渴望保护他们的专利权，中国的知识产权制度在近年来也得到了加强。

Long the workshop of the world, China wants to be the brains as well. The country’s patent office leads the world in patent applications, more than 800,000 of which were filed in 2008. Most are for “petty” patents: middling technology that undergoes minimal review and receives only a 10-year term. Such patents are usually derided by research-intensive Western firms—but Schneider was stung by one that had been issued to Chint. And Chinese firms are increasingly filing “invention” patents that are rigorously scrutinised and receive 20 years of protection, as in the West (see chart). This year Chinese companies are poised to surpass foreign ones in receiving invention patents in China.
长期被置于世界工厂地位的中国似乎也想进一步成为世界的头脑。该国的专利局在专利申请中引领着世界，其2008年的专利申请超过80万件。其中大部分属于“微型”专利：只需要经过最简单审查并只有10年有效期的中等技术。这些专利通常受到注重研究的西方公司的嘲弄——但施耐德却被正泰集团的这样一个专利给刺痛了。另外，中国公司也越来越多地获得经过严格审核并获得20年的保护的“发明”专利。今年，中国公司正准备超过外国公司在中国获得的发明专利。

With the rush for patents has come an increase in disputes. Since 2006 more patent lawsuits have been filed in China than anywhere else, even litigious America. Most pit domestic firms against each other, but in recent years foreigners have found themselves on the receiving end too. In December Samsung, a South Korean conglomerate, was ordered to pay compensation to Holley, a Chinese telecoms firm. The recent victories and lucrative awards will open the floodgates to more suits, predicts Tony Chen of Jones Day, a law firm.
如此迅速的专利申请引发了愈来愈多的争端。2006年起，中国的专利诉讼案比国外的越来越多，即使是相对于好诉讼的美国。大多数是源于国内公司的相互竞争，但近年来，外国公司发现他们自己也成了被诉讼对象。12月韩国三星公司（Samsung, a South Korean conglomerate）被勒令支付赔偿华立（Holley，一家中国电信公司）。最近的胜诉及丰厚的回报将打开更多诉讼的闸门，美国众大律师事务所（Jones Day）的陈拓（Tony Chen）说道。

Intellectual property is relatively new to China. Patents date back to Venice in the 15th century, but Communist China did not allow them until 1985. Since 2006 it has pursued a deliberate policy of gathering as many patents as possible and developing home-grown technologies—not least because Chinese companies pay around $2 billion a year in licensing and royalties to American firms alone, according to America’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
知识产权对中国来说是一个相对比较新的东西。专利最早可以追溯到15世纪的威尼斯，但在中国，知识产权直到1985年才被认可。2006年以来，中国采取了一项谨慎的政策，尽可能多的获得专利并加强本土技术研发，这一定程度上归因于中国公司每年仅向美国公司支付的许可证和特许权使用费就高达20亿美元（据美国经济统计局统计）。

Chinese firms are also increasingly seeking patents abroad, a sign that they plan to protect their technology when exporting it to rich countries. They won 90 patents in America in 1999 but last year they received 1,225. That is still relatively few—IBM, an American technology giant, receives around 3,000 a year—but it is increasing quickly. Because it takes three to five years to issue a patent, the number issued to Chinese firms is expected to soar soon. The quality of patents issued in China is also improving. Revisions to the patent law that take effect in October strengthen the requirement for a patent’s novelty, bringing it up to global standards. Stronger patents are easier to enforce, opening the door to more lawsuits.
中国公司也越来越多地在国外需求专利保护，这显示出他们计划向富裕国家输出产品时保护他们的技术。他们1999年在美国获得了90项专利，但去年这个数字上升到1225项。这仍然相对较少——美国的科技巨头IBM一年所获专利超过3000项——但它正在迅速增加。因为它通常要花三到五年才发出1个专利，但这个数字有望很快得到激增。同时，中国专利发放的质量也在逐步提高。10月份生效的修正专利法案加强了对专利的新颖性要求，使其达到全球标准。更强有力的专利更容易执行，也为更多的诉讼开启了方便之门。

All these trends are important because countries that create intellectual property eventually enforce it as well, explains Dominique Guellec of the OECD. America, it is worth remembering, was the great copyright and patent infringer when it was a developing country in the 18th century.
所有这些趋势都是重要的，因为国家不仅在创造知识产权，而且在有效地执行它，经合组织（OECD） 的Dominique Guellec解释到。我们应当铭记的是，18世纪处于发展阶段的美国也是一个不折不扣的版权和专利的侵犯国。

译者/jiwenwen: http://www.ecocn.org/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=18873&extra=page%3D1