首页
登录
职称英语
Patents, said Thomas Jefferson, should draw "a line between the things which a
Patents, said Thomas Jefferson, should draw "a line between the things which a
游客
2023-12-16
11
管理
问题
Patents, said Thomas Jefferson, should draw "a line between the things which are worth to the public the embarrassment of an exclusive patent, and those which are not". As the value that society places on intellectual property has increased, that line has become murkier--and the cause of some embarrassment, too. Around the world, patent offices are being inundated with applications. In many cases, this represents the extraordinary inventiveness that is occurring in new fields such as the internet, genomics and nanotechnology. But another, less-acceptable reason for the flood is that patent offices have been too lax in granting patents, encouraging many firms to rush to patent as many, often dubious, ideas as possible in an effort to erect legal obstacles to competitors. The result has been a series of messy and expensive court baffles, and growing doubts about the effectiveness of patent systems as a spur to innovation, just as their importance should be getting bigger.
In 1998 America introduced so-called "business-method" patents, granting for the first time patent monopolies simply for new ways of doing business, many of which were not so new. This was a mistake. It not only ushered in a wave of new applications, but it is probably inhibiting, rather than encouraging, commercial innovation, which had never received, or needed, legal protection in the past. Europe has not, so far, made the same blunder, but the European Parliament is considering the easing of roles for innovations incorporated in software. This might have a similarly deleterious effect as business-method patents, because many of these have been simply the application of computers to long-established practices. In Japan, firms are winning large numbers of patents with extremely narrow claims, mostly to obfuscate what is new and so to ward off rivals. As more innovation happens in China and India, these problems are likely to spread there as well.
There is an urgent need for patent offices to return to first principles. A patent is a government-granted temporary monopoly (patents in most countries are given about 20 years’ protection) intended to reward innovators in exchange for a disclosure by the patent holder of how his invention works, thereby encouraging others to further innovation. The qualifying tests for patents are straightforward--that an idea be useful, novel and not obvious. Unfortunately most patent offices, swamped by applications that can run to thousands of pages and confronted by companies wielding teams of lawyers, are no longer applying these tests strictly or reliably. For example, in America, many experts believe that dubious patents abound, such as the notorious one for a "sealed crustless sandwich". Of the few patents that are re-examined by the Patent and Trademark Office itself, often after complaints from others, most are invalidated or their claims clipped down. The number of duplicate claims among patents is far too high. What happens in America matters globally, since it is the world’s leading patent office, approving about 170,000 patents each year, half of which are granted to foreign applicants.
Europe’s patent system is also in a mess in another regard: the quilt of national patent offices and languages means that the cost of obtaining a patent for the entire European Union is too high, a burden in particular on smaller firms and individual inventors. The European Patent Office may award a patent, but the patent holder must then file certified translations at national patent offices to receive protection. Negotiations to simplify this have gone on for over a decade without success.
As a start, patent applications should be made public. In most countries they are, but in America this is the case only under certain circumstances, and after 18 months. More openness would encourage rivals to offer the overworked patent office evidence with which to judge whether an application is truly novel and non-obvious. Patent offices also need to collect and publish data about what happens once patents are granted--the rate at which they are challenged and how many are struck down. This would help to measure the quality of the patent system itself, and offer some way of evaluating whether it is working to promote innovation, or to impede it.
But most of all, patent offices need to find ways of applying standards more strictly. This would make patents more difficult to obtain. But that is only right. Patents are, after all, government-enforced monopolies and so, as Jefferson had it, there should be some "embarrassment" (and hesitation) in granting them. [br] What’s wrong with Europe’s patent system?
选项
A、Lack of a unified patent system.
B、Smaller firms and individual inventors tend to be neglected.
C、Patent protection is not secure enough.
D、Patent application process is too complex.
答案
A
解析
这题主要考的是倒数第三段的内容。欧洲专利制度与美国相比存在另一方面的问题,造成某种混乱的局面,即欧洲各国专利局各自为政,加之各国语言差异,造成种种障碍。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.tihaiku.com/zcyy/3277448.html
相关试题推荐
Fortunatelytherearestillafewtastythingsforusgourmandstoenjoyinr
Socialcustomsandwaysofbehavingchange.Thingswhichwereconsideredimpo
Socialcustomsandwaysofbehavingchange.Thingswhichwereconsideredimpo
Socialcustomsandwaysofbehavingchange.Thingswhichwereconsideredimpo
Socialcustomsandwaysofbehavingchange.Thingswhichwereconsideredimpo
Socialcustomsandwaysofbehavingchange.Thingswhichwereconsideredimpo
Socialcustomsandwaysofbehavingchange.Thingswhichwereconsideredimpo
Socialcustomsandwaysofbehavingchange.Thingswhichwereconsideredimpo
Anti-BurglarGunsThisgunpracticeshouldpleaseboth
Lastyear’seconomyshouldhavewontheOscarforbestpicture.Growthingro
随机试题
[originaltext]W:Mr.Smith,isthenumberofcomplaintsincreasingordecreasin
Childrenhavebeensaidtohavebrain-injuredchildsyndrome,hyperactive(极度
IfyourchildisaskingforUggbootsorapriceyhottoyfortheholidays,
()是PMO应具备的特征。①负责制定项目管理方法,最佳实践和标准②对所有项目进
砂浆搅拌机在搅拌时,拌筒一般固定不动,以筒内带条形拌叶的转轴来搅拌物料。关于砂浆
脊髓损伤四肢瘫,患者最常见的死亡原因为A.呼吸道感染 B.高钙血症 C.泌尿
下列关于地西泮的不良反应的叙述错误的是A.治疗量可见困倦等中枢抑制作用 B.治
下列不属于处方差错的原因是A.处方辨认不清 B.C.缩写不规范 D.药品名称
(2020年真题)根据税收征收管理法律制度的规定,下列各项中,属于税收保全措施的
某企业未经注册商标所有人的许可使用注册商标,情节特别严重,则应()。A.只需要
最新回复
(
0
)