中國成專利申請首超100萬件的國家
China has become the first country to receive more than 1m patent applications in a year — a record the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) said reflected “extraordinary” levels of innovation in the world’s most populous nation.
中國已成爲首個在一年裏受理專利申請超過100萬件的國家；世界知識產權組織(WIPO)表示，這個紀錄反映出全球人口最多的國家“非凡”的創新水平。
“[The Chinese] are making innovation a central part of their economic strategy,” Francis Gurry, director-general of the UN agency, said at a briefing in Geneva.
“（中國人）正在把創新作爲其經濟戰略的核心部分，”這個聯合國機構的總幹事弗朗西斯.高銳(Francis Gurry)在日內瓦舉行的一個簡報會上表示。
While sceptics have long argued that China’s patent figures are skewed by state-driven filing targets, intellectual property lawyers argue they also reflect the country’s growing inventiveness.
雖然懷疑者一直認爲中國的專利數據被國家驅動的申請指標所扭曲，但知識產權律師辯稱，這些數據也反映了中國與日俱增的創造性。
“The Chinese government still wants people to file patents and they get explicit and implicit rewards for doing so,” said Erick Robinson, a Beijing-based patent lawyer. “But the quality of patents in China is improving at breathtaking speed.”
“中國政府仍然希望人們申請專利，專利申請者獲得顯性和隱性的獎勵，”在北京工作的專利律師羅瑞克(Erick Robinson)表示。“但中國的專利質量正以驚人的速度提高。”
According to Wipo figures, China’s patent office received 1,101,864 applications in 2015 from both domestic and foreign filers, accounting for almost 40 per cent of the global total and more than the next three countries — the US, Japan and Korea — combined.
根據世界知識產權組織的數字，中國國家知識產權局2015年從國內外申請者受理了110.1864萬件專利申請，佔全球總量近40%，超過美國、日本和韓國三個國家的總和。
“Once again we see an increasing dominance by Asia as the origin of filing activity for intellectual property,” Mr Gurry added, noting that Asian countries had received more than 60 per cent of total patent filings last year.
“我們再一次看到亞洲日益成爲知識產權申請活動的主要起源，”高銳補充說。他指出，亞洲國家去年受理了全球60%以上的專利申請。
“The Chinese government’s strategic policies are encouraging innovation,” said Zhang Xuemei at Janlea, a Beijing intellectual property agency. “Chinese companies are also more aware of the importance of protecting their IP.”
“中國政府的戰略政策鼓勵創新，”北京正理知識產權機構(Janlea)的張雪梅表示。“中國企業也更加意識到保護知識產權的重要性。”
Mr Robinson cited WeChat, the social media platform developed by internet group Tencent, as an example of Chinese innovation at its best. “WeChat took some functionality from a lot of other applications but just made it better,” he said.
羅瑞克提到互聯網集團騰訊(Tencent)開發的社交媒體平臺微信(WeChat)，稱其是中國式創新的典範。“微信從其他很多應用程序借鑑了一部分功能，但就是做得更好，”他說。
However, Yang Yuzhou, a Shanghai patent lawyer at Dacheng Law, noted that China, unlike the US, recognised “utility model” patents, which are typically easier to secure, and protect inventions for a shorter period of time than standard patents. “It’s also much cheaper to file for patents in China than in the US and Japan,” he said.
然而，北京大成（上海）律師事務所的專利律師楊宇宙指出，與美國不同，中國承認“實用新型”專利，這類專利一般更容易獲得，而且保護髮明的期限比標準專利要短一些。“在中國申請專利的成本也比美國和日本要便宜得多，”他說。
China is also becoming a more attractive jurisdiction for patent infringement disputes, given the speed with which its court system processes cases. Companies whose intellectual property has been stolen can also secure bans that prevent the infringing party from selling in China’s vast market or exporting from the country — a crippling blow given China’s centrality to global supply chains.
考慮到中國法院系統處理案件的速度，中國還正在成爲在處理專利侵權糾紛方面更具吸引力的司法管轄區。知識產權被竊取的公司還可以申請獲得禁令，禁止侵權方在中國的巨大市場銷售，或從中國出口——鑑於中國在全球供應鏈上佔據的中心地位，這是一個沉重打擊。
In terms of overseas filings, US patent holders lodged the most applications, ahead of Japan and Germany. Mr Gurry said this reflected the importance of trade and foreign investment to the US business community.
在海外專利申請方面，美國專利持有人遞交最多申請，其次是日本和德國。高銳稱，這反映了貿易和外國投資對美國商業界的重要性。
President-elect Donald Trump has, however, pledged to withdraw from President Barack Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which would have bound the US more closely to 11 other Pacific trading nations.
但是，美國當選總統唐納德.特朗普(Donald Trump)已承諾退出巴拉克.奧巴馬(Barack Obama)總統推動達成的《跨太平洋夥伴關係協定》(TPP)，這個貿易協定本來會使美國與11個其他太平洋貿易國家更緊密地聯繫在一起。
Separately, Wipo said trademark applications surged 16 per cent worldwide to 5.9m last year, while industrial design applications increased 2.3 per cent globally to 873,000. China led the world in both categories as well.
另外，世界知識產權組織表示，去年全球商標申請飆升16%，達到590萬件；全球工業設計知識產權申請增長2.3%，達到87.3萬件。中國在這兩個領域也都領先於世界。
Mr Trump recently won a protracted trademark case against a Chinese construction services company that had registered the Trump brand.
特朗普最近贏得一起拖延已久的商標案，對方是一家註冊了特朗普品牌的中國建築服務公司。
