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，我们这些电子商务的创始人和领导人在此集会，共同呼吁修改美国专利法。我们认为互联网的发展已形成了一些新商业模式，专利法必须加以修改才能应付这种新情况。

我同在线书店亚马逊电子商务公司的首席执行官杰夫・贝索斯持有相同的观点。贝索斯先生在一封公开信中指出，现行的专利法若不加以修正以适应电子商务的新模式，最终将影响所有商务活动。

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.

我认为，制定美国专利法的根本出发点是为了保护那些投资开发新产品、新系统和新方法者的商业权利。我在这里提议，专利权的保护期应该从原来的17年缩短为4年。同时我也建议，专利发布前应该有一个月的公示咨询期。这些改革的目的是为了确保获得专利权的商务模式和软件能更快地进入公共领域。

亚马逊公司曾遭到一些批评，有人指责亚马逊公司滥用现行法律，使一些极其普通的商务方法得到专利保护，这些商务方法没有任何特殊之处，所有人都有权使用。亚马逊公司有两个典型的专利保护例子，一是所谓的网上一次点击购物法，一是对向亚马逊公司转让客户的其他网站支付费用的程序。凭我在加州硅谷高科技公司的工作经验，当现行的商务模式专利保护与因特网联系在一起时，就会出现最严重的问题。

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.

当你把商务模式专利保护与因特网使用结合在一起时，你会发现一个十分有趣的巧合。因特网可以提供做事的新方法。你可以在网上使用电子购物手推车，所谓的电子购物手推车不过是对现实生活中的手推车的模拟，但由于出现在一个新的环境中，出现在一个新的媒介中，这种模拟方法因其新颖而可以申请专利保护。

如果想让专利法的修改真正起到作用，那就必须加快修订步伐，不然的话，等越来越多的商务模式新专利颁布之后再进行修改，为时也就太晚了。电子商务产业的一些同行已开始游说立法人士修改法律。但是我们还得耐心等待，现在提出的修改建议至少要等上两年才能被立法部门确定为正式的法律。

责任编辑：admin