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An intellectual-property exchange
知識產權交易
Marketplace of ideas
創意集市
A new financial exchange hopes to make it easier to trade patent rights
愿新型金融交易讓專利買賣更容易
THE technology industry is at war over intellectual property.
科技產業就知識產權的問題一直紛爭不斷。
On May 7th the first round of a three-part fight between Oracle and Google over patent and copyright claims relating to the Java programming language ended in a decision that denied outright victory to either firm.
5月7日，甲骨文和谷歌就與編程語言Java相關的專利和版權聲明進行了多回合的首輪較量，結果雙方鎩羽而歸。
Apple, Samsung and others are fighting over smartphone patents.
蘋果、三星及其他廠商在智能手機的專利權問題上拼得焦頭爛額。
Facebook and Yahoo! are at loggerheads over internet patents.
臉譜網和雅虎也因互聯網專利鬧得很不愉快。
Accusations abound that innovation is taking a back seat to litigation.
官司鋪天蓋地，逼得創新給訴訟讓位。
Only the lawyers are smiling.
唯獨律師喜笑顏開。
All of which makes this a good time to launch a new approach to trading intellectual property, says Gerard Pannekoek, the boss of IPXI,
這些紛爭為知識產權交易創造了良機，國際知識產權交易所公司聯席主席拉德·潘涅庫克如是說到。
a new financial exchange that lets companies buy, sell and hedge patent rights, just like any other asset.
像處置資產一樣，該交易所的新型金融交易可以讓公司購買、出售并保有專利權。
The idea is to offer a patent or group of patents as unit licence rights, which can be bought and sold like shares.
該公司的構想是將專利單個或打包成授權的專利組合提供，這些專利可以像股份一樣買賣。
A ULR grants a one-time right to use a particular technology in a single product: a new type of airbag sensor in a car, say.
一個授權專利組合允許在單件產品上一次性使用某個技術：這就是說，一個新式的安全氣囊傳感器僅能用于一輛轎車。
If a company wants to use the technology in 100,000 cars, it buys 100,000 ULRs at the market price.
若一家公司想在十萬量轎車上都應用該技術，它就得按市場價購進同等數量的技術許可。
ULRs are also expected to be traded on secondary markets.
授權的專利組合也可在二級市場上交易。
This is simpler, faster and cheaper than the lawyer-intensive process of negotiating bilateral licences for intellectual property, the high cost of which discriminates against small companies, leaves patents unused on the shelf and hampers innovation.
用這種辦法交易知識產權，要比采用律師密集型的雙邊專利授權協商來的快，也更簡單、更廉價。司法協商費用高昂，對小企業不公，也會讓專利受束高閣，從而有礙創新。
IPXI's approach does not work for all types of intellectual property—it does not allow exclusive licensing, for example—but should make it easier for companies to make money from their inventions.
然而，國際知識產權交易所公司的這種專利交易方式并不對各類知識產權通通適用——打個比方來說，它就不允許獨家授權—但這種方式讓企業通過發明創造來獲利更加容易。
It's a great form of non-dilutive funding for start-ups, suggests Mr. Pannekoek.
對剛上市的公司來說，這種籌款方式能夠很好地規避股權收益的減損。潘涅庫克先生這樣表示。
The exchange has signed up 30 members including Philips, an electronics giant, and several universities and research laboratories.
目前該交易所公司的加盟成員已達30個，其中不乏電子巨頭飛利浦，此外，數所大學和研究實驗室也投身其中。
IPXI was set up in 2008 by Ocean Tomo, a merchant bank that specialises in intellectual property, and its investors include CBOE Holdings, the parent company of the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
國際知識產權交易所公司由Ocean Tomo于2008年組建，后者是一家專業服務于知識產權領域的商業銀行，芝加哥期權交易所的母公司芝加哥期權交易控股集團是該銀行的投資方之一。
On May 4th IPXI published the rulebook that governs how the exchange will work, and it expects to open for business later this year.
5月4日，國際知識產權交易所公司公布了一份規范，用以指導產權買賣，以期于今年晚些時候開放商業性產權交易。
Its novel approach is ideal for the open, non-exclusive licensing of smartphone-related patents, says Ruud Peters, chief intellectual-property officer at Philips.
飛利浦的首席知識產權官路德?彼得斯稱這一新舉措將不斷開放與智能手機相關的專利、進一步破除獨家授權，形勢一片大好。
Good news for innovators, perhaps, but bad news for lawyers?
對發明家們來說，這或許是個利好消息，可對那些律師來講呢
