科技行業巨頭之間專利權大戰硝煙再起大綱

The long-running patent war among the technology industry's heavyweights just grew a whole lot bigger-and more controversial.
科技行業巨頭之間的專利戰由來已久，而現在只是變得更大、更具爭議性。

After a brief hiatus for major new litigation, a joint venture owned by Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., BlackBerry Ltd. , Ericsson Inc., and Sony Corp. launched a barrage of new lawsuits against a group of defendants that include Google Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Inc., HTC Corp. and Huawei Technologies Co.
在偃旗息鼓了一小陣子之後，新的大戰再次發動：由蘋果(Apple Inc.)、微軟(Microsoft Corp.)、黑莓(BlackBerry Ltd.)、愛立信(Ericsson Inc.)和索尼(Sony Corp.)組成的財團Rockstar Consortium上週對谷歌(Google Inc.)、三星電子(Samsung Electronics Co. )、LG電子(LG Electronics Inc.)、宏達國際(HTC Corp.)以及華爲(Huawei Technologies Co.)提起多項專利權訴訟。

The suits, brought by the so-called Rockstar Consortium, largely position companies that don't sell smartphones built around Google's Android operating system against those that do. The suits accuse most of the defendants of violating patents involving smartphone designs and features. The litigation also targets parts of Google's core Web-search technology, based on patents Rockstar bought from Nortel Networks Inc. in 2011 after defeating Google in a bidding war.
ReutersRockstar提起的這些訴訟令不生產安卓手機的廠商與生產安卓手機的廠商對立了起來。這基本上意味着非安卓(Android)操作系統手機生產商與安卓手機生產商這兩大陣營的對峙。訴狀指控大多數被告侵犯智能手機設計和功能相關的專利權。訴訟還把目標指向了谷歌核心的網絡搜索技術的一些內容，主要根據的是Rockstar 2011年擊敗谷歌、從北電網絡有限公司(Nortel Networks)購得的專利。

That purchase of the 6,000 Nortel patents caused anxiety at the Justice Department. A chief concern was that Apple and Microsoft, which took ownership of many patents related to wireless standards, rather than leave them with Rockstar, would use the patents to quash competition.
當時Rockstar收購北電6,000項專利引發了美國司法部(Justice Department)的不安。司法部主要擔心的是，持有了許多無線標準專利、而不是留給Rockstar的蘋果和微軟會利用這些專利權打壓競爭對手。

The Justice Department ultimately blessed the deal last year after getting concessions from the companies that they would agree to license the patents on 'fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory' terms.
在這些公司同意做出讓步、同意按照“公平、合理以及無歧視”條件將這些專利授權給其他公司之後，司法部去年最終批准了這筆交易。

The patents at the heart of the Rockstar suits filed last week don't pertain to standards. Also, the Justice Department's agreements were with Apple and Microsoft, not the consortium, which was formed during the bidding for the Nortel patents. Rockstar took ownership of most of the patents that the companies bought.
Rockstar上週所提起的這起訴訟的核心是與標準無關的專利。此外司法部的協議是與蘋果和微軟，而非Rockstar達成的。該財團是在競購北電專利權的過程中組建的，並且持有這些公司所收購的大多數專利權。

Rockstar says the handset makers have infringed patents related to some basic features of many smartphones, including a 2000 patent that relates to navigating through documents on a hand-held device. Rockstar is seeking injunctions to prevent the handset makers from infringing its patents and pursuing unspecified damages from the handset makers and Google.
Rockstar稱，衆手機生產商侵犯了與許多智能手機的一些基本功能相關的專利權，其中包括一項與在手持設備上搜索文件相關的專利。該財團尋求法院發佈禁制令以阻止這些生產商的侵權行爲，並向它們以及谷歌索賠，索賠數額不詳。

Some legal experts expect the lawsuits will trigger renewed attention to Rockstar, largely because it gives the appearance that three leading competitors to Android are teaming up against it.
一些法律專家預計這些訴訟將令Rockstar再度成爲關注焦點，很大程度上是因爲訴訟表面上看起來是安卓遭到了三大主要競爭對手的聯手狙擊。

'Alarm bells have to be going off at the Justice Department,' said Michael Carrier, a professor at Rutgers School of Law who specializes in antitrust and patents.
羅格斯法學院(Rutgers School of Law)專攻反壟斷及專利權的教授Michael Carrier稱，司法部應該警惕起來。The Justice Department declined to comment.

司法部不予置評。

Rockstar Chief Executive John Veschi said the consortium, not the shareholder companies, made the decision to sue. 'This really has nothing to with Apple or Microsoft,' he said.
Rockstar首席執行長韋斯基(John Veschi)說，決定提起訴訟的是該公司自己，而非股東公司。他說，這確實與蘋果和微軟沒有什麼關係。

Mr. Veschi said that his efforts to license the patents hadn't gone as well as he had hoped in 2011. 'I figured that given the price that parties were willing to pay for these patents, talks to license them would be much easier,' Mr. Veschi said. 'We were reluctant to sue, but since we've paid the ante, I'm more than eager to enter good-faith negotiations.'
韋斯基說，他對外出售專利使用權的努力並沒有像他2011年所期望的那樣順利。韋斯基說，他曾認爲考慮到各方願意支付的價格，有關出售專利使用權的談判會很輕鬆。他表示，我們並不願意訴諸法律，但鑑於我們已經走到這一步，我非常願意本着誠信的原則進行談判。

Representatives for Google, Samsung, LG, and Huawei declined to comment on the lawsuits. HTC and three other defendants-Pantech Co., ZTE Corp. and Asustek Computer Inc. -didn't return requests for comment.
谷歌、三星、LG電子和華爲的代表拒絕就訴訟置評。宏達國際和其他三家被告公司Pantech Co.、中興通訊(ZTE Corp.)以及華碩電腦( Asustek Computer Inc.)沒有回覆置評請求。

'Although BlackBerry owns shares in Rockstar-BlackBerry does not have the voting power to control Rockstar's actions with respect to litigations,' a BlackBerry spokeswoman said. Apple, Microsoft and Ericsson declined to comment. Sony, which makes Android phones, also declined to comment.
黑莓的一位發言人說，雖然黑莓擁有Rockstar股份，但黑莓並沒有控制Rockstar提起訴訟的投票權。蘋果、微軟和愛立信拒絕置評。製造安卓手機的索尼也拒絕置評。

Technology companies have gotten used to patent litigation in recent years. The biggest players have sued and countersued in the U.S. and elsewhere, accusing each other of stealing their inventions.
近幾年來，科技公司已經習慣了專利訴訟。最大的幾家科技公司在美國和其他地方相互起訴，相互指控對方竊取自己的發明。

Little has been resolved. Some of the suits have settled. Judges or juries have decided several others, most notably the Apple-Samsung that ended last year in a $1.05 billion jury verdict in favor of Apple. The judge on that case later cut the award by about 40% and ordered a retrial on several damages issues, which is set to begin next week. Several cases are on appeal.
到目前爲止還沒有真正解決什麼問題。一些訴訟達成和解。法官和陪審團則對其他一些訴訟做出了裁決，其中最引人矚目的是蘋果和三星之間去年結束的訴訟，陪審團最終做出了10.5億美元對蘋果有利的裁決。該案的法官之後把賠償金額度降低了大約40%，並下令重新審理幾個賠償問題，審理時間下週開始。還有一些訴訟則處在上訴階段。

Nevertheless, the Rockstar lawsuits, filed Thursday in federal court in Marshall, Texas, sent shock waves through an industry for which courtroom brawling has become the norm.
儘管科技行業已經對訴訟習以爲常，Rockstar上週四在得克薩斯州馬歇爾聯邦法院提起的訴訟還是給這個行業帶來衝擊。

The Nortel patent portfolio at the center of the suits had been the subject of a high-stakes battle between Google and the Rockstar group 21/2 years ago. Google bid as much as $4.4 billion for the patents, but Rockstar won with a $4.5 billion bid.
訴訟涉及的關鍵內容是北電專利組合，這些專利在兩年半前曾是谷歌和Rockstar奮力爭奪的焦點。谷歌爲這些專利出價44億美元，但Rockstar最終以45億美元的出價勝出。

The new wave of suits reflects a marketplace where Android-powered phones have outsold their competitors by a wide margin in recent years. Android controls three-quarters of the world-wide market for smartphones, according to research firm IDC. Phones powered by operating systems owned by Apple, Microsoft and BlackBerry make up the bulk of the rest.
新訴訟出現的背景是，近幾年採用安卓系統的手機銷量遠超競爭對手。據研究公司國際數據公司(IDC)的數據顯示，全球範圍內，安卓手機佔據了四分之三的智能手機市場份額。餘下的市場主要由採用蘋果、微軟和黑莓操作系統的手機把持。

Mr. Veschi said Rockstar's lawsuit is legitimate under the settlement with the government. He said the agreements made by Apple and Microsoft and the Justice Department only applied to the patents that the companies held on to, not to Rockstar or its 4,000 patents. 'We got the OK to go off and assert these patents, and that's exactly what we're doing,' he said.
韋斯基說，根據與政府達成的和解，Rockstar提起的訴訟是合法的。他說，蘋果和微軟與司法部達成的協議只適用於這兩家公司擁有的專利，不涉及Rockstar或其4,000項專利。他表示，我們獲准提起訴訟並維護這些專利的所有權，這正是我們在做的事情。