IBM公司500項軟件專利不再獨自享用英語美文

IBM Patents to Aid Open-source Projects

美國國際商用機器公司(IBM)1月11日宣佈，該公司將公開自己擁有的500項軟件技術專利，以提供給那些使用共享資源的用户免費使用。

IBM announced on Tuesday that it was making 500 of its software patents freely available to anyone working on open-source projects, like the popular Linux operating system, on which programmers collaborate and share code.

美國國際商用機器公司(IBM)1月11日宣佈，該公司將公開自己擁有的500項軟件技術專利，以提供給那些使用共享資源的用户免費使用。

據法國《國際先驅論壇報》1月11日報道，這是IBM公司利用專利權、商標法等措施保護知識產權的一次轉型。一般而言，企業對於其擁有的知識產權一般通過申請專利、版權、註冊商標等形式來加以保護。如果其他人想使用這些技術，企業便可以收取一定的費用。在這方面的.操作，IBM公司可以説是其中的典範。該公司去年通過出售專利許可權而收取的費用至少有10億美元。

目前，IBM公司擁有的專利數量在全世界公司中排行首位。但是，公司發明專利的步伐卻並沒有慢下來。2004年，IBM申請了3248項專利，遠遠超出了其他公司。

過去幾年中，IBM在軟件公共資源的開發中作了很大的貢獻。IBM公司此次的舉動並不是僅僅考慮到公司本身的利益，而是想通過技術公開和共享來促進經濟增長，增加就業。在這一點上，IBM公司和一些學術人士的想法不謀而合。

The announcement represents a shift away from the traditional corporate approach to protecting ownership of ideas through patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade-secret laws. The conventional practice is to amass as many patents as possible and then charge anyone who wants access to them.

International Business Machines has long been the champion of that formula. The company collected $1 billion or more last year from licensing its inventions, analysts estimate.

The move comes after a lengthy internal review by IBM - which has more patents than any other company in the world - of its strategy toward intellectual property. IBM executives said the patent donation on Tuesday would be the first of several such steps.

IBM may be redefining its intellectual-property strategy, but it apparently has no intention of slowing the pace of its patent activity. IBM was granted 3,248 patents in 2004, far more than any other company, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

IBM executives say the company"s new approach to intellectual property represents more than a rethinking of where IBM"s self-interest lies. In recent speeches, for example, Samuel Palmisano, chief executive, has emphasized the need for more open technology standards and collaboration as a way to stimulate economic growth and job creation.

On this issue, IBM appears to be siding with a growing number of academics and industry analysts who regard open-source software projects as early evidence of the wide collaboration and innovation made possible by the Internet, providing opportunities for economies, companies and individuals who can exploit the new model.