For most of the past 30 years, the leaders in patent filing were without doubt Japan and the US, with Europe bumping along in third place. But from the early 2000s, China began to emerge as a significant force, and each year since 2011 more patent applications have been filed in China than in any other intellectual property office around the globe.

　　在過去的30年時間里，在專利申請方面，日本和美國是毫無疑問的領(lǐng)頭羊，歐洲緊隨其后。但是從2000以后，中國異軍突起，從2011年開始后的每一年中國所申請的專利數(shù)目比全球其它任何一個國家都要多。

　　The initial rush was for domestically filed patents, but Chinese companies soon began looking for international markets, with the latest data from the European Patent Office (EPO) putting China fourth in the volume of patents filed in the EU last year, up from 12th less than a decade ago.

　　最開始的專利申請高潮出現(xiàn)在國內(nèi)，但是中國公司很快開始尋找國際市場，根據(jù)歐洲專利公司的最新數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2014年歐洲專利申請總數(shù)中，中國排名第四，較上一年上升了8個位次。

　　The majority of applications for patents in Europe now come from outside the continent, with Germany the only European country to make it into the top five. In total, more than 274,000 patents were applied for at the EPO last year, an all-time high.

　　歐洲的專利申請大部分來自于歐洲大陸以外的國家，只有德國專利申請可以躋身前五，去年歐洲專利公司接受的申請案例多達(dá)274000，是歷年最高。

　　Part of the reason for the burgeoning number of Chinese patents in Europe is a need to catch up. China’s stock of international patents remains small compared with its research and development (R&D) spending. If Chinese companies are to compete for business in Europe, they will need to ensure that the IP underpinning their technology is owned by them and legal in the EU.

　　中國專利申請的總數(shù)激增的重要原因就是要迎頭趕上。中國對國際專利的投資遠(yuǎn)不及其對研發(fā)的投入。如果中國公司想要與歐洲企業(yè)競爭，他們必須保證他們科技背后的專利是屬于他們的，并且在歐盟是合法使用的。

　　As an indication of the importance that the Chinese government attaches to the issue, in 2012 it began offering subsidies for foreign filings in addition to those it offers for domestic filings.

　　意識到知識產(chǎn)權(quán)重要性的中國政府開始強(qiáng)調(diào)專利的重要性，并從2012年開始，不僅為國內(nèi)知識產(chǎn)權(quán)申請?zhí)峁┭a(bǔ)貼，更為國際專利申請?zhí)峁┭a(bǔ)貼。

　　The often repeated charge that many of the patent applications from China are of low quality has some support in the data. While China accounts for about 10 per cent of patents filed to the EPO, when it comes to patents granted the proportion drops to 2 per cent.

　　但是中國的專利申請也有一個問題被人反復(fù)詬病，及其專利的質(zhì)量較低。中國向歐盟申請的專利數(shù)目占總數(shù)的10%，但是最后能申請下來專利的項(xiàng)目，中國只占了2%。

　　The more knotty question is whether patent applications — or even those that are granted — tell us anything meaningful about the comparative state of innovation between countries.

　　但是一個更為關(guān)鍵的問題是，專利應(yīng)用——甚至是那些獲得專利的項(xiàng)目真能反應(yīng)兩個國家競爭狀態(tài)嗎？

　　The UK’s Intellectual Property Office, which is responsible for overall UK intellectual property policy as well as granting UK patents, trademarks and design rights, thinks not. “To approximate a level of innovation purely on patent numbers would be a one-dimensional, and woefully inadequate, way to understand the breadth of activity that characterises innovation,” according to a spokesman for the Office.

　　英國知識產(chǎn)權(quán)辦公室不這么認(rèn)為，它負(fù)責(zé)全英知識產(chǎn)權(quán)政策及英國專利、商標(biāo)和設(shè)計(jì)權(quán)的授予工作�！叭绻�只憑專利申請數(shù)目來判斷創(chuàng)新的水平未免太單一了，而且也不夠，遠(yuǎn)不能了解創(chuàng)新活動的廣度�！痹撧k公室的發(fā)言人如是說道。

　　Elena Novelli, lecturer at Cass Business School in London, is more measured, saying: “Certainly, the number of patents filed is a metric, but it is not the ultimate metric.” There are no hard and fast statistics on how many patents actually make money, but Bloomberg Business says that of 1.5m US patents in effect in the mid-2000s, only about 3,000 were commercially viable. Dr Novelli stressed that even among those which make money, their value can be very skewed, with a high number of inventions turning out not to have much value and only a few being of high value.

　　埃琳娜·諾偉利是倫敦卡斯商學(xué)院的講師，他認(rèn)為：“當(dāng)然，專利申請數(shù)字是一個衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，但是并非最終的衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)�！标P(guān)于多少專利能真正盈利并沒有確鑿的數(shù)字，但是彭博商業(yè)周刊稱在2000中期，美國申請了150萬個專利，但是只有3000個專利是有商業(yè)回報(bào)的。諾偉利強(qiáng)調(diào)，即使在那些有商業(yè)回報(bào)的專利中，其商業(yè)利潤也有限，大量的專利都沒有什么商業(yè)價值，只有極少數(shù)具有很高的商業(yè)價值。