首页
登录
职称英语
"Conquest by Patents" Patents are a form of intellectual property rights ofte
"Conquest by Patents" Patents are a form of intellectual property rights ofte
游客
2024-01-03
8
管理
问题
"Conquest by Patents"
Patents are a form of
intellectual property
rights often touted as a means to give ’incentive and reward’ to inventors. But they’re also a cause for massive protests by farmers, numerous lawsuits by transnational corporations and indigenous peoples, and countless rallies and declarations by members of civil society. It is impossible to understand why they can have all these effects unless you first recognize that patents are about the control of technology and the protection of competitive advantage.
Lessons from History
In the 1760s, the Englishman Richard Arkwright invented the water-powered spinning frame, a machine destined to bring cotton-spinning out of the home and into the factory. It was an invention which made Britain a world-class power in the manufacture of cloth. To pretect its competitive advantage and ensure the market for manufactured cloth in British colonies, Parliament enacted a series of restrictive measures including the prohibition of the export of Arkwright machinery or the emigration of any workers who had worked in factories using it. From 1774 on, those caught sending Arkwright machines or workers abroad from England were subject to fines and 12 years in jail.
In 1790, Samuel Slater, who had worked for years in the Arkwright mills, left England for the New World disguised as a farmer. A He thereby enabled the production of commercial-grade cotton cloth in the New World and put the U.S. firmly on the road to the Industrial Revolution and economic independence. B Slater was highly rewarded for his achievement. C He is still deemed the ’father of American manufacturing’. D To the English, however, he was an intellectual property thief.
Interestingly, patent protection was a part of U.S. law at the time of Slater’s deed. But that protection would only extend to U.S. innovations. It is worth remembering that until the 1970s it was understood, even accepted, that countries only enforced those patent protections that served their national interest. When the young United States pirated the intellectual property of Europe—and Slater wasn’t the only infringer—people in the U.S. saw the theft as a justifiable response to England’s refusal to transfer its technology.
By the early 1970s, the situation had changed. U.S. industry demanded greater protection for its idea-based products—such as computers and biotechnology—for which it still held the worldwide lead. Together with its like-minded industrial allies, the U.S. pushed for the inclusion of intellectual property clauses, including standards for patents, in international trade agreements.
When U.S. business groups explained the ’need’ for patents and trademarks in trade agreements, they alleged $40-60 billion losses due to intellectual property piracy; they blamed the losses on Third World pirates; they discussed how piracy undermined the incentive to invest; and they claimed that the quality of pirated products was lower than the real thing and was costing lives.
The opposition pointed out that many of the products made in the industrial world, almost all its food crops and a high percentage of its medicines had originated in plant and animal germplasm taken from the developing world. First, knowledge of the material and how to use it was stolen, and later the material itself was taken. For all this, they said, barely a cent of royalties had been paid. Such unacknowledged and uncompensated appropriation they named ’biopiracy’ and they reasoned that trade agreement patent rules were likely to facilitate more theft of their genetic materials. Their claim that materials ’collected’ in the developing world were stolen, elicited a counterclaim that these were ’natural’ or ’raw’ materials and therefore did not qualify for patents. This in turn induced a counter-explanation that such materials were not ’raw’ but rather the result of millennia of study, selection, protection, conservation, development and refinement by communities of Majority World and indigenous peoples.
Others pointed out that trade agreements which forced the adoption of unsuitable notions of property and creativity—not to mention an intolerable commercial relationship to nature—were not only insulting but also exceedingly costly. To a developing world whose creations might not qualify for patents and royalties, there was first of all the cost of unrealized profit. Secondly, there was the cost of added expense for goods from the industrialized world. For most of the people on the planet, the whole patenting process would lead to greater and greater indebtedness; for them, the trade agreements would amount to ’conquest by patents’—no matter what the purported commercial benefits.
Glossary
intellectual property: an invention or composition that belongs to the person who created it [br] An introduction for a short summary of the passage appears below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that mention the most important points in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not included in the passage or are minor points from the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Patents are used to protect the competitive interests of nations and control the ownership of technology.
-
-
-
Answer Choices
A The purpose of patents is to protect the originator from competition and control of the technology.
B In 1790, Samuel Slater, an English citizen who smuggled plans for a textile mill into the United States, was considered a thief.
C Anyone who conspired to send machines or workers at the Arkwright factory overseas could suffer fines or even a jail term of 12 years.
D The United States, along with other industrialized nations, pushed for more protection of intellectual property in trade agreements negotiated in the 1970s.
E U.S.-based businesses claimed that the infringement of intellectual property rights by pirates cost them $40-60 billion in lost profits.
F The developing world has opposed trade agreements that favor the industrialized nations and ignore the origin of the plant and animal products used.
选项
答案
A, D, F
解析
summarize the passage. Choices B and C provide an example that develops major point A. Choice E is a detail that supports major point D.
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3329382.html
相关试题推荐
Amergerisachievedwhenacompanypurchasedtheproperty(ofother)firms,(th
Anactivistforwomen’s(rights),LeonoraO’Reillypromotedwomen’svocationalt
PatentsandInventionsWhenaninventionismade,thei
PatentsandInventionsWhenaninventionismade,thei
PatentsandInventionsWhenaninventionismade,thei
PatentsandInventionsWhenaninventionismade,thei
PatentsandInventionsWhenaninventionismade,thei
PatentsandInventionsWhenaninventionismade,thei
PatentsandInventionsWhenaninventionismade,thei
"ConquestbyPatents"→Patentsareaformofintellectualpr
随机试题
Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteanessay.Supposetherear
股权投资基金要求目标公司通过保密协议或其他方式,确保其董事、高管和其他关键员工不
下列( )经济现象会引起股票市场的行情看涨.A.财政部宣布提供资金用于基础设施
下列哪项不是中毒型菌痢的临床特征()A.急性高热,反复惊厥,昏迷 B.腹
A.防腐剂B.增稠和稳定的作用C.调整稠度、增加润滑性D.乳化剂E.保湿剂盐酸苯
按照Bronsted-Lowry酸碱理论,给出质子的物质称为A.质子给予体 B
慢性支气管炎最常见的并发症是A.支气管扩张 B.阻塞性肺气肿 C.肺脓肿
两块土地,面积和肥沃程度相同,一块离市场较近,一块离市场较远,租用前者必须多交一
可降低苯妥英钠代谢,使苯妥英钠血浆浓度增高的药物是A.华法林 B.氯霉素 C
关于绩效评价技术的说法,正确的是( )。A.行为观察量表开发成本较低,且应用者
最新回复
(
0
)