Ex--1
Joe Nocera: A patent shame （25）
乔•诺塞拉：一个关于专利的丑闻
Our story today is about a patent fight. But before your eyes glaze over, let me reassure you: It has a feisty protagonist, a really rich guy on the other side, and a surpri ending.
我们今天的故事是关于一场专利之争。但是在您的眼睛困合之前，我要向您保证：一方面，这个故事有着一个争强好胜的主角，另一方面，它也很丰富多彩，并且它还有一个令人惊奇的结局。
Patent disputes have become part of the dark underbelly of business. So- called patent trolls acquire patents, often from bankrupt companies, and instead of using them to make and ll a product, they extract licensing fees from companies that are.
专利之争已经成为黑暗交易的一部分，所谓的专利魔头，通常从破产的公司那里获得专利，他们并不使用和出售这些产品，而是从同业其他公司那里赚取许可费。
Patent litigation is expensive, and the judicial system tends to be sympathetic to the patent holder. So companies usually come to the obvious conclusion: It makes more n to pay than to fight.
专利之诉的费用很高，而且司法系统倾向于维护专利持有者。所以，公司间经常达成协议：支付费用比诉讼费更为划算。
But a few years ago, one chief executive decided that enough was enough.Our protagonist is Donald Katz, who in 1996. Audible is the company that allows you to download books onto your iPod, so you can listen to them during your commute. Before starting Audible, Katz was a highly regarded author; he and I first crosd paths in the late 1980s when he wrote veral articles for New England Monthly, where I was an editor.
但是几年前，一位首席执行官认为应当适可而止。我们故事的主角叫做唐纳德•卡茨，他在1996年创立了欧迪博网站。欧迪博是一家提供下载电子书到苹果机上的公司，这样一来，你就可以在上下班的路上听了。在创办欧迪博公司之前，卡茨曾是一位很受尊敬的作家。
我是在20世纪80年代后期得知他的大名的，那时他曾为《新英格兰月报》写过几篇文章，而我当时正是这个月报的编辑。
Writers usually have no head for business, but Katz was an exception. In its early days the company invented a device that allowed people to listen to a downloaded Audible book. Thanks to the ubiquitous iPod, the device is now history. The small company went public in 1999 and is growing healthily.
作者通常都不精通于经商，但是卡茨是个例外。早期这家公司发明了一个装置，此装置能使人们收听下载的电子听力书。多亏了无处不在的苹果，现在这一装置已经成为了历史。这个小公司在1999年上市，现在运作得很好。
Audible had its first brush with a patent troll in 2000. "Their patent involved a completely different business model from ours," Katz recalled. But fearing that a protracted battle would damage the young company, Audible decided to ttle. "It just killed me," Katz said.
欧迪博公司在2000年开始了第一起专利之争。“他们的专利经营模式跟我们的完全不同，”卡茨回忆道。但是，为了避免持久战会拖垮这家小公司，欧迪博公司决定解决这一争议。“这简直杀了我。”卡茨说。
Three years later, a company called Digeo claimed that Audible was infringing Patent No. 5,734,823, which Digeo had bought in a bankruptcy proceeding. Katz and Audible's patent lawyer, Steven Kelber, were already accud of infringement by '823's prior owner, but Audible turned that company away with a denial.
3年之后，一家名叫迪亚哥的公司称欧迪博公司侵犯了它通过破产程序从另一家公司购买的第5，734，823号专利。卡茨和欧迪博公司专利律师史蒂芬•凯博已经因为侵犯第823号专利权的优先所有权而被起诉，但是欧迪博公司否认了那家公司的主张。
They said the same thing to Digeo, but it was not so easily deterred. The company lls Moxi, a digital video recorder that competes against Motorola and Scientific Atlanta, though not with much success. So Digeo has also worked to extract licensing fees for the '823'.
Digeo has the deepest pockets imaginable. It is backed primarily by Vulcan, which is the investment vehicle of Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft and the third richest man in the United States. He is also the chairman of Digeo's board.
Of all the things about the patent dispute that drove Katz crazy, Allen's involvement probably topped the list. Katz had once written a magazine article about Allen, and he had an idealized view of the Microsoft co-founder as "someone who actually invented something," and who should therefore be sympathetic to others innovators.
Although Digeo was asking for only $400,000, Audible refud to pay. So in 2005, Digeo sued. Katz went to the Audible board and explained that it was undoubtedly going to cost more to fight the suit than to pay the fee, but he felt the company had to show that it wasn't going to roll over. The board agreed.
I should point out here that Digeo strongly objects to being labeled a patent troll. According to a company spokeswoman, the company us the '823 in Moxi, and is merely trying to protect its intellectual property. Jim Blaisdell, the executive who manages
the patent, said, "It is not patent- trolling when you have a real business to protect." But it is difficult to e how trying to extract $400,000 from a company that lls digital books is "protecting" Digeo's struggling DVR business.
