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  3. After years of dithering (徘徊犹豫), America is set for patent reform. On September 6th a bill proposing to change the system passed

After years of dithering (徘徊犹豫), America is set for patent reform. On September 6th a bill proposing to change the system passed

admin2022-01-18  79
问题     After years of dithering (徘徊犹豫), America is set for patent reform. On September 6th a bill proposing to change the system passed its highest procedural hurdle (障碍) in the Senate. With Barack Obama supportive, this means the America Invents Act could soon be signed into law.
    Instead of the "first to invent" principle, which America currently uses, patents will be awarded to inventors who are the "first to file". This is similar to the system most other countries use. The aim is to avoid long and difficult legal arguments over who was the first to come up with an idea.
    As in most cases of patent law it is not going to be that simple. One criticism is that being first-to-file gives big and sophisticated organizations, highly experienced at the difficult job of filing for patents, an advantage over smaller outfits that may be technically brilliant but not legally savvy. Another problem is that first-to-file may make companies rush to put in for a patent before their invention is truly ready.
    Moreover, the law does little to address the more basic problem of a patent system that has grown in expense for all kinds of companies that want to protect their ideas. With the number of disputed cases going to trial, legal costs have ballooned. To many, the system looks like a lottery.
    Those who think that patents are granted too easily complain that the bill will still allow too many suits, especially those by "non-practising entities" , which are also known derisively (嘲笑地) as "patent trolls". They buy up patents and then license them or sue for infringement, rather than using the patents themselves. The too-many-patents crowd wanted to do away, in particular, with "business-method" patents, which claim to have invented a new way of doing business. Instead, the bill did this only for the financial industry, after strenuous (费力的) lobbying by Wall Street. And many advocated making it harder to get any kind of patent at all.
    The bill does make some changes that could be positive. It creates several new procedures to deter or defeat bad patents. First, one would let an alleged infringer of a patent challenge its validity at the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), rather than going to court. This would, in theory, be cheaper and faster. But it could still be followed by a lawsuit.
    Second, the bill expands the right of third parties to join the fray (争斗) at the PTO by showing "prior art"—meaning the invention is already known about and so a patent should not be granted. This might save time and money for firms which would be affected by a dodgy patent, allowing them to argue things out at an early stage rather than later on in a costly courtroom.
What’s the complaint about the new bill?
选项 A、It is harder to file a patent under the new bill.
B、It is harder to decide the patent right under the new bill.
C、The new bill can not stop lawsuits against patent rights.
D、The new bill does not protect the "business-method" patents.
答案C
解析 由题干中的complaint about the new bill定位到原文第五段第一句细节辨认题。本题考查新法案引起了什么抱怨。定位句指出，那些认为申请专利过于容易的公司抱怨，新法案将会引发更多的诉讼纠纷，特别是对那些非专利使用实体来说，这些实体公司被戏称为“专利的中转站”。C)“新的专利法无法防止专利权纠纷诉讼”与原文表述一致，故为答案。
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