科技行业巨头之间专利权大战硝烟再起

The long-running patent war among the technology industry's heavyweights just grew a whole lot bigger-and more controversial.
科技行业巨头之间的专利战由来已久，而现在只是变得更大、更具争议性。

After a brief hiatus for major new litigation, a joint venture owned by Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., BlackBerry Ltd. , Ericsson Inc., and Sony Corp. launched a barrage of new lawsuits against a group of defendants that include Google Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Inc., HTC Corp. and Huawei Technologies Co.
在偃旗息鼓了一小阵子之后，新的大战再次发动：由苹果(Apple Inc.)、微软(Microsoft Corp.)、黑莓(BlackBerry Ltd.)、爱立信(Ericsson Inc.)和索尼(Sony Corp.)组成的财团Rockstar Consortium上周对谷歌(Google Inc.)、三星电子(Samsung Electronics Co. )、LG电子(LG Electronics Inc.)、宏达国际(HTC Corp.)以及华为(Huawei Technologies Co.)提起多项专利权诉讼。

The suits, brought by the so-called Rockstar Consortium, largely position companies that don't sell smartphones built around Google's Android operating system against those that do. The suits accuse most of the defendants of violating patents involving smartphone designs and features. The litigation also targets parts of Google's core Web-search technology, based on patents Rockstar bought from Nortel Networks Inc. in 2011 after defeating Google in a bidding war.
ReutersRockstar提起的这些诉讼令不生产安卓手机的厂商与生产安卓手机的厂商对立了起来。这基本上意味着非安卓(Android)操作系统手机生产商与安卓手机生产商这两大阵营的对峙。诉状指控大多数被告侵犯智能手机设计和功能相关的专利权。诉讼还把目标指向了谷歌核心的网络搜索技术的一些内容，主要根据的是Rockstar 2011年击败谷歌、从北电网络有限公司(Nortel Networks)购得的专利。

That purchase of the 6,000 Nortel patents caused anxiety at the Justice Department. A chief concern was that Apple and Microsoft, which took ownership of many patents related to wireless standards, rather than leave them with Rockstar, would use the patents to quash competition.
当时Rockstar收购北电6,000项专利引发了美国司法部(Justice Department)的不安。司法部主要担心的是，持有了许多无线标准专利、而不是留给Rockstar的苹果和微软会利用这些专利权打压竞争对手。

The Justice Department ultimately blessed the deal last year after getting concessions from the companies that they would agree to license the patents on 'fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory' terms.
在这些公司同意做出让步、同意按照“公平、合理以及无歧视”条件将这些专利授权给其他公司之后，司法部去年最终批准了这笔交易。

The patents at the heart of the Rockstar suits filed last week don't pertain to standards. Also, the Justice Department's agreements were with Apple and Microsoft, not the consortium, which was formed during the bidding for the Nortel patents. Rockstar took ownership of most of the patents that the companies bought.
Rockstar上周所提起的这起诉讼的核心是与标准无关的专利。此外司法部的协议是与苹果和微软，而非Rockstar达成的。该财团是在竞购北电专利权的过程中组建的，并且持有这些公司所收购的大多数专利权。

Rockstar says the handset makers have infringed patents related to some basic features of many smartphones, including a 2000 patent that relates to navigating through documents on a hand-held device. Rockstar is seeking injunctions to prevent the handset makers from infringing its patents and pursuing unspecified damages from the handset makers and Google.
Rockstar称，众手机生产商侵犯了与许多智能手机的一些基本功能相关的专利权，其中包括一项与在手持设备上搜索文件相关的专利。该财团寻求法院发布禁制令以阻止这些生产商的侵权行为，并向它们以及谷歌索赔，索赔数额不详。

Some legal experts expect the lawsuits will trigger renewed attention to Rockstar, largely because it gives the appearance that three leading competitors to Android are teaming up against it.
一些法律专家预计这些诉讼将令Rockstar再度成为关注焦点，很大程度上是因为诉讼表面上看起来是安卓遭到了三大主要竞争对手的联手狙击。

'Alarm bells have to be going off at the Justice Department,' said Michael Carrier, a professor at Rutgers School of Law who specializes in antitrust and patents.
罗格斯法学院(Rutgers School of Law)专攻反垄断及专利权的教授Michael Carrier称，司法部应该警惕起来。