美国商务部长在暨南大学的演讲

As China’s economy evolves from an export-driven model to one focusing on high-tech and high-value innovation and domestic consumption, intellectual property rights will become paramount. I know that building an effective patent and trademark system is not easy -- because over 200 years after its founding, the United States is still working to perfect its own.  
随着中国经济从出口推动型逐步转变为依靠高科技、高附加值创新及国内消费，知识产权将变得极端重要。我知道，建设一套行之有效的专利商标体系并不容易，因为在建国200多年后的今天，美国仍在努力完善自己的专利商标体系。

Only a few years after the American Revolution, our third president Thomas Jefferson helped create the U.S. patent office because he understood two fundamental truths.  He knew:
That long term economic growth was dependent on a continuous flow of new technologies and new ideas entering the marketplace;
But he also knew that without a promise of ownership protection for these ideas, innovators would never be willing to take risks to improve upon the status quo.
Although the United States continues efforts to reform our own patent system to reflect the rapid changes in the global economy, the necessity of having robust patent and trademark protections is not a matter of serious debate.
在美国独立战争之后不久，我们的第三任总统，托马斯?杰斐逊，就帮助创立了美国专利局，因为他充分理解两个基本事实。他知道：
长期的经济增长有赖于新科技和新创意不断流入市场；
他也知道，如果缺乏为这些创意提供所有权保护的承诺，创新人才就不愿冒着风险来改进现状。
尽管美国仍在继续努力，根据全球经济的不断变化来改革我们自己的专利体系，但为专利和商标提供稳健保护的必要性是毋庸置疑的。

And when I come to a place like Jinan University, it makes me believe that sentiment is starting to take deeper root in China. Soon enough, many of you will be entering the workforce. Perhaps you will find work here in Guangdong, which is one of the most economically vibrant areas in all of China.  It’s home to over 100,000 businesses, billions of dollars of foreign direct investment and has the highest number of patent filings and trademark registrations in China. Or perhaps you will find work in another part of China, or even in the United States or another country. But whether you make your mark here in Guandong or in California's Silicon Valley, you will soon see the value in the protection of ideas.
在我来到暨南大学这样的地方后，我了解到的情况让我确信，这种共识正开始在中国扎下根来。很快，你们许多人都将进入就业市场。也许你会在广东这里找到工作。作为中国经济最有活力的地区之一，广东拥有十几万家企业，成百上千亿美元的外商直接投资，以及中国数目最多的专利申请和商标登记。或者你会在中国其它地方，或者甚至在美国或其它国家找到工作。但无论你是在广东还是在加州的硅谷功成名就，你都将很快意识到为创意提供保护的价值。

Consider for a moment, the path of one of America's most famous innovators, Bill Gates.
When Bill Gates quit college to begin his path towards starting Microsoft, he had no guarantee of success. On numerous occasions, he faced failures and disappointments. But he kept moving forward, because he hoped that someday, all the money he invested and all the hours he labored just might result in the creation of something special that he could call his own. And because Bill Gates received IP protection for his ideas, millions of people around the world have benefited. Somewhere in the world, perhaps somewhere in this room, is the Bill Gates of clean energy, or the Bill Gates of medical research -- and we need to make sure whoever that person is has similar protection.
让我们来想想美国最著名的创新者之一比尔?盖茨走过的道路吧。当比尔?盖茨从大学退学，踏上创办微软的道路时，没人保证他会取得成功。他遇到过数不清的失败和挫折。但他没有放弃，因为他希望有朝一日，他投入的所有金钱、时间和精力，可以产生出让他感到自豪的发明创造。而正是由于比尔?盖茨的创意受到知识产权的保护，今天世界各地成千上万人因此而获益非浅。现在世界上的某个地方，也许就在我们这个房间里，就坐着清洁能源领域的比尔?盖茨，或者医学研究领域的比尔?盖茨。我们必须确保，无论这个人是谁，他都将得到类似的保护。

Despite the impressive progress that China has made protecting intellectual property, much more still needs to be done. American and other foreign companies in industries ranging from pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to entertainment still lose billions of dollars from counterfeiting and IP theft in China every year.
尽管中国在保护知识产权方面已经取得巨大进步，但要做的事情还很多。在从制药、生物科技到娱乐业等诸多行业中，在中国的美国及其它外国公司仍然因为仿冒及知识产权盗用而每年损失数以十亿美元计的收入。

Stronger intellectual property laws have been written – but they are only as valuable as the civil and criminal penalties people face for breaking them – and China’s enforcement of IP laws is often uneven.
中国已经制定了更有力的知识产权法律，但是这种法律的价值只有通过违反该法律的人所面临的民事或刑事惩罚才能得到体现。而在中国，知识产权法律的执法道路并不平坦。

I do hope that places like Jinan will continue to be a positive influence to convince more of China's people of the critical importance of protecting ideas and intellectual property. And I hope all of you today, will be ambassadors for that message among your family, friends and colleagues.
我很希望象暨大这样的机构能继续发挥积极影响，让中国更多人认识到保护创意和知识产权的极端重要性。并且，我希望在座各位都能在自己的家人、朋友和同事中间担当起知识产权大使的角色。

I applaud Jinan University for making intellectual property rights and protection a strategic part of the curriculum, and wish each of you much success in your academic careers and future endeavors.
对于暨南大学把知识产权及其保护作为贵校课程中的重要组成部分，我非常赞赏，并希望各位在自己的学术生涯及未来发展中取得成功。

As leaders, innovators and consumers, you will write the next chapter in China’s rich history. You have an enormous amount of responsibility riding on your shoulders because your success isn't just important to you and your family -- it's important to me and everyone else who cares about solving the world’s problems.
作为领袖、创新者和消费者，你们将为中国丰富的历史撰写新的篇章。你们肩负重任，因为你们的成功不光对你们自己和你们的家人很重要，而且对于我、以及对解决世界所面临的各种问题感到关切的每个人都很重要。

I hope you make the most of your time at Jinan.
希望大家充分利用在暨大学习和工作的时间。

Thank you for having me here today.
谢谢大家！