| 英文原文
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中文原文
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| This is the VOA Special English Economics Report. |
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这里是VOA 特别英语经济报道。 |
| Recently, the United States Supreme Court decided a case on the property rights of inventors. |
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最近，美国最高法院就关于发明者知识产权的案件作出判决。 |
| The question was whether a business method is enough of an invention to receive a patent. |
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问题是，关于商业方法的发明是否能够申请专利。 |
| Patents are a form of intellectual property. They give legal protections to individuals and companies against the copying of their inventions. |
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专利是知识产权的一种形式。他们为个人和公司提供司法保护，以防其他人抄袭他们的发明。 |
| Bernard Bilski and Rand Warsaw wanted to patent a method to let traders protect against the risk of price changes in energy markets. |
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Bernard Bilski 和Rand Warsaw 希望将一种使交易者免于能源市场价格变化风险的方法注册专利。 |
| The United States Patent and Trademark Office said no. |
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美国专利和商标办公室拒绝了该要求。 |
| So the inventors went to court. Again they were told no. Finally, the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. |
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所以，发明人将案件递交法庭。法庭再次拒绝。最终，该案件一路到达最高法院。 |
| Last month, all nine justices said no. |
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上月，所有九名法官一致拒绝。 |
| But they only said no to a patent in this case. Patent lawyer Meredith Martin Addy in Chicago explains that the court ruled narrowly. |
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但是他们只是拒绝了该案件中的专利。芝加哥专利律师Meredith Martin Addy 解释说，法院的裁决非常勉强。 |
| "The Supreme Court held that there is no categorical rule denying patent protection for business method patents." |
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“最高法院坚持称，没有绝对的规定，拒绝为商业方法专利提供专利保护。” |
| When patent laws were first developed, most patents were for machines. |
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专利法律最初引进时，大多数专利都是关于机器的。 |
| But since the late nineteen nineties, inventors of business methods and processes have increasingly sought patent protection. |
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但是自90 年代末以来，商业方法和程序的发明人越来越多地希望寻求专利保护。 |
| Technology companies, especially software makers, watched the case closely. |
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科技公司，尤其是软件制造商密切地关注该案件。 |
