Today, we pioneers and leaders of electronic commerce, are meeting here to call for changes in US patent law. We believe such changes are needed to deal with new business models related to the growth of the Internet.// I share the same view with Jeff Bezos, chief executive of online bookseller Amazon.dot.com. Mr. Bezos argued in an open letter that current patent laws could end up harming all kinds of businesses if the laws were not adapted to new business methods used in e-commerce.// I think U.S. Patent laws are designed to protect the commercial rights of people who have invested in new products, systems or methods. Hereby I propose that the period of protection offered by patents should be cut from 17 years to about 4 years. I also propose a one-month period of public consultation before patents are issued.// If changes in the patent laws are going to have any real impact, they must be made soon, before too many more new business method patents are issued. Some of my colleagues in the industry have already begun lobbying lawmakers to make the changes. But we have to be a little bit more patient because it will take at least two years for any changes proposed now to be approved by lawmakers and established as law.//
今天我们这些电子商务的创始人和领导人在此集会，共同呼吁修改美国专利法。我们认为互联网的发展已形成了一些新商业模式，专利法必须经过修改才能应付这些新情况。//我同在线书店亚马逊电子商务公司的首席执行官杰夫.贝索斯特有相同的观点。贝索斯先生在一封公开信中指出，现行的专利法若不加以修正以适应电子商务的新模式最终将影响所有的商务活动。//我认为，制定美国专利法的根本出发点是为了保护那些投资开发新产品、新系列新方法者的权益。我在这里提议，专利权的保护期应该由原来的17年缩短为4年。同时我也建议，专利发布前应该有一个月的公示咨询期。//如果想让专利法的修改真正起到作用，那就必须加快修订步伐，不然的话，等越来越多的商务模式新专利颁布后再进行修改，为时已晚。电子商务产业的一些同行已开始有立法人修改法律。但是我们还得耐心等待，现在提出的修改建议至少要等上两年才能被立法部门确定为正式的法律。//
