> Nation leads surge in global patent applications
世界知識產權報告：中國成為2021年有效專利數量最多的國家

Global intellectual property applications rose last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with China leading the growth, World Intellectual Property Organization data shows.
世界知識產權組織數據顯示，盡管新冠疫情持續，但2021年全球知識產權申請量仍呈上升趨勢，中國申請量增長居首。

Of the 3.4 million patent applications filed around the world in 2021, China's IP office received 1.59 million, according to the World Intellectual Property Indicators Report 2022.
近日發布的2022年《世界知識產權指標》報告顯示，2021年全球創新者提交了340萬件專利申請，其中，中國國家知識產權局在2021年受理了159萬件專利申請。

The worldwide total was "slightly higher" than the pre-COVID peak of 3.3 million in 2018, and represented 3.6 percent growth from 2020, the report said.
報告稱，全球專利申請總量“略高于”2018年的330萬（疫情前的峰值），與2020年相比增長3.6%。

The number of Chinese patent applications was equivalent to the total of the next 12 ranked countries.
中國專利申請量相當于緊隨其后的12個國家申請量總和。

China also witnessed growth in other IP sectors, such as trademarks, industrial designs, plant varieties and geographical indications.
中國在商標、工業設計、植物品種、地理標志等其他知識產權領域申請量也呈現增長。

"The latest data demonstrates the sustained development of the world's IP filings amid the pandemic, which shows that people's awareness about innovation and IP protection is being continuously strengthened," said Zhao Zhanling, an expert on intellectual property at China University of Political Science and Law.
中國政法大學知識產權專家趙占領表示：“最新數據表明，疫情期間世界知識產權申請持續發展，這表明人們對創新和知識產權保護的意識正在不斷加強。”

There were an estimated 73.7 million active trademark registrations at 149 IP offices last year — up 14.3 percent from 2020.
據估計，2021年149家知識產權局的有效商標注冊量為7370萬件，比2020年增長14.3%。

Of those, 37.2 million were in China, followed by 2.8 million in the United States, and 2.6 million in India, the report said.
報告稱，其中，中國占3720萬件，其次是美國占280萬件，印度占260萬件。

Patents in force worldwide grew by 4.2 percent to reach around 16.5 million in 2021.
截至2021年，全球有效專利數量約為1650萬件，同比增長4.2%。

China had 3.6 million, followed by the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Germany.
其中中國有效專利數量達360萬件，其次是美國、日本、韓國和德國。

> Top 9 law schools quit US News ranking
退榜！耶魯、哈佛等9所名校法學院US News排名

Yale’s law school made the stunning announcement that it would no longer participate in the influential rankings published annually by US News & World Report.
近日，美國耶魯大學法學院以“排名方法存在缺陷”為由，宣布退出US News，即《美國新聞與世界報道》的大學排名。

Since last week, nine of the 14 top-ranked US News law schools — known as the T-14 — have said they will no longer provide internal data for the rankings.
自上周以來，美國Top 14法學院中的9所，相繼宣布退出US News排名，也將不再為排名提供內部數據。

It would be the biggest challenge yet to the school rankings industry, according to the New York Times.
美國《紐約時報》報道稱，這可能是大學排名行業迄今為止面臨的最大挑戰。

Colleges and universities have been critical of the US News ranking system for decades, saying that it was unreliable and skewed educational priorities.
幾十年來，許多學校一直對US News的排名系統提出批評，認為這一排名不可靠，扭曲了教育的重點。

"The US News rankings are profoundly flawed - they disincentivize programs that support public interest careers, champion need-based aid, and welcome working-class students into the profession," Yale Law School Dean Heather K. Gerken wrote in a blog post announcing the decision Wednesday. "We have reached a point where the rankings process is undermining the core commitments of the legal profession."
宣布退榜后，耶魯大學法學院院長希瑟?格肯在學院官網中公開表示，US News的排名“存在嚴重缺陷”——不僅阻礙了那些支持公益事業、支持基于需求的資助、歡迎工薪階層學生進入這一職業的項目，還破壞了法律職業的核心承諾。US News的排名帶有“誤導”模式，甚至直接阻礙了法律職業的進步。

The US News rankings also discourage law schools from admitting and providing aid to students with enormous promise who may come from modest means.
此外，US News的排名還阻礙了法學院錄取和援助那些出身寒微的學生。

Today, 20% of a law school’s overall ranking is median LSAT/GRE scores and GPAs. This heavily weighted metric imposes tremendous pressure on schools to overlook promising students, especially those who cannot afford expensive test preparation courses.
一所法學院總排名的20%來自英語考試成績和平均學分績點，這給學校帶來了巨大的壓力，許多有前途的學生被忽視，尤其是那些負擔不起昂貴的備考課程的學生。

“We will continue to fulfill our journalistic mission of ensuring that students can rely on the best and most accurate information in making that decision,” Eric Gertler, CEO of US News & World Report, said in a written statement.
而另一邊，US News的執行董事長兼首席執行長埃里克?格特勒也對此作出回應：“我們將繼續履行我們的新聞使命，確保學生能依靠最優質、最準確的信息來做決定。”

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