2016年经济学人 一周要闻 苹果在中国商标权诉讼中败诉 法国一员工因为工作无聊向老板索赔36万欧元

 

The torrent¹ of mergers² in the health-care industry kept flowing. IMS Health and Quintiles agreed to combine in a 9 billion transaction that will integrate the wide range of data services they provide to drug companies, from tracking medical claims to advice on clinical trials. Another big deal was Abbott Laboratories' 25 billion takeover of St Jude Medical, which brings together two of America's biggest makers⁴ of medical devices for hearts.

卫生保健行业的合并计划接连不断。艾美仕（IMS Health）与昆泰（Quintiles）决定进行合并，此次交易价值90亿美元。他们向药物公司所提供的大量数据服务将在此次合并过程中得到整合，这当中包括医疗索赔的追踪确定和临床试验的服务建议等。另一大交易则涉及到雅培制药（Abbott Laboratories）以250亿美元价格收购圣犹达医疗（St Jude Medical），美国两大心脏医疗设备制造商就此合并。

A civil lawsuit⁵ in Brazil was filed against Vale and BHP Billiton seeking 44 billion in damages for the collapse⁶ of a dam last November that was run jointly⁷ by the two mining companies. The disaster killed 19 people and polluted hundreds of miles of rivers. Said to be Brazil's worst environmental disaster, lawyers say the claim for damages has been calculated by comparing the costs from BP's oil spill in the Gulf⁸ of Mexico in 2010.

去年11月，由淡水河谷公司（Vale）以及必和必拓集团（BHP Billiton）这两家矿业巨擘共同经营的一座矿山发生堤坝崩塌事故，造成19人死亡，数百英里河水受到污染。据称这是巴西史上最严重的环境污染事件。现今巴西针对此事提起民事诉讼，要求两公司赔偿440亿美元。律师称事故造成的总损失是参考2010年墨西哥湾英国石油公司原油泄漏事件的成本来计算的。

Despite a brewing⁹ political crisis Brazilians have not been crying into their beer as much as AB InBev would like. The beer maker³, which counts Budweiser among its labels, posted a steep fall in profit for the first quarter, to 844m, partly because sales in Brazil drooped¹⁰.

尽管政治危机正在酝酿当中，但巴西人民对此的担忧却远比不上百威英博（AB InBev）对其啤酒的担忧来得强烈。百威英博公司旗下有百威啤酒等品牌，该公司宣布第一季度利润骤降至8.44亿美元，原因部分在于其巴西市场萎靡不振。

Comcast announced that it would buy DreamWorks Animation¹¹, which includes the “Shrek” films in its stable of hits, for 3.8 billion.

康卡斯特（Comcast）宣布将以38亿美元收购出品了包括“怪物史瑞克”在内一系列著名作品的梦工厂动画公司（DreamWorks Animation）。

Little problems in big China

大中国小问题不断

The world's most valuable company, Apple, lost an unusual trademark¹² case in China when a court in Beijing found in favour of Xintong Tiandi, a seller of leather goods with the name “IPHONE” emblazoned on them. The court ruled that Apple had failed to prove that the iPhone was well-known in China before Xintong Tiandi filed its trademark application in 2007.

世界上最具经济价值的苹果公司在中国一起不同寻常的商标权诉讼案件中败诉。北京一法院裁决支持皮革制品销售商新通天地公司在其商品上使用IPHONE商标，因为苹果公司不能证明2007年新通天地申请注册该商标时，苹果产品已经在中国热销。

Craig Steven Wright, an Australian computer scientist, claimed that he was “Satoshi Nakamoto”, the reclusive creator of bitcoin. Mr. Wright released what he claimed was cryptographic proof that he is Mr. Nakamoto, five months after he was outed in an investigation¹³ by two tech publications. But his initial proof was swiftly debunked¹⁴ and doubts remain if he is the right man.

澳大利亚计算机科学家克雷格·史蒂文·赖特（Craig Steven Wright）声称他就是一直隐匿的比特币之父“中本聪（Satoshi Nakamoto）”。去年12月份，两份科技出版物在一次调查中披露了赖特的身份，五个月后赖特公布了他所谓的密码证据来证明他自己就是中本聪。但他最初提供的证据很快就被否定，中本聪的真实身份依然是个谜。

Being and nothingness

存在与虚无

In France an executive sued his former employer for making his job too boring. The man claims he suffered from “bore out” when his superiors downsized his role as general service director and asked him to perform non-work-related tasks, such as picking up their children from lessons. The existential strain of doing nothing led to months of sick leave, after which the man was let go. He wants 360,000(415,000) in damages.

法国一高管因为工作太无聊起诉前雇主，要求公司赔偿36万欧元（约合41.5万美元）。此人声称他被任命为总务处主任后主要负责一些无关紧要的事情比如接送孩子上学等，对此他感到“无聊至极”。由于每天都像是不存在一样，他饱受身心健康的折磨，最终不得不请了数月的病假。休假回来之后遭解职。

1 torrent   

n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发

参考例句：

• The torrent scoured a channel down the hillside. 急流沿着山坡冲出了一条沟。
• Her pent-up anger was released in a torrent of words.她压抑的愤怒以滔滔不绝的话爆发了出来。

2 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

8 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

9 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

10 drooped   

弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。
• The flowers drooped in the heat of the sun. 花儿晒蔫了。

11 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

12 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 debunked   

v.揭穿真相，暴露( debunk的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His theories have been debunked by recent research. 最近的研究揭穿了他的理论的真相。
• Some advertising slogans should be debunked. 某些夸大的广告用语应予揭露。 来自《简明英汉词典》