????理論上講，競爭激烈的科技競賽當然是好事，但當各家公司因違反知識產權而對簿公堂時，往往會使彼此陷入訴訟的泥潭而難以自拔，市場便會受到影響。比如，2008年，電動汽車制造商特斯拉（Tesla）就曾經指控合作伙伴及競爭對手菲斯克（Fisker）侵犯其專利。2010年，一家名為Paice的公司指控豐田汽車剽竊它的一項混合驅動系統專利技術，而且最終打贏了官司。雖然法律訴訟可能遏制競爭，但也會妨礙卓越技術的推廣。

????不過，在競爭激烈的汽車行業，合作并不容易，尤其是這些廠商到最后將不得不再次調整策略，為了搶占市場份額而展開廝殺。奧爾森認為，要想合作順利進行，必須明確各自共享哪些信息，合作各方也必須牢記，參與合作就必須做出貢獻，不要抱著搭順風車的想法。而且各方還必須解決復雜的知識產權問題，技術起源于設計，而一家公司如何與競爭對手區別開來，很大程度上便取決于設計。其他行業在這方面已經做得很好。弗吉尼亞大學達頓商學院（ University of Virginia's Darden School）商學教授邁克爾?萊諾克斯說：“看看iPod或其他任何一種消費類電子產品。它們設計中嵌入的各種技術都擁有專利。科技公司幾乎都是交叉授權。”不過沖突確實存在：比如蘋果（Apple）與三星（Samsung）之間糟糕的合作關系。

????不過，有證據表明，現在恰好是汽車廠商推出燃料電池的絕佳時機。萊諾克斯說，有人愿意為環保汽車支付高昂的費用。萊諾克斯補充說，生產只排放水的環保汽車還會給整個行業帶來好處。汽車廠商有強烈的動機，希望擺脫單純生產化石燃料驅動汽車所帶來的監管障礙和消費者的不滿。不過，這些汽車制造商也面臨著嚴峻的挑戰。技術需要繼續改進，而且他們必須建設一種全新的燃料基礎設施。這些都是難題，所以齊心協力解決問題才是當下的上策。(財富中文網)

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????A competitive tech race is good business in theory, but the market suffers when companies get bogged down when they sue each other for intellectual property violations. For example, electric carmaker Tesla accused collaborator-competitor Fisker of patent infringement back in 2008. A company called Paice won a lawsuit against Totyota in 2010, after having accusing the giant carmaker of stealing a piece of its proprietary hybrid drive system technology. Lawsuits may stifle the competition, but they hinder the rollout of exciting technologies.

????Cooperation is hardly easy among fierce auto competitors, especially because these companies will ultimately have to switch tactics again and compete with each other for market share. For it to work, there must be clear parameters on what information they share, Olson says, and participants have to go in with the mindset that they will contribute, not catch a free ride. Also, all parties have to resolve tough intellectual property issues especially when, for instance, the technology creeps into design, as design is a big part of how the companies will ultimately differentiate themselves from their competitors.

????Other industries have done this. "Think of the iPod," says Michael Lenox, a business professor at the University of Virginia's Darden School, "or pick almost any consumer electronic device. It's imbedded with technology that has a variety of intellectual property. Tech companies are all cross-licensing." Conflicts do arise: look at the soured partnership between Apple and Samsung.

????But there's evidence that the time is right for car companies to introduce fuel cells. We've seen that some people will pay a premium for green cars, Lenox says. The industry also has much to gain by building vehicles whose only emission is water, he adds. These companies have strong incentives to remove themselves from the regulatory hurdles and consumer ire that have come from strictly producing cars that consume fossil fuels.

????These auto makers face big challenges, though. The technology needs perfecting, and they'll need to build an entirely new fuel infrastructure. These are difficult problems and, for now, it's better to make nice and take them on together.