These differences are exacerbated by the long time lag between when applications are filed and patents are granted.

由于专利从申请到批准，需要很长一段时间，所以目前这两家的专利数差距还会进一步拉大。

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The house stood empty for a long time.

那所房子空了好长一段时间。

《牛津词典》

Since the roads are very bad, the trip took us a long time.

由于道路很差，这次旅程花费了我们很长时间。

《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》

The song is about leaving the big city for the countryside, going home again after a long time away.

VOA: special.2009.11.09

And the Aristotelian view held for a long time, but eventually it started to crumble in the light of more data.

而亚里士多德的观点在很长时间里得到了认同，但最终还是崩溃了,在越来越多的数据面前。

麻省理工公开课 - 固态化学导论课程节选

Let's say you are in an office, that's say, the doctor's office, and you're waiting a really long time.

假设你在一个医生的办公室等了很久。

I don't care课堂 - SpeakingMax英语口语达人

Before this year's race, Zirkle noted the long time that had passed since a woman won.

NPR: 53-Year-Old Musher Becomes Oldest Iditarod Champ

The decision on a new manager will come from Ricardo Teixeira, the long time president of the Brazilian Confederation.

BBC: Brazil look beyond Dunga to 2014

Leading that charge and the resulting entertainment behemoth is Steve Burke, the long time no. 2 at the Philadelphia-based cable company.

FORBES: Names You Need to Know In 2011: Comcast's Steve Burke