Chapter Fifty Patent Fees

  "Mr. Su, what patent are you referring to?" Farrell wanted to pretend that nothing was wrong, but his pale face betrayed his thoughts.

  Su Cheng laughed very innocently and said in a warm tone, "The Double Donkey Head Oil Extractor has already applied for domestic and international patents. So, since you've purchased the production line of the Double Donkey Head Oil Extractor, I'll just ask casually, do you want to buy the patent?"

  Farrell was stunned for a moment, and when he reacted to what was happening, the fire in his eyes could almost ignite Suzhou.

  The Chinese have cheated me!

  This was Farrel's first reaction.

  At that moment, Farrell would have liked to hang Ma and other Chinese like him and turn them into meat pies or Chinese dumplings. If there was enough flour, he'd also like to add some patent lawyers and corporate legal staff as seasonings.

  "He said in a low voice through his teeth: 'If we were going to buy patents, you would definitely know about it.'"

  "That's great." Su Cheng happily waved goodbye as Farell left.

  "Alas, if only I were better at English, I could read foreign journals directly."

  "The foreigner may not like to talk to me, nor may they like you reading their journals." Su Cheng said something that made no sense, gazing far away at the saliva spraying out of Farrel's mouth and the self-drying fur of Manager Mao.

  Although he couldn't hear what they were saying, Su Cheng could guess the content.

  Manager Mao came over in a huff after a while.

  Before he could speak, Mr. Su asked first: "Has the contract been signed?"

  "What?"

  "Your contract with Americans has been signed, right? 10 million for one of your production lines."

  "It's signed." Manager Mao hesitated for a moment, not immediately shouting out what he had indeed intended to do. However, solving the problem just by shouting wouldn't work, as Su Cheng and he were from different places and didn't have a subordinate relationship.

  Su Cheng smiled lightly and said, "As long as the contract is signed, that's all. Americans are most concerned with evidence and law. As long as you sign the contract, the production line will be sold, and other messy things don't matter."

  Manager Mao misunderstood, "Hmph" and said: "Don't think I don't know what you're up to? You just want to get a share of the profits, right? Alright, how much is your patent worth? We'll buy it from Dalian Heavy Industry."

  In 1987, corporate officers already knew what patents were, but attached little importance to them. Generally speaking, patents within state-owned enterprises fell into the category of "window dressing". Manager Mao was now making an offer, and he did not want any more twists in the work of creating foreign exchange earnings. Moreover, what he was willing to pay for would undoubtedly be in renminbi.

  Su Cheng shook his head, but a hint of displeasure flashed across his face. "Manager Mao," he said, "I've already shown you the way. If you're not willing to take it, then don't blame me for being impolite."

  "If you dare to sabotage our creative work..."

  Su Cheng waved his hand and turned to leave. He didn't discuss the ownership of the patent with Manager Mao, nor did he mention that they had stolen his design. Even if he said something, it wouldn't move Manager Mao, at most it would just be a few thousand or tens of thousands of yuan in patent fees, and it would definitely be in RMB.

  Manager Mao was stunned for half a day, and then turned back to persuade Farrel, speaking recklessly: "Don't worry. I've made Su Cheng guarantee that he absolutely won't make an issue of the patent problem. In our China, whoever obstructs Sino-US friendship is a criminal."

  "Can you sign a letter of explanation?" Farrel was slightly excited, thinking that Manager Mao had really persuaded Su Cheng, and hurriedly said: "I want a document with legal effect to explain that Su Cheng voluntarily gives up the patent claim..."

  Manager Mao's face was scrunched up like a bitter chrysanthemum, and finally said: "I have no way to answer you now, however, I will give you an answer as soon as possible."

  "Alright, we must obtain the legal documents before our transaction can proceed." Farrel's face was stern.

  ……

  The second night.

  Representatives and officials from Dalian Heavy Industry, the Machinery Department, the Petroleum Department, and the Shengli Oilfield gathered in the conference hall of the Oilfield Machinery Factory, preparing to engage in a war of words.

  Manager Mao jumped up and down, telling how he had painstakingly secured this export business, and then scolded Su Cheng for disrupting the market, disregarding fairness, extorting foreign merchants, and undermining unity...

  Four-character idioms kept coming out of Manager Mao's mouth, leaving Su Cheng speechless. He thought to himself: "To master these phrases, one really needs over a decade of experience."

  After listening for a few minutes, Director Dong from the Mechanical Department coughed lightly and asked Lin Yonggui, the representative of Shengli Oilfield: "Secretary Lin, what is your oilfield's attitude?"

  Lin Yonggui smiled and said very naturally: "What belongs to us is ours."

  The factory director of Dalian Heavy Industry, Jin Qing, widened his eyes and said: "Secretary Lin, we have a long-standing relationship, but this matter is not quite right. We are in the machinery business, unlike you who dig oil, it's hard to make a profit from exporting, and now your patent has ruined our business? Director Dong, don't you think that's unfair?"

  Su Cheng raised his hand at this time.

  Lin Yonggui immediately called out: "Su Cheng, you speak up."

  "Yes." Su Cheng cleared his throat and said, "Just now, Director Jin said that their $10 million export foreign exchange business was ruined by us. I have two different opinions on this matter."

  "Two more points. Alright, you speak and I'll listen." Jin Qing's position was higher, not that he hadn't seen US dollars before, but his attitude was much calmer compared to Manager Mao.

  Su Cheng nodded and organized his words: "First, the production line contract of Dalian Heavy Industry has been signed. As long as the contract does not stipulate that Dalian Heavy Industry must obtain the patent right of the Double Ram Pump, Halliburton must fulfill the contract and pay $1 million to you. If they don't do so, you can completely sue them, I think many American lawyers will be willing to help. So, this matter actually has nothing to do with our Victory Oilfield Machinery Factory."

  "Second." Su Cheng quickly stretched out his finger and said, "This patent of ours is a genuine patent. As the deputy director of the Victory Oilfield Machinery Factory, I can announce to everyone that the dual-horsehead oil extraction machine has a patent usage fee of $1,299 per unit. In other words, if Halliburton produces 1,000 units of dual-horsehead oil extraction machines, they will have to pay us $12.9 million, which is not a small amount of money."

  The room was suddenly filled with gasps.

  Jin Qing hadn't spoken yet when Dong, the head of the mechanical department, jumped up: "Really 12.9 million US dollars?"

  "A thousand truths and ten thousand certainties." Su Cheng said resolutely.

  Harley Burdett is a technical company. Every day, they spend large sums of money to acquire other companies and technologies, with hundreds of millions of dollars on their business blueprint, not even counting the splash of water. Su Cheng thought that buying the patent for Double Taurus was the only way for Farrel to get out of trouble. He didn't dare drag the company into a lawsuit, no matter how much money it would save.

  However, the $1,299 patent fee is too virtual for Chinese people.

  Some people have already started daydreaming: empty and vague patents, can be exchanged for 4 imported refrigerators? No, is it that when they produce one oil extractor, it's equivalent to giving us 4 free refrigerators? But, why would they want to give away refrigerators to us if they're producing things themselves?

  Fortunately, officials who have undergone several years of market economy baptism, even if they don't believe it, won't stand out and show their incompetence.

  Everyone looked at each other and fell silent.

  The Minister of Petroleum, who was in charge of coordinating the matter, murmured and said, as if waking up from a dream: "If this patent is really worth $1 million, then I think we should each do our own thing."

  He was speaking to Director Dong of the Mechanical Department.

  The latter looked at Jin Changzhang with a helpless expression. Everyone was worth $10 million, so it wasn't easy to say who had blocked whose way.

  Manager Mao worried that his foreign exchange business was going to be ruined, and without regard for the meeting's discipline, jumped out and said: "No way. Can't just because you want to sell patents, ask us to give up our rights?"

  No one present was a fool, and they all looked at Manager Mao with interest. Just now, wasn't it him who had solemnly sworn to give way?

  Su Cheng smiled and said: "We sell patents, you sell production lines, which is not contradictory. In fact, if we hadn't already decided not to charge patent fees domestically... haha."

  This last sentence is an explicit threat.

  Jin Changzhang absolutely did not want to drag this issue out, wisely pulling Manager Mao aside, stretching out his hand and smiling: "Right, our domestic enterprises should cooperate with each other."

  "Let's make money from foreigners together."

  "Let's make money together with foreigners." Jin Changzhang laughed loudly and cheerfully.

  Manager Mao looked at his eldest son shaking hands with Su Cheng and suddenly felt a sense of being abandoned.

  As they left the conference hall, Lin Yonggui pulled Su Cheng to one side and said thoughtfully, "I remember that the patent for that double-cylinder oil extraction machine belongs to you, doesn't it?"

  "Yes." Su Cheng didn't hide it either, this wasn't a secret anymore.

  Lin Yonggui murmured "uh-huh" and asked: "Then what do you think about this patent fee?"

  "First go to the mechanical factory's account. Then, let's see how things go." Su Cheng seemed very casual.

  "Don't you want to fight for it?" Lin Yonggui looked at Su Cheng in surprise. A million dollars in public funds had driven people crazy, let alone private money.

  Su Cheng shook his head firmly and said, "There are many ways to make money. Not fighting for it is better than fighting for it."

  He thought it was very clear. The ownership of the patent fee is very clear, and there is no need to fight for it. The problem is that the amount of money is too large, and giving it to a private individual may cause many controversies. Rather than crying out for money, it's better to wait another two years, and everything will fall into place naturally.

  What Su Cheng thought of, Lin Yonggui could also think of. However, calm thinking is one thing, and calm handling is another matter.

  Lin Yonggui suddenly fell silent, as if he didn't recognize him and was re-examining the young man in front of him.

  ……