Chapter 511: Please, I Beg You to Sue Me!

Honestly, after engaging in legal aid so many times, Zhou Yi feels that his persona of being "a stickler for details" has been completely solidified.

If he were truly in the wrong—for instance, if the videos he posted involved illegal or criminal content—then it would be normal for others to send him a Lawyer's Letter.

But he hasn't done anything yet; it's equivalent to sitting at home when a disaster falls from the sky.

For no apparent reason, his account is infringing on rights?

The name "A Yi" was actually snatched and registered as a trademark by someone else?

Zhou Yi is truly curious: did the other party not consider the consequences when sending this Lawyer's Letter?

As for the possibility that they don't know who he is... that's impossible; if they didn't know him, they wouldn't have sent him a Lawyer's Letter.

Looking at the Lawyer's Letter on his phone, a formal Lawyer's Letter will always contain the corresponding Law Firm, a contact number, and the client's contact number.

"From Modu, called Junwei Law Firm?"

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Yi decides to call and ask; the lawyer contact is Lawyer Chen.

The phone rings a few times before connecting, and Zhou Yi says, "Hello, is this Lawyer Chen?"

In Modu, inside Junwei Law Firm, Chen Ming listens to the voice on the phone and says, "It is me, may I ask who this is?"

Although their Law Firm is responsible for sending Lawyer's Letters, they don't save these numbers in their phones; there are too many, it's impossible to save them all.

Moreover, generally speaking, a Law Firm sending a Lawyer's Letter is just a business; to put it bluntly, this thing can be sent as long as you pay.

Furthermore, as long as the money is there, you can send it however you want, and as many as you want.

Therefore, many Law Firms aren't that particular at all and won't care about these things; as long as they have the corresponding information, they just send the Lawyer's Letter out and make the money.

"My name is Zhou Yi. Your Law Firm sent me a Lawyer's Letter today, so I'm calling to contact you and ask what this situation is about?"

Zhou Yi? Chen Ming hesitates for a moment; the name sounds a bit familiar.

However, their Law Firm has sent out about a thousand Lawyer's Letters during this period, so he must be some internet celebrity.

"Hello, Mr. Zhou. Let me explain: the trademark ownership of your current account 'A Yi' belongs to our client, Modu Liwei Company, so you need to stop the tortious behavior and cancel or delete the relevant account."

This is all a standard procedure; several lawyers at their Law Firm have been taking these kinds of calls recently, and they all say the same thing.

This is also a point for which lawyers are criticized, especially in some more specific matters, such as divorce lawsuits.

It is clearly one party who cheated, but the cheating party hires a lawyer, and then the lawyer comes and says some high-sounding words to you; you tell me if you wouldn't be angry.

No need to doubt it, out of ten people, a hundred would be angry!

Zhou Yi already felt uncomfortable after hearing this; he indeed hadn't paid much attention to this aspect, after all, he was just using his own name as his ID.

And he has been using it for many years, ever since he started making gaming videos.

Yet now, they are actually telling me so high-soundingly that I am infringing on rights?

"Lawyer Chen, do you know that this account is my name, and I have been using it for many years? How did it suddenly become a registered trademark of that company of yours, and how am I infringing on your exclusive trademark rights? This doesn't make sense, does it? And..."

However, Zhou Yi's words were interrupted by Chen Ming halfway through; although Zhou Yi's voice was louder and drowned out the other party, he still didn't finish speaking.

Chen Ming's expression is very natural; as a lawyer who specializes in making money this way, these few words mean nothing.

Besides, he has heard too many similar things during this period.

"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhou, please listen to me first; after all, you don't understand this."

Zhou Yi: "???"

If he hadn't spent a long time with Lawyer Fang, he really would have been bluffed; a common phrase that many bottom-tier lawyers often say is: "You don't understand this."

Just like some people who do art.

Chen Ming naturally doesn't know what Zhou Yi is thinking and continues on his own: "Our exclusive right to a trademark is based on priority of registration; it doesn't mean that just because you used it before, it is definitely yours."

"Our client currently enjoys the exclusive right to the trademark, and the trademark has been approved for use in Class 41 services such as entertainment programs, video program production, and downloads, so you are indeed infringing."

"So my suggestion is that you stop the infringement in a timely manner, otherwise, once we file a Lawsuit, your tortious behavior will cost you quite a bit of money in damages."

Many of the previous people would be scared when hearing such words, and even if they weren't scared, they would be scared when receiving a Court Summons.

So Chen Ming is not worried at all.

However, after saying this, he heard the person surnamed Zhou on the other end suddenly say: "You mean... if I don't stop the infringement, you are going to sue me, right?"

Now it is Chen Ming's turn to be dumbfounded; what kind of reaction is this? The other party sounded especially happy when saying this!

But he can only subconsciously say: "Yes, that is the case..."

"Great! Let me tell you, Lawyer Chen, I beg you to please sue me, really, whoever doesn't sue is a coward; I really love being a Defendant..."

Chen Ming: "..."

What is wrong with this person? He must be bluffing, right? Is there anyone in this world who actually likes being a Defendant? What a joke.

But it must be said that Zhou Yi's words directly threw Chen Ming into a state of confusion; he didn't know how to answer.

Fortunately, Zhou Yi hung up the phone right after speaking.

Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Chen Ming begins to think carefully about what kind of situation this is.

But let's make a note of it first; he probably won't cancel the account, so he will likely have to be sued. When the Court Summons arrives, the other party should realize the seriousness of the problem.

Flipping through, he finds the record on the computer: Zhou Yi, A Yi... he didn't pay attention when they were sending out Lawyer's Letters in bulk before, but looking at it now, it really sounds so familiar, as if he has heard it somewhere before.

Chen Ming is just looking at it when he suddenly gets a jolt: holy crap, A Yi, it couldn't be *that* A Yi, could it!

He hurriedly starts searching, and once he remembers, he realizes: this damn thing is actually that A Yi!

Our Law Firm actually sent a Lawyer's Letter to that A Yi?

Is the client brain-damaged or what? You dare to send a Lawyer's Letter to such a person?

Although this matter seems to be legally justified, they know in their hearts what the situation really is.

That A Yi is not someone easy to get along with, not to mention that behind him is that big shot... in Modu, who hasn't heard of that bald guy!

No, he must contact the client immediately and hurry to appease them.

Modu Liwei Company, full name Liwei Internet Co., Ltd., is only slightly better than a shell company; at least they have a place and people.

Usually, many trademark-snatching behaviors are carried out through such companies.

Just like that General Manager Wu at the gym, they all control their Company through various means.

The legal representative of Liwei Company is named Wang Li, though of course, he is just a front.

Seeing his phone ring, he picked it up to take a look, then answered: "Lawyer Chen, what is it? Have there been many results from the previous Lawyer's Letter? How many are we going to file a Lawsuit against?"

"Wang Zong, I'm telling you, you don't even review the materials you provide. Do you know who is in there?"

Wang Li chuckled. Review what? All their business of Trademark Squatting is outsourced anyway; they just register the trademarks of those famous influencers or influencers who are about to rise.

Sometimes if you don't check, you really don't know how outrageous this behavior is.

They really can register every name you can think of and even those you can't...

Besides, he is just a front and doesn't care about these things at all.

So he asked directly: "Who else could it be? Just those influencers. What's wrong? Has someone exposed it? Even if it is exposed, it shouldn't have any impact, right?"

Chen Ming sighed, feeling truly helpless. If it weren't for the fact that they paid well, he wouldn't want to cooperate at all.

Damn it, even people who go out to commit Robbery nowadays know to do a background check. You guys are doing this, and you don't even investigate the other party's situation?

"The others don't matter, but one of them is named A Yi. He is a Serious Person on the internet. Do you know that? He built his reputation by being a Serious Person and filing Lawsuits!"

Chen Ming almost roared that last sentence.

Although he didn't think there was anything wrong with the act of Trademark Squatting, the other party's reputation was too great, and he had sent too many people inside.

Wang Li was stunned. A Yi? Who is A Yi?

This is the reason for information bubbles. Wang Li doesn't go online much on weekdays; he doesn't touch short videos, long videos, or trending topics at all.

So he didn't know such a person.

"So what? It's nothing more than knowing how to file a Lawsuit. What's the big deal? If the worst comes to the worst, we just lose the Lawsuit, right?"

Chen Ming didn't want to talk anymore: "Anyway, I've said all I can. You can check the other party's information online yourself."

After saying that, he hung up the phone. What kind of mess is this?

Just as he was thinking about it, the phone rang again.

"Hello, is this Wu Qiuling? I'm calling to inform you that your current account..."

It was the same script. After finishing, he added: "If you continue the Tort, our side will take legal channels to resolve the issue, and then you will have to compensate for the losses from the Tort..."

"What? We can sue as we please? No... you, you..."

After stuttering for a long time without being able to speak, Chen Ming felt a bit angry. He could understand the one before being A Yi, but what is this girl acting so tough for?

What, do you think we are joking?

No way, this Lawsuit must be filed!

On the other side, Wang Li still dialed the number of the person who actually controls the Company.

"Fang Zong, that's how it is. Lawyer Chen called to say that this A Yi seems to be very powerful..."

On the other end of the phone, Fang Chengwen felt like his heart condition was about to flare up.

"You really sent a Lawyer's Letter to that A Yi too? How did you handle this? Didn't you take a look? Forget it, hurry up and have Lawyer Chen tell the other party that it was sent by mistake, you hear me? Don't provoke him!"

"Right, don't worry about him, just deal with the others. Why send him a Lawyer's Letter!"

Putting down the phone, Fang Chengwen shook his head. What a mess, how did they end up provoking A Yi?

This kind of Trademark Squatting behavior has actually existed for a long time. You register a trademark in advance, and then there are two ways to go.

Either use this trademark to directly run advertisements and make money, or file a Lawsuit against the other party and demand compensation for the Tort.

It might look shameful, but what does shame matter? Making money is what really counts.

Just like a certain image website; whatever is yours or mine, if it's on my website, it's mine. What can you, the original creator, do? If I need to file a Lawsuit against you, I will.

It doesn't matter if you get scolded; the money has already been made anyway.

One can only say that some companies have really made a lot of money through such behavior.

However, damn it, even if you want to make money, you have to look at who you're dealing with. A Yi is like a mad dog; he must absolutely not be provoked.

Not to mention that filing a Lawsuit against him doesn't guarantee a win...

…………

In Jingzhou, Zhou Yi walked with his hands behind his back to the Legal Department. It was time for another little story to eavesdrop on.

As a result, he saw the slightly awkward expressions of two people inside the Legal Department.

Yo-ho, isn't that Huo Pengfei and Wu Qiuling?

Gossip is truly human nature. Zhou Mouren instantly threw the matter to the back of his mind. What trademark or no trademark? Nothing is as interesting as gossip.

He huddled by the door and started eavesdropping.

But after listening for a few sentences, he felt bored. The two inside were really just talking about work.

Only, what Wu Qiuling said sounded so familiar.

"She received a Lawyer's Letter too?"

Zhou Yi knocked on the door and then pushed it open. Inside the Legal Department office, Wu Qiuling and Huo Pengfei both turned their heads to look.

"Zhou Zong? You're here. Please, sit here," Huo Pengfei said hurriedly.

Zhou Yi walked over and sat down, then looked at Wu Qiuling and said: "Xiao Wu, I just heard you telling Lawyer Huo that you received some kind of trademark Tort Lawyer's Letter?"

Wu Qiuling nodded, a trace of surprise on her face: "Zhou Zong, how did you know?"

"Because I received one too," Zhou Yi said, then looked at Huo Pengfei: "Lao Huo, you already know the situation, right? How do you think we should handle this?"

"Trademark Squatting, very typical Trademark Squatting!" Huo Pengfei said directly.

"Generally speaking, one can adopt the method of Litigation to obtain trademark rights. This is also a commonly used method, based on Article 32 of the Trademark Law: one shall not use improper means to preemptively register a trademark that has already been used by others and has a certain influence."

"Likewise, after the amendment of our Trademark Law, there are already corresponding provisions: malicious trademark registration applications not for the purpose of use shall be rejected!"

"Especially last year, the relevant departments had strict regulations in this regard, so I suspect that this trademark registration must have been a preemptive registration from before, otherwise there is no way to explain it."

Huo Pengfei's analysis was reasonable and well-founded.

Zhou Yi was just about to speak when his phone rang; he picked it up and saw it was that Lawyer Chen.

"Hello, Lawyer Chen, is something the matter? You've decided to sue me, right? What? You're not suing anymore?"

"How can you just say you're not suing anymore? What is this all about..."

Putting down the phone, Zhou Yi looked at the two people beside him and said, "They chickened out."

As expected, after becoming famous, people didn't dare to engage in this kind of online extortion as much.

But looking at Wu Qiuling beside him, this Little Koi, he didn't know how things would turn out...

Just as he was thinking this, Wu Qiuling's phone rang.

"President Zhou, I also received a call from that Lawyer," Wu Qiuling said.

Zhou Yi nodded: "Put it on speaker!"

The update is here! I'm back to work today, so there is only one chapter; I'll slack off at the Company tomorrow and make up for it with three chapters. Goodnight, everyone.

(End of chapter)