Chapter 306: This Cake is Too Big

Zhou Andong had a look of disappointment: "Can we invest?"

Hearing Lao Meng said helplessly: "To be honest, we are very short of money right now, but because we are a collective enterprise, the city also requires us to hold 100% of the shares, so..."

"I understand!" Zhou Andong sighed deeply and said casually, "If you apply for a patent, if there is anything you need help with, you can come to me."

Hearing Lao Meng smiled and said: "I think that in the current market environment, there is no difference whether you apply for a patent or not. With the energy and money to apply for a patent, it is better to invest in the market and let the product occupy the market as soon as possible."

Zhou Andong was overjoyed inside, but with no expression on his face, he looked at Lao Sun: "What is General Manager Sun's opinion?"

Lao Sun said: "I have the same opinion as Hearing Lao Meng; letting the product occupy the market as soon as possible is the most important thing."

Zhou Andong pressed his cigarette butt into the ashtray, pretended to ponder for a while, then looked up and said: "How about this: sell the patent to me, and you name the price."

"Of course, I will buy the patent, and you can use it for free. Moreover, I can help you with product positioning to occupy the market as soon as possible."

Hearing Lao Meng and Lao Sun looked at each other. They didn't value the patent, but they hesitated when Zhou Andong mentioned buying it. However, Zhou Andong's final offer to help them with product positioning to occupy the market quickly made them very tempted.

Hearing Lao Meng said: "General Manager Zhou, I want to know, after you buy the patent, are you also going to conduct research and development?"

"Of course!" Zhou Andong did not deny it, "Just as you said, applying for a patent or not is of no use in the current market environment. As long as your product is put on the market, it won't take half a year before imitations appear. Of course, I won't let this opportunity pass either."

Hearing Lao Meng frowned: "Since you also understand that applying for a patent is of little use, why spend money to buy it?"

Zhou Andong thought for a while before saying: "Maybe it's a national sentiment. We finally managed to research a revolutionary audiovisual product; if you don't want to spend the energy and money to apply for it, then I will."

Lao Sun said: "Selling the patent to you is fine, but if you hold the patent, product development will certainly be much faster. Wouldn't our two companies then become competitors? At that time, will you really help us occupy the market as soon as possible?"

Zhou Andong smiled and said: "I keep my word; we can write this clause into the contract. And this is beneficial to both of us without any harm, so why not do it?"

Hearing Lao Meng pondered for a moment: "We will go back and discuss it."

Zhou Andong nodded: "That's fine!"

Hearing Lao Meng and Lao Sun stood up: "We will give you an answer tomorrow."

Zhou Andong called the waiter, borrowed a pen and paper, and wrote the room number on it: "This is my hotel room number; just call this number when the time comes."

"Okay!" Hearing Lao Meng very carefully put the paper with the phone number into his pocket.

Zhou Andong and Gu Bing sent the two out of the hotel. As they turned back, Gu Bing asked.

"Will they agree?"

Zhou Andong smiled and said: "Actually, these two people are very stubborn. They think applying for a patent is useless, so they absolutely won't waste time, energy, and money to apply for one. And since I am willing to spend money to buy it, what reason do they have not to sell? It's just a matter of the price."

Gu Bing said uncomprehendingly: "Just now, you also strongly agreed with their idea, thinking that in the current market environment, applying for a patent is completely useless. Why do you still want to spend money to buy it?"

"What the hell do you know!" Zhou Andong cursed.

At first, patents were indeed of no use against those rogue manufacturers in the country, especially with local government protectionism. Even if you sued them and won the lawsuit, it was very difficult to enforce.

However, for those foreign manufacturers, a patent is a sharp weapon. As long as you sue a foreign manufacturer and win the lawsuit, it will absolutely create a domino effect.

Especially against those rogue domestic manufacturers, even foreign companies are obediently paying patent fees. If they still don't pay, Zhou Andong absolutely wouldn't mind mobilizing public opinion to drown them.

Zhou Andong is so persistent about the D patent because the D cake is too big, so big that even he is envious.

Since the Wan Yan D was launched on the market, it rose rapidly in the country within a few short years and became popular all over the world, becoming an industry with annual sales revenue of over 10 billion.

And domestically, it surged from sales of 600,000 units to over 6 million in 1996, and reached 10 million in 1997. Let alone the world, just eating the domestic patent fees would be enough to make the electronics factory workers eat until they were stuffed.

That is why Zhou Andong is so persistent about the D patent. However, applying for an invention patent means the protection period will last until 2013. Therefore, he needs to find an experienced patent agent to act on his behalf, to dig deep and extend the scope of rights protection to the later DVD.

At that time, it would truly be that the world market is in his own grasp. What kind of scene would that be? Just thinking about it makes one excited.

In Coconut City, the sealing of the Wanghai Building caused a great deal of public opinion, with all kinds of speculation. But one piece of news was accepted by most people: that the Wanghai Building had offended a big shot from the capital.

And that man and woman, who returned last night and heard the discussion, were very surprised. Could those two people have such a big background? But the two didn't take it to heart, and they even gave a disdainful smile at the sealing of the Wanghai Building. This proved that the boss of the Wanghai Building was not as powerful as rumored, but rather quite incompetent.

The two slept very calmly for a night and didn't get up until almost noon. After washing up, they came out, ready to go eat. But just as they stepped out of the room, something that made them very angry happened.

A waiter who was very familiar, who had always been respectful and responsive to their every request, stood outside the door very politely, bowed deeply to them, and said with a smile on his face.

"Sir, Madam, due to some special reasons, the Wanghai Building is currently clearing out guests. Please pack your luggage and go to the lobby to handle the check-out procedures."

The man immediately got angry and babbled a lot in English, spitting everywhere, obviously really angry.

The waiter still smiled and said: "Sir, I don't understand what you are saying, but you can understand my words, right? So, please pack your luggage quickly and go downstairs to handle the check-out."

"Fk you!" the man cursed viciously, his face red and his neck thick as he roared: "How did I hear that new guests cannot be accepted, but those who have already checked in can continue?"

This time, this guy actually spoke Chinese. If Zhou Andong heard this, he would definitely think that his scolding at the airport had made him turn over a new leaf.

A trace of sarcasm appeared on the waiter's face: "Sir, I'm sorry, this is not something I decided. Please cooperate." ===== CHAPTER 307 =====