Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 102 Ushering in the First Patent War

Tang Huan did not expect that on the opposite side of the United States across the Pacific Ocean, he would meet Sanders, the founder of AMD, and develop it into Infernal Affairs that may play a certain role in checks and balances.

The rankings of AMD and Sharp Semiconductor in the global semiconductor industry are about the same, out of ten, and within twenty. Therefore, for Zheru, a big customer, the service motivation is very strong, and Saunders, who is utilitarian and realistic, naturally doesn't care about the possible failure due to tip-offs. The bit of integrity that fell.

Tang Huan's choice of "three into two" for the three RB semiconductor companies that insisted on staying was very cold. In the end, the second Toshiba was squeezed out by the third Hitachi and the fourth Fujitsu, who had higher authority and more flexible negotiating representatives, and had to feel sad leave.

The reason why these four companies can have the last laugh has a lot to do with their ability to recognize their own positions and work pragmatically.To put it bluntly, he is both capable of work and very knowledgeable.

Naturally, Tang Huan didn't have to deal with the details of the order himself. He planned to take this opportunity to ask the four companies about their interest in CPU or MCU, and whether they had plans to enter this field.

Unexpectedly, Tang Huan had to fly back to deal with the news from Zheru America. Even the plan to go to Xiangjiang to return to the mainland for a visit was put on hold.

The hot sales of electronic game consoles at Christmas naturally attracted all kinds of envy and hatred, especially those in the industry, seeing a lot of money flowing into the pockets of competitors, their eyes were red, and they launched the world's No. Taiwan's commercial TV game console, Odyssey 1's Mirov company, its Odyssey 2 was at a disadvantage when it was fighting with Xiaobawang and Atari 2600, and its mentality can only be described as unbalanced.

Ever since, Mi Luohua sued EA in the name of patent infringement of Xiaobawang game console.

Under the leadership of Tang Huan, Zheru's products are all self-reliant and developed from scratch. The employees never thought that their work results would be suspected of technical plagiarism. In addition, the company was established less than a year ago. This is the first time I have encountered this kind of thing, and it is inevitable that I will be angry and deal with it in a hurry.

Under such circumstances, the big boss Tang Huan naturally wanted to sit in charge in person to stabilize the morale of the army. He was very upset about this, but he had no choice.

In this way, on the last day of 1979, Tang Huan set off from Baodao to return to the United States.

By coincidence, Tang Huan met Lin Qingxia and her mother after arriving at the airport. They looked like they were traveling together with their belongings.

After saying hello, Lin Qingxia confirmed Tang Huan's guess that the mother and daughter were going to San Francisco to join their father, brother, and sister who had settled down there earlier.

Mother Lin once again thanked Tang Huan for his help to the Lin family in the United States. With such a relationship, Tang Huan and the old lady had a lot of topics to talk about, and the atmosphere of the conversation was very pleasant.

But when they went through the border, there was a problem. Lin's mother actually brought [-] US dollars in cash with her, which violated the relevant regulations, and her passport was directly deducted.

Lin Qingxia begged for a while, and even did not hesitate to show her star status as an endorsement, but it still didn't work.

Looking at Lin Qingxia's eyes asking for help, Tang Huan scratched his head, sighed helplessly, and said honestly: "I have nothing to do about this situation, I'm really sorry."

Seeing this scene, Lin Qingxia also gave up, pulled up the suitcase and planned to give up the trip.

Unexpectedly, Mother Lin was very assertive and insisted not to let her daughter accompany her. Of course, Lin Qingxia disagreed. After arguing for a while, Mother Lin reprimanded her in a low voice with a sullen face. Then Lin Qingxia agreed with red eyes. down.

Although Tang Huan couldn't solve this predicament, he could call and use the resources in his hand to help Mother Lin understand the trouble as soon as possible according to the normal procedures, and Lin Qingxia was relieved.

Mother Lin's voice of please still seemed to be echoing in her ears. Tang Huan led Lin Qingxia, who was extremely depressed, through the inspection and got on the plane.

After comforting Lin Qingxia again, Tang Huan turned his mind back to the lawsuit between EA and Milohua.

In the early stages of development of general technology companies, all R&D projects can only be started from scratch, which can be called "stage 0".

In the process from 0 to 1, research and development requires continuous trial and error improvement, and the cost and time spent are often very huge. The research and development process of the Atari 2600 spent [-] million U.S. dollars is an obvious example. example.

Naturally, Tang Huan would not be so troublesome. His Xiaobawang game console directly borrowed from the Nintendo FC in 1983. Its hardware architecture is not very advanced, but it is the current technical level. The success lies in the perfect design, mature technology, and the combination of software and hardware. It is reasonable and fully utilizes the resources of CPU and memory.

Therefore, even if Tang Huan has to pay the patent fee, it is still to Nintendo, but the problem is that the red and white console in this time and space should not even have a design. Putting the check in front of Hiroshi Yamauchi will probably make the other party angry, thinking that it is Come to buy it.

But if we have to be serious and conduct strict research, it is not unreasonable for Milohua to sue Xiaobawang game console for patent infringement. The idea does come from them. They applied for a patent in the early 1970s - "Television Gaming and Training Apparatus", which means TV games and A training device, but that's all it can contribute to a video game console.

型号为1TL200的第一代电视游戏主机米罗华奥德赛，于1972年9月上市，定价100美元，在圣诞节卖出了13万台。直至1975年第一型号停产，1TL200总共卖出了33万台主机。

It is based on this fact that Mi Luohua sued EA so confidently.

In 1974, Atari, where Bushnell was in power, was brought to court by Mirowa because of the popular arcade game Pong, and Atari was eventually ordered to pay $70 in copyright.

In the original time and space, in the next ten years, Milohua sued more than a dozen companies, including Activision, and obtained a total of about US$1 million in compensation, while the home game console manufacturer had to pay Milohua The royalty status lasted until the patent expired in the early 1990s.

Thinking of this, Tang Huan couldn't help but rub the center of his brows and said, "Hey, the other party is really fierce."

Just when he was upset about being slaughtered by others, Tang Huan felt his shoulders sink. He turned his head and saw Lin Qingxia, who had fallen asleep, leaning over.

Even in sleep, Lin Damei still frowned, as if thinking of something unhappy, her expression was endearing.

Tang Huan sighed silently. Maybe there is a balance in this world. In the past few years, Lin Qingxia was very popular and went smoothly, so she had to suffer some setbacks.

Tang Huan adjusted his body so that Lin Qingxia could sleep more comfortably, and closed his eyes to rest his mind, recharging his energy for the first patent battle.

……

After the flight arrived in San Francisco, Tang Huan personally delivered Lin Qingxia to his family who had been waiting for a long time.

Everyone in the Lin family couldn't help being surprised and disappointed when they didn't see Mother Lin. Tang Huan helped Lin Qingxia explain and reassure them that there would be no trouble and the family should be reunited soon.

After reassuring, her sister Lin Lixia told her sister Lin Qingxia quickly, "Not long ago, Qin Han came to the United States and thought he could find you in San Francisco. I told him you were in Hawaii, and he immediately bought a plane ticket to Hawaii." , have you met?"

"No." Lin Qingxia shook her head wistfully.

"That's why there is no destiny, it's God's will, so don't worry about it anymore." Lin Lixia comforted her sister, "By the way, it can be seen that this Tang Huan is very kind to you, and he is also a good-looking talent. Why don't you develop it?" relationship."

Lin Qingxia quickly glanced at Tang Huan who was sitting in the luxury business car sent by Zheru, hit his sister, and reprimanded in embarrassment: "Kid, don't talk nonsense."

"I'm not young." Lin Lixia pouted dissatisfiedly.

Unfortunately, Tang Huan, who has always had good hearing, heard the conversation between the two sisters intermittently, and a playful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. This famous love triangle is interesting, and it will become more exciting after he gets involved.

After Tang Huan sat down, he waved to everyone in the Lin family, ordered the driver to drive, and soon arrived at Cupertino's office, where Hawkins and Chambers had already been waiting solemnly with several important middle-level officials.

"Although this patent lawsuit came suddenly, it is not a bad thing." After making himself a cup of tea, Tang Huan slowly talked about the business.

"For a high-tech company like ours, new technological achievements emerge every week, and dealing with patents has long been commonplace. Since patents can protect us, they can also protect others. There is no need to panic."

Having said that, Tang Huan opened the lid of the cup and blew lightly. The fragrance of tea that came out lifted people's spirits.

"Zheru only hired a few legal consultants before, and just took advantage of this opportunity to form a legal department and improve our company structure." Tang Huan gave instructions.

The big boss's mood is calm and calm. In fact, since he stepped into the office, everyone has been unconsciously infected by his self-confidence and relaxed.

Hawkins coughed lightly, "The lawyer said that Mirov is currently in a favorable position, and the patent money may inevitably be paid to them."

Tang Huan nodded, "We also have to talk about character. After all, he holds the No. 1 patent in his hand, but it is debatable to give more or less, how and when to give, and, I think Mi Luohua definitely doesn't just want to get a sum of money, they also hope to use this method to snipe the development momentum of our game console business."

Looking at his subordinates one by one, Tang Huan said slowly: "As a counterattack, I will turn this lawsuit into a disguised marketing campaign to let everyone know how technically excellent the Xiaobawang game console is. You can formulate a campaign plan. , and also asked our public relations firm McKenna to provide guidance.”

The boss's thinking jumped too much, and the group of people were silent for a long time before digesting this information.

"In this way, this lawsuit should be prepared for a protracted battle, but we lack sufficient means of rebuttal. The Odyssey generation that came out a few years ago is indeed the first video game console." Hawkins said worriedly.

Tang Huan smiled slightly. In the original time and space in 1985, Nintendo sued Mi Luohua, pointing out that the first video game or video game should be "Tennis for Two" or "Tennis for Two" by William Higinbotham in 1958, so he asked the court to abolish Odyssey patent.

Although in the end the judge believed that "Double Tennis" did not use video signals, so it could not be regarded as a "video game", Nintendo lost the lawsuit, but it was enough to use it for a period of time to fight the lawsuit.

When Tang Huan mentioned this plan, everyone couldn't help smiling. The boss really had a plan in mind and was ready to deal with it.

However, the boss knows even such a trivial matter decades ago, so he is too well-informed and memorized.

(End of this chapter)