This is big trouble!

Chapter 65 This is big trouble!

After Ethan and Evelyn sat down in the office, Barbara began to explain why Milward wanted to go to court.

"In our country, there is a Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Article 11 of which stipulates that when a plaintiff files a complaint with the court, the receptionist must review the format of the complaint, including the signature of the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney, and must ensure that the attorney is qualified to practice in the place where the litigation is taking place."

"Because each state in our country has its own laws, if a lawyer who is licensed to practice in California is representing a case in New York State, there is a possibility that he may make some misjudgments due to his unfamiliarity with the law. This is irresponsible to the client. Therefore, in order to protect the interests of the client, the federal government requires the courts to review the lawyer's qualifications."

"While this provision protects the interests of the parties involved, it also prevents some companies that have legal departments from using their own lawyers to file lawsuits, unnecessarily increasing litigation costs."

"However, Mirova is not actually affected by this clause because they were originally a California company. They only moved their headquarters after Philips made the acquisition offer last year. In this case, their company's lawyers are actually licensed to practice in California. For example, when Mirova sued Atari, Mirova directly sued Atari."

"Now, instead of having their internal lawyers sue you directly, they've commissioned an external law firm to provide benefits to those litigators. This only proves one thing: they don't care about compensation."

"That's why I said you'd probably have to go to court. After all, high-paying cases like those involving rights protection aren't easy to get, and if it's a contingency fee arrangement, they can earn even more."

At this point, Barbara burst out laughing. "So, I suggest you think back and see if you've offended Milrohua somewhere, making a company prefer to give money to a law firm rather than use its own lawyers."

"Especially you, Ethan, you're a former employee of Milrova. I think Milrova is after you."

Although Barbara smiled and spoke humorously, trying to lighten the mood, Ethan was still somewhat surprised.

He hadn't expected that there would be so many rules just for choosing a lawyer in litigation.

The key point is that Barbara was able to analyze the plaintiff's motivation for filing the lawsuit to a certain extent simply by looking at the plaintiff's choice of lawyer.

This is fucking amazing!

You truly deserve the title of a Dharma Master!

While Ethan was still in a daze, Evelyn, who had been feeling down for a long time, finally found an outlet for her frustration.

"Oh, Barbara! You're absolutely right! We also think Mirova is deliberately targeting us!"

"Look, this is what the lawsuit says. Milrova claims that our 'Snake Game' infringes on Milrova Odyssey's patent. That's obviously impossible, right? Because video games can't infringe on game console patents!"

To put it simply, video games are software, while home consoles are hardware!

"Software infringing on hardware patents? What kind of person could come up with such an idea?!"

"Barbara, I've figured it out. You were absolutely right! Those people in the courtroom don't understand technology at all!"

Barbara listened to his endless complaints with a smile and a nod.

"Oh Evelyn, don't get agitated, this should be a small matter."

She comforted Evelyn while accepting the indictment.

"Let me see what these lawyers actually wrote in the complaint."

Open the document bag and read the words on the paper.

At first, Barbara had a smile on her face.

But as she continued to peruse the pages, one dark cloud after another crept onto her face, causing her brow to furrow.

She spent a full twenty minutes flipping through seven or eight pages of paper. When she looked up again, her once clear eyes were now filled with doubt.

This situation made Ethan's heart skip a beat.

"Ms. Barbara, are we really infringing on copyright?" he asked cautiously.

Ethan's words made Evelyn purse her lips, her eyes filled with curiosity.

Under their watchful eyes, Barbara put down the copy of the indictment she was holding, stood up, and rummaged through the filing cabinet behind her. At the same time, she asked, "Ethan, how did you resolve the copyright issues with *Snake Game*?"

"Uh... so you mean we applied for a provisional patent?" Ethan said.

The next second, he immediately realized something was wrong.

"Professor Barbara, do you mean our provisional patent conflicts with theirs?"

As soon as he said it, he realized that his guess was wrong.

"Wait a minute, we make arcade games, they make home video game consoles!"

"I remember you said before that these two cannot be used interchangeably? Is it because the MiloWare Odyssey is a home video game console that MiloWare couldn't immediately sue Atari for product infringement and drag Pong into a copyright lawsuit through patent means?"

"Don't rush," Barbara said immediately, who was looking for something. "Go home now, find the receipt for that temporary application, and then wait for me at the San Jose Patent Office."

"Evelyn, go to the office next door and get four copies of the agency agreement. I need to sign an agency contract with you. I'll explain why later. Right now, what we need to do is go to the patent office and check their Odyssey patent filing!"

Although Barbara gave instructions, Ethan sensed that something was wrong.

Because before this, when they consulted Barbara about legal issues, Barbara had never looked so serious.

However, Ethan also knew that now was not the time to ask questions, so he went home as Barbara had asked, found the provisional patent application receipt for "Snake Game", and then rushed to the patent office in San Jose.

When he entered the hall, Evelyn and Barbara were already waiting there.

Upon seeing Ethan, they didn't say much. Barbara simply pointed to the agency agreement in front of her and then extended her right hand.

"signature."

"receipt."

Ethan immediately complied with Barbara's concise and efficient words. He then saw Barbara slap her lawyer's license, agency agreement, court summons, and a copy of the complaint in front of the receptionist. "I need to see all the filing documents for the patent 'US3728480 A'. Please retrieve the provisional application file for 'Snake Game' for me."

Ethan was somewhat surprised by the domineering words, but what surprised him even more was the behavior of the staff.

After reviewing the documents submitted by Barbara, two staff members immediately led them upstairs to the archives on the third floor. They asked them to wait in the break room for a moment, and then the two went into the archives to find the relevant documents for them.

About ten minutes later, two brown paper bags appeared in front of them.

With Barbara's activation, the patent application form for "Snake Game," which Ethan himself filled out, appeared. Then, a patent called "US3728480 A," consisting of eleven drawings and forty-six pages of description, simply and quickly jumped into Ethan's view.

"Holy crap! How can you look at patents like that?"

Ethan couldn't understand it, but he was deeply shocked.

Evelyn, standing beside him, nudged him with her elbow and muttered softly, "Don't be surprised. Barbara already told me on the way here that our country's patent and copyright law stipulates that if a patent in the patent office is related to litigation, as long as the litigation materials are submitted to the patent office, the defendant can legally see the entire contents of the patent, and even... get a copy."

!!!

What kind of bullshit law is this?

Ethan doubted that he had heard correctly.

"Are you sure?" he asked, still somewhat skeptical. "If that's the case, isn't a patent just like a nightclub—anyone can go there?"

Evelyn pursed her lips and said, "I didn't believe it either, but Barbara gave me an example."

"What?"

"Coca Cola."

Okay, Ethan believed it.

Because Coca-Cola has been criticizing the US Patent and Trademark Office for its terrible patent protection.

Perhaps because everyone had a bad feeling, Evelyn and Ethan didn't look at the patent content.

While they were talking, Barbara was frantically flipping through the documents in her hands.

Perhaps it was because there was too much content, or perhaps the technology was too complex, but she spent a full half hour looking at it.

Just as Ethan was wondering if Barbara was struggling with the technology, the previously quiet Barbara suddenly slammed her hand on the table and roared angrily—

"Oh! Sxxt!"

Who approved this patent?

Are all the people reviewing this a bunch of idiots?

Barbara's roar startled Ethan.

Evelyn also looked surprised and moved closer to Barbara, asking, "Barbara, what's wrong? Is Mirova's patent disadvantageous to us?"

"Of course!" Barbara's chest heaved as she pointed to the documents, "See for yourselves!"

Following her directions, Ethan and Evelyn immediately turned their attention to it, and then they saw these two paragraphs—

This patent relates to an apparatus and method for use with standard monochrome and color television receivers to generate, display, manipulate, and use symbols or geometric figures on a television screen for training simulations, playing games, and other activities.

[This invention is a combination of a circuit and a standard television set. The circuit is synchronized with horizontal and vertical sync signals and can generate a control unit on the standard television screen that generates signals of "dots" manipulated by the participant.]

When these two paragraphs appeared, Ethan Jones immediately frowned!

The next second, he picked up a copy of the indictment and carefully examined the name of the patent!

When he discovered that the official patent name for Milova Odyssey was "Television gaming and training apparatus," he instantly understood why the San Francisco court had accepted this outrageous case!

"Isn't the patent for a home video game console a home video game console?"

"Are the patents for home video game consoles limited to video games and training devices?"

"Is this a patent application based on video signal display techniques?"

"WTF! How did you apply for this?"

In that instant, Ethan suddenly realized that he was in a lot of trouble!

Although arcade games are a form of public art, electronic arcade machines still use television screens!

If the patent for a home video game console doesn't limit the device to "home use," but instead specifies it for "television," then...

Who the hell doesn't infringe on copyrights?

Note: ① The issue of practicing law across state lines mentioned in the article can be resolved. Firstly, through a proper examination; secondly, through mutual recognition agreements, meaning two states can mutually recognize licenses, but with limitations. ② The claim of using litigation to check patents at the patent office is true; Nintendo has confirmed this. ③ The patent for home video game consoles is indeed called "Video Games and Training Devices," directly limiting it to television sets. Any game device using a standard television set is infringing. This is key to Mirova's ability to earn 100 million NT dollars through litigation (this is from litigation, not including licensing fees). Among those sued are big names like Nintendo, Sega, Emerson, and CBS. This patent seems a bit outrageous, and in reality, it is extremely outrageous—so outrageous that Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi couldn't tolerate it and filed a lawsuit in the United States, demanding that the court cancel the patent. Nintendo's complaint stated that the patent's scope went beyond the technology itself, as it not only covered video game consoles made entirely of circuit boards but also those made with CPUs (as mentioned earlier, the Odyssey console didn't have a CPU). Yamauchi argued that since the product didn't involve CPUs, it could only cover arcade and home consoles with similar technology, not home consoles with CPUs, or perhaps it could cover home consoles but not other types of devices. Unfortunately, Nintendo spent millions on the lawsuit but lost, and the patent eventually expired naturally in the 1990s.

(End of this chapter)