Crouching Dragon and Young Phoenix

Chapter 66 Crouching Dragon and Young Phoenix

After reviewing the patent that Milrohua mentioned and finding the crux of the problem, Barbara asked the patent office staff to make her a copy, and then had Ethan and Evelyn come home with her.

Since it was lunchtime, Ethan made a special trip to McDonald's on his way back to get three meals packed up.

Unfortunately, neither he nor Evelyn had an appetite and couldn't eat anything, as for Barbara...

After she got home, she stayed there making phone calls.

Although Ethan didn't eavesdrop, Barbara didn't try to hide anything. From her few words, Ethan could tell that Barbara had consulted with friends at the Federal Patent Office, exchanged opinions with her colleagues, and even spoken with her teacher. But none of this plea for help made Ethan happy, because her cold, emotionless words and rapid, storm-like speech all proved one thing—they might really have infringed on someone's patent.

"Oh! Sxxt!"

Thinking of this, Ethan hunched over slightly, put his hands behind his head, and looked conflicted.

Because he simply couldn't understand why the patent for the world's first commercial home video game console wasn't for a home video game console, but for a video game and training device.

What the hell is this?!

If the patent targets home video game consoles, it's just a monopoly in one industry. But when the patent targets video games, who in the world can bypass this patent?

Computer games?

Because the monitor is not a standard television?

Oh! Fxxk!

Ethan suddenly remembered that in his past life, after the Atari crash, the United States did indeed have a long period of vacuum in gaming devices. Whether it was small game companies or large ones like Activision and EA, they were all making computer games!

Could it be...?

"Is it because of this patent that Mirova can sustainably exploit resources to the point of exhaustion?"

"Damn it! A single patent can strangle an entire industry?"

"Holy crap! How can such a bizarre patent exist in the world?!"

"Oh my god! Are those patent office examiners all incompetent?"

Feeling increasingly uneasy, Ethan abruptly stood up, threw his hands up, and angrily gasped, "How did this patent even get approved?"

"Didn't they find it strange during the review process?"

"Why would a patent that describes its own technology protect not the technology itself, but the visual means of presenting the technology? This...this...don't the people at the patent office think this is outrageous?"

As Ethan spoke, his lips trembled.

That's not anger!

There's nothing we can do! This patent is just so outrageous!

"Oh, Ethan—don't be angry—although this patent seems a bit excessive, from another perspective, isn't it actually very beneficial to us?"

Looking at her younger brother, whose face was flushed red, Evelyn raised her right hand and patted his back repeatedly, coaxing him as if stroking a cat, "The stricter the patent protection law, the more advantageous it is for us, because we are ultimately going to work in the technology field..."

"If you really want to run a business, then we can't just use someone else's technology to operate our own company, can we?"

His sister's words made Ethan much more composed. After taking a few deep breaths, he also focused his gaze on Evelyn. "But now, if this patent is legitimate, then we really are infringing on it—"

His bright eyes were filled with worry.

Although Evelyn knew Ethan was probably right and the matter was most likely confirmed, she still smiled and said, "Oh, Ethan, don't be so pessimistic. Things haven't gotten to that point yet, right? What if Barbara..."

However, before she could finish speaking, Barbara's voice appeared—

"Evelyn, Ethan is right. We should prepare for the worst now."

Upon hearing this, the two immediately turned their attention to Barbara.

She went straight to the sofa after hanging up the phone and sat down heavily.

The sudden descent of the body seemed to be an attempt to shake off the fatigue, while the upward leaning of the back spoke of the helplessness in the heart.

The act of leaning back and closing her eyes was her way of organizing her thoughts. When she looked at the two of them again, the smile on her face was full of apology.

"First of all, I apologize because before answering the copyright protection question about 'Snake Game,' I only researched Mirova's game copyright issues and not their game console's patent rights. So I asked you to apply for a provisional patent for 'Snake Game,' attempting to get you on board the new train of the soon-to-be-revised copyright protection law. From the perspective at the time, this method was not problematic, but from the current perspective... you might as well have just applied for a copyright directly..."

These words made Ethan and Evelyn's hearts sink.

Because they understood what Barbara meant.

If we hadn't applied for a provisional patent for "Snake Game" and hadn't submitted the information about displaying "Snake Game" arcade games on television screens to the patent office, perhaps this mess wouldn't exist now.

Can……

That's not right!

Ethan frowned slightly, shook his head, and said, "Professor Barbara, I don't think you need to take responsibility for us, because even if we directly registered the copyright for 'Snake Game' instead of applying for a provisional patent, Mirova can still sue us."

"Because no matter what method we use to protect our rights, Snake Game is a game that requires a standard television set to display its content. As long as we use a standard television set to sell it, it constitutes a legal infringement."

"At most, it will be a little more troublesome when it comes to providing evidence; it won't be as simple as it is now, right?"

Although Ethan was angry, his anger did not affect his thinking.

His words startled Barbara for a moment, then she gave a helpless smile and nodded, saying, "Yes."

"Ethan, you're right. As long as your game involves generating, displaying, manipulating, and using symbols or geometric shapes on a television screen, then you're infringing on copyright."

This result made Ethan sigh.

Evelyn looked puzzled. "But why?"

"Professor Barbara, isn't this patent a bit too domineering?"

"Anyone with technical knowledge should know that the symbols or geometric shapes on standard televisions are generated in the same way! This is fixed in the standard television format!"

"Even if the reviewers don't understand the technology, they should at least have watched television programs, right? All television stations transmit signals in the same way! If there are differences, how can a standard television receive and broadcast them?"

"Didn't the people at the patent office notice something was wrong when they were examining this patent?"

Evelyn's question only deepened Barbara's helpless smile.

She stared at the girl for a long time, then shifted her gaze to Ethan. After noticing the endless longing in their eyes, she shook her head and said, "Because those people at the Patent Office are a bunch of idiots."

"I think I told you before that Mirova had a disagreement with the copyright office when applying for the game's copyright, right?"

"But because the copyright office has an expedited service, they didn't stick with those people at the copyright office to the end."

"Then there was the situation where Nolan Bushnell plagiarized 'Pong,' and they couldn't sue."

"In this case, you have already witnessed the stupidity of the Copyright Office, and now the patent you are dealing with is the stupidity of the Patent Office."

Barbara sighed, rubbing her temples as she said, "I just called my friends at the Federal Patent Office, and they told me that when Ralph Bell registered his design 'The Brown Box,' the precursor to the Milova Odyssey, for a patent, the patent examiners had no idea how to define the item."

"After reviewing Professor Ralph Bell's application, they concluded that the technology for displaying various images on a television set could not be patented because televisions inherently possess this function, and television programs are an application of this function."

"This result made Ralph Bell very angry."

"Then, he did something that involved directly requisitioning the patent office's television and showing them his design."

"Then, everyone at the patent office was captivated by his video games."

"They found this presentation interesting, unlike previous TV shows, because it added manipulation features, which is why 'The Brown Box' passed the censorship."

"When it came to defining the nature of the patent, they encountered another problem because Ralph Bell stated that the individual circuit board was very simple to manufacture and any engineer could imitate it, so protecting the individual circuit diagram was meaningless. So the patent office examiner communicated with Ralph Bell, and when they learned that the 'brown box' could only display the game through a television screen, they included the clause 'generating, displaying, manipulating and using symbols or geometric figures on a television screen' in the patent protection."

"In their view, the four standards of 'generation, display, manipulation, and use' were already very specific, but no one expected that the prefix 'television screen' would be the biggest problem!"

"Because at that time there were simply no video games on the market! No arcade machines! No home consoles!"

As she said this, Barbara slowly closed her eyes again.

Once such a killer prefix appears, even if she's a mage, she can't avoid it!

As for filing a lawsuit or invalidating a patent application?

forget it!

Because this stupid behavior was done by the patent office itself!

If the court finds them wrong, what will happen if other companies feel that the patent office's review is not strict enough?

Should we file another lawsuit? Or should we be ruled inadmissible again?

Then the US courts shouldn't do anything else but watch those companies fight over patents all day long!

After all, America follows the common law system, and the precedents cited there are essentially giving judges a certain degree of legislative power!

Even if this ridiculous registration wasn't caused by the patent office itself, but rather by Ralph Bell's excessive application...

The court will not actually invalidate the patent.

Because Ralph Bell is involved in the military industry.

From the Apollo program to military submarines, he developed many of the patents!

Scientists like this are national treasures of the United States!

Let alone excessively applying for a civilian patent, even if he really wanted to make money from it, everyone would turn a blind eye!

Note: ① The origin story of this patent for video games and training devices was told by Ralph Bell himself. In his memoir, "The Birth of Video Games," published in 05, he also mentioned the initial refusal of registration by the patent office and the events that followed. The US Patent and Trademark Office and the Copyright Office are essentially a pair of powerful entities; it's no wonder that companies don't trust them because they've done too many outrageous things.

(End of this chapter)