Volume 6 Chapter 112 - Giving Money Without Doing Work
Great Magician Ferguson froze and his expression became a bit awkward.
This middle aged magician was right. The word “magic patents” and the concept of patents were all proposed by Xu Yi, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s chairman. It had been passed to the headquarters through the Lampuri Kingdom Magicians Guild before finally being approved by them.
Since this concept was proposed by Xu Yi, Xu Yi had the most right to talk about this matter.
Now that headquarters was saying that Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce didn’t have this right, it was no wonder they wouldn’t submit.
After a bit of silence, Great Magician Ferguson gave a cough before saying with a serious look, “This concept is indeed from chairman Xu, but this concept involves magic and magicians which is the jurisdiction of our Magicians Guild. Moreover, chairman Xu proposed this concept in the beginning in hopes of using the Magicians Guild’s strength to protect the patent concept he proposed. Isn’t that right, chairman Xu?”
Xu Yi gave a nod, “That’s right. I hoped the Magicians Guild would accept this patent concept in hopes of using the strength of the Magicians Guild to protect these patents, so that there would be more space for development when it came to magic machine research.”
“That’s right.” Seeing that Xu Yi openly acknowledged this, Great Magician Ferguson gave a sigh of relief, “Since chairman Xu has approved of giving our Magicians Guild this right in the first place, he handed the power to exercise this right to our headquarters. Then now that you are forming a Magic Machine Patent Protection Union, what is that for?”
“Your excellency Great Magician Ferguson, you’ve seemed to have made a mistake.” Xu Yi said with a faint smile.
“Oh? What’s wrong?”
“I proposed this idea to the Magicians Guild headquarters to protect our magic patents with the strength of the Magicians guild, but you’ve neglected a problem. While obtaining the protection of the Magicians Guild, we also have to pay a price. I don’t know anything else, but just for our Frestech Chamber of Commerce, we paid a shocking one hundred and forty thousand gold coins to the Magicians Guild to protect these patents. This isn’t a small amount……”
Great Magician Ferguson gave a cold snort, “What? Isn’t it natural to spend a bit of money to have the guild protect your patents?”
“Of course, this is as it should be. I never denied this.” Xu Yi narrowed his eyes and asked back without any courtesy, “But Great Magician Ferguson, you must understand one thing. We pay this fee to the Magicians Guild because we believe the Magicians Guild has the ability to protect our patents, so we choose to do this and there’s no need to do this.”
“What do you mean?” Great Magician Ferguson’s expression changed, “Could it be that your Frestech Chamber of Commerce wants to leave the patent protection of our Magicians Guild?”
“The meaning of my words is that since we can choose to pay this patent protection fee to the Magicians Guild in exchange for their protection, we can also choose not to pay this money…..”
“Then you will lose the Magicians Guild protection on your patents!” Great Magician Ferguson cut Xu Yi off without any courtesy.
“Right, it is indeed like this. But this also means that we have the right to choose and don’t only have to rely on the Magicians Guild. Great Magician Ferguson, do you understand what I mean?” Xu Yi asked.
“So you are planning on making this Magic Machine Patent Protection Union to charge yourself protection fees and protect your own patents?” Great Magician Ferguson gave a cold laugh, “Chairman Xu, do you think…..with just your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, you can do this? I can tell you that other than our Magicians Guild, there is no other organization on the continent that can do this!”
“I admit that you are right on this, at least it’s right for now, but……” Xu Yi looked at Great Magician Ferguson with incomparably sharp eyes, “Since the Magicians Guild headquarters can’t protect our patents, we have to find a way to solve this problem ourselves. Even if we face many difficulties, we have to do this.”
Being stared at by Xu Yi like this, Great Magician Ferguson couldn’t help looking away to avoid Xu Yi’s gaze.
“Chairman Xu, I don’t understand what you mean. Why do you say that our Magicians Guild can’t protect your patents?”
“You really don’t know?” Xu Yi gave a laugh before nodding at the researchers beside him.
They walked out of the room together.
When Great Magician Ferguson was confused, not long after, they brought back two elves and three dwarves who were all carrying several household magic machines.
“Chairman Xu, what is this?” Great Magician Ferguson couldn’t help asking.
Xu Yi didn’t reply as he had those people continue.
The middle aged researcher who had asked Great Magician Ferguson a question before put the Magic Fan in his hand on the table before pointing at it, “Your excellency Great Magician, do you recognize this Magic Fan?”
Great Magician Ferguson was confused as he looked at the Magic Fan before shaking his head.
“This Magic Fan is not a Frestech Brand Magic Fan made by our company, it was discovered in the Candra Empire.” The middle aged researcher continued, “To put it simply, it is the Magic Fan from a company that we don’t know the name of yet.”
“What? Is this very strange? As far as I know, other than your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, aren't there several dozen companies that can also produce Magic Fans?” Great Magician Ferguson said.
“That’s right. But other than our Frestech Chamber of Commerce, if another company wants to produce Magic Fans, they have to obtain the patent authorization from our Frestech Chamber of Commerce, or it would go against the patent protection of the Magicians Guild. You should be very clear on this, right?” The middle aged researcher asked.
“Un, it is like this……” Great Magician Ferguson looked at the Magic Fan again as a different feeling filled his heart.
The middle aged researcher pointed at the Magic Fan’s base and said, “Our company has note of all the companies that have received the patent authorization and this Magic Fan is not from one of those brands, so I’m certain that this Magic Fan is from one of the companies that has stolen from our company’s Magic Fan patent!”
Great Magician Ferguson knitted his brows, “How can you confirm this?”
The middle aged researcher looked at him with a gaze of contempt.
“Your excellency Great Magician Ferguson, you surpass me when it comes to magic, but when it comes to understanding of magic machines, I am without a doubt better than you.”
Great Magician Ferguson was angry, but he as a normal person didn’t have the right to say anything towards this!
“Then in the end, what is the meaning?” Great Magician Ferguson angrily said.
“You still don’t understand?” The middle aged researcher revealed a surprised look, “Our Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s patent is being openly infringed on, but your Magicians Guild hasn’t taken any disciplinary action yet to protect the patent of our company. Even when our company tries to protect the patent with our own strength, you forcefully stop us! Your excellency Great Magician Ferguson, can you tell me where the patent protection fees that our company is giving headquarters is going?”
Hearing him say “you” again and again, Great Magician Ferguson felt very dissatisfied.
This fellow was clearly a Ninth Grade Magician and didn’t feel any sense of belonging towards the Magicians Guild, but rather kept saying “we” when he talked about the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. To Great Magician Ferguson, a Great Magician who was on the council was very dissatisfied with this.
But the other side’s question was solid, so he had to answer.
After thinking for a bit, Great Magician Ferguson said with a serious look, “As for this matter, as long as you report this to headquarters, headquarters will investigate and protect your patent. But this matter can’t be solved in just a day or two, it takes some time. Also, this isn’t related to your Frestech Chamber of Commerce privately making the Magic Machine Patent Protection Union, you can’t deny the guild’s hard work to protect your patent because of this one infringement.”
“Hard work?” The middle aged researcher gave a laugh, “Your excellency Ferguson, our company discovered this for the first time and made a protection application to the headquarters, it has already been half a year. In this half a year, it isn’t just this one time that our patent has been infringed on.”
The other researchers, the two elves, and the three dwarves all put the household magic machines in their hands on the table and began giving introductions.
It was just like what the middle aged researcher had described. These household magic machines came from companies that didn’t receive the patent authorization from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, infringing on the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s patent.
“We pay a large amount of patent protection fee to the Magicians Guild each year, but they can’t protect our patent, so why should we believe in the guild? Why can’t we find our own solution?”
Facing the middle age researcher’s question, Great Magician Ferguson was silent for a bit before turning to look at Xu Yi.
“Chairman Xu, is this your intention?”
Xu Yi gave a shrug, “From a business perspective, it’s very simple. Not doing work even when receiving money, why should I keep paying?”
Great Magician Ferguson looked at Xu Yi with a dark look, “This means that you aren’t planning on accepting the headquarters’ decision? Do you understand the consequences of doing this?”
Xu Yi looked right at him, “The Magicians Guild was made to help the magicians of the continent, protecting their interests. If it can’t do this, but rather eliminates the rights of magicians, there is no need for the Magicians Guild to exist.”
Great Magician Ferguson was surprised before smiling out of anger.
“Good! Good! Chairman Xu, do not regret doing this!”
Then he left in a huff.