Chapter 172: Cutting off the firewood from the bottom of the pot

Seeing Lin Zhenhua and Hua Keqin walk away, Sun Pansheng called Yuan Wei over and asked, "Manager Yuan, did your five-leaf fan do as Hanhua Company?"

Yuan Wei nodded: "Director Sun, it's not to be hiding it. We got one of their fans through foreign trade channels and made molds based on their leaves."

Sun Pansheng frowned and said, "You are a bit too much. They are doing five leaves, and you can do seven leaves or eight leaves. Why do you have to do the same?"

Yuan Wei said with a bitter face: "Director Sun, we have actually tried it. Practice shows that only five leaves are the most suitable. After changing to seven leaves or more leaves, the fan blades are too narrow to ensure strength. If reinforcement ribs are added, the weight will exceed the standard again."

"Then you at least make some changes in the shape of the leaves? Judging from their meaning, it seems that your leaves are exactly the same as others'. No wonder they are unhappy."

Yuan Wei said: "Director Sun, we have learned that the five-leaf fan of Hanhua Company in Jiangnan Province sells well because the wind of this fan is very soft and it doesn't feel uncomfortable when it blows. We didn't know at first that using the traditional shape of the fan blade can't produce the effect of their wind. Try it, only one shape of theirs, other shapes are not good. When the wind blows, it looks harder and uncomfortable than theirs."

"Is there such a god?" Sun Pansheng asked in disbelief.

Yuan Wei said: "I have asked someone privately for inquiries. Their fan leaf was designed by an expert from the Navy. That expert was studying in the Soviet Union back then, and it was very powerful. How can we have such talents?"

Sun Pansheng nodded and said, "It seems that it makes sense that I say Hua Keqin is so annoyed."

"Then, Director Sun, will our fans still be sold?" Yuan Wei asked cautiously.

"Of course, why not sell it?" Sun Pansheng said, "Didn't you apply for a plan? You said you want to earn at least 6 million foreign exchange?"

Yuan Wei said: "That's right. The price we set is US$30 per unit, the sales target is 200,000 units, and a total of 6 million foreign exchange income. Now 200,000 fans have been produced. If they can't be sold, it will be troublesome."

"Don't be afraid, the Foreign Trade Department will support you, just sell it well." Sun Panshengniu said coaxingly, "I'm not afraid of him if he is Hua Keqin uses a patent to scare me."

The same conversation was also held in booths in other provinces and regions. Jiangnan Province’s patent application for five-leaf fans has a little stimulation to all companies that produce counterfeit five-leaf fans, but this is only limited to adding a little topic of discussion to them. In everyone’s mind, the patent authorization letter is really equivalent to a piece of waste paper. The foreign trade departments of each province know what patents are, but they all believe one thing, that is, Jiangnan Province has no way to deal with them.

Hua Keqin returned to his booth and was so angry that he was so angry that he was fuming. When he saw other provinces imitating the Five-Leaf Fans, he just complained and didn't feel angry. When he heard that Lin Zhenhua had a patent in his hand, he had some hope and then went to ask for an explanation with Lin Zhenhua. Unexpectedly, he didn't get the explanation, but instead suffered a lot of cowardly.

"These people are so shameless!" Hua Keqin cursed angrily.

Lin Zhenhua was also angry, but he thought more about how to protect his own problem. If such infringement cannot be solved, Hanhua Company will not think about developing new products in the future. If one is developed, it will be copied and the other one will be discarded. Wouldn’t he become a fool who specializes in making wedding dresses for others?

"Director Hua, we can't just let it go, right?" Lin Zhenhua said.

"Forget it if you don't do this, what else can you do?" Hua Keqin said.

Lin Zhenhua said: "We can go and sue them."

"Say? Where to sue?"

"Courtes, our China is still a legal country?" Lin Zhenhua said with a presumption.

Hua Keqin shook his head: "It's outrageous. How can the government sue the government? The court cannot accept it. Besides, even if you go and sue, there must be a reason, right?"

"The reason is very simple. They infringed our patent."

"Does our country have laws on this?"

"No?"

“Is there any?”

"..." Lin Zhen was speechless. He was not a law student. Naturally, he didn't know whether China had legal provisions on intellectual property protection at this time. However, according to his impression, it seems that the Patent Law had not been issued at this time, otherwise his five-leaf fan would not have to go to Hong Kong to apply for a patent.

"Or the better, let's find the superior competent department to evaluate the situation." Lin Zhenhua settled down and began to seek organizational support. As a young man from the 21st century, he was really not very suitable for this way of man-ruling. In an era where there was no way to rely on power, he could only solve the problem with power.

Hua Keqin asked: "Superior Supervisor? Our superior supervisor is the Foreign Trade Department. I guess it's useless to find them. They must be playing past the ball and will not make a statement directly."

After all, before being completely desperate, we still have to give it a try. Hua Keqin took Lin Zhenhua to the office of the organizing committee, found the staff sent by the Foreign Trade Department, and told them about the infringement.

As Hua Keqin estimated, the Ministry of Foreign Trade said that this was a dispute between their companies, and the country currently does not have special patent legal provisions, so it is recommended that they resolve it through friendly negotiations. As for the Ministry of Foreign Trade itself, it is not convenient to interfere in such matters.

"Now the central government also advocates increasing corporate autonomy. As the competent department, it is not good for us to interfere too much in the operation of enterprises." A director of the Foreign Trade Department spoke in an official accent with a righteous official accent.

"I..." Lin Zhenhua restrained his desire to slap the director. This guy's face was really worthy of a beating.

"Oh, forget it." Hua Keqin pulled Lin Zhenhua back to the booth and comforted him: "Xiaolin, learn from the lesson. If you run a business in China, you must adapt to this situation. If you have any new products in the future, you must keep them confidential and must be released until the last moment. Otherwise, before your products are launched, their products will be sold on the street."

"Director Hua, then, there is no place to be reasonable?" Lin Zhenhua said indignantly.

"You have also seen that all provinces have this attitude, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade is not willing to go through this muddy water. For the Ministry of Foreign Trade, no matter who sells the fans, it is their foreign exchange-making task, so they are too lazy to care about which province is a little more or less." Hua Keqin said.

Lin Zhenhua looked at Hua Keqin and asked, "Director Hua, I would like to ask, what is our province's attitude towards this matter?"

"Attitude? What attitude do you want?" Hua Keqin asked back.

Lin Zhenhua said: "What I mean is that if I start protecting my rights now and offend representatives from other provinces and cities, will the province support me?"

Hua Keqin thought for a while and asked, "Kobayashi, you don't want to smash someone's stall, right? If you do this, I can't support you."

Lin Zhenhua sneered and said, "Of course I won't do anything illegal. Director Hua, don't worry, I only do things permitted by law. They don't talk about the law, I want to teach them legal classes."

Hua Keqin said: "As long as what you do is not illegal, the province will support you. If you can really defeat their arrogance, no matter how many people you offend, I will support you."

"Okay!" Lin Zhenhua said, "Director Hua, just see, I will give them a pot to remove the firewood and let them cry one by one. Then, you can wait and see the show."

The Spring Canton Fair in 1983 opened as scheduled. Overseas merchants entered the exhibition hall with deep interest as in previous years. What caught their eye were colorful and ingenious Chinese products. With the increasing opening up to the outside world, more and more Chinese companies began to study and introduce advanced foreign technologies and improve domestic production. Various new products emerged one after another, and the variety of exported goods at the Canton Fair became increasingly rich.

"Oh, is this China's five-leaf fan?" A customer who specializes in home appliances saw the five-leaf fan on the booth of the East Zhejiang Province at a glance, and came forward with interest to ask.

Yuan Wei introduced his product with a smile: "That's right, this is the Qiantang brand five-leaf fan produced by our Dongzhe Hongwei Mechanical and Electrical Company. It has soft wind power, energy-saving and power-saving, and reliable quality."

"Qiantang brand?" said the merchant in surprise, "How do I remember that the water lily brand sold on the market last year?"

"Well, there is actually not much difference," said Yuan Wei. "Our five-leaf fan is priced at $5 lower than the Water Lily brand, and its quality is not inferior to them."

"Is this true?"

"You can give it a try in person." Yuan Wei said.

Apart from fan shape, the five-leaf fan really has no complicated technology. Dongzhe Province saw the hot sales of Hanhua Company’s five-leaf fan last year, and also placed great hope for Hongwei Company’s Qiantang fan, so it invested a lot of money to help it improve its production equipment, including forging molds, etc. In this way, the quality of Qiantang fan is not significantly different from Hanhua Company’s Water Lily Brand Five-leaf fan.

"That's great, we just want to find such a fan." The foreign merchant said happily, "How much is your offer?"

"Our offer is $35," said Yuan Wei.

"Well, no no, no, I think $35 is a too high price, and it's hard for us to accept it," said the merchant.

"So, dear sir, what price do you think is more appropriate?"

"I think $30 is the bottom line we can accept, and if it is higher than this price, our company is unprofitable."

"Sir, please go to the negotiation room to discuss in detail..."

There are such bargaining in front of booths in various provinces. Last year, the 500,000 five-leaf fans exported by Hanhua Company were sold to Europe and the United States, leading a small fashion. This year, many home appliance dealers came to the Canton Fair with the task of importing some five-leaf fans. Seeing the whole venue full of five-leaf fans, these foreign dealers were overjoyed because they knew that once each booth was selling the same product, according to the Chinese habits, they would definitely lower prices to each other to compete for customers. What foreigners have to do is just wait for the Chinese to compete for the final price and sell the products to cabbage.

"Manager Lin, the Anhui exhibition group quoted the price is US$28."

"Manager Lin, Jiangsu quoted a price of $27."

"Manager Lin, $25..."

One by one, one after another, Lin Zhenhua's ears were heard. Lin Zhenhua had no expression on his face, but just said softly, indicating that he had heard it. In his heart, what surged up was not sure whether it was anger or sadness. Perhaps, this was the helplessness of an era.

A senior once told a story that a certain product produced by his company once occupied the European 80s market. However, such a large exporter was defeated by his neighbors. After seeing his products sold, everyone competed for counterfeit prices and competed at the same time. Youdao is a two-fold fighter who can't beat four-handed hands. Although he has the advantage of first move, he cannot resist many competitors, and eventually he can only give up this product and switch to other fields.

This is the competition that Lin Zhenhua encountered. Fortunately, he prepared for the future and left a patent in his hand, which was his only hope to turn defeat into victory.

"Mr. Lin, I saw that the whole place was full of five-leaf fans, only you had the highest price. What's the reason?"

Belinda, sales director of Gart Company in the United States, appeared in front of the exhibition area in Jiangnan Province with a smile and said gentlely to Lin Zhenhua.

Last year, Gart sold five-leaf fans in the US market, making a small profit, which made Belinda very happy. In the letter, Lin Zhenhua told her that Hanhua Company would also launch some equally charming new products, which also gave Belinda some expectations. Seeing that the five-leaf fans from other companies were selling well, Belinda couldn't help but come over to give Lin Zhenhua a reminder.

"Hello, Ms. Belinda, I'm very happy to see you again." Lin Zhenhua threw away the depression on her face and walked forward with her arms. Belinda chuckled and gave a hug with Lin Zhenhua. Although she was in her fifties, she was still charming.

"Mr. Lin, you are the most attractive Chinese I have ever met." Belinda said happily, but she immediately led the topic back to the business: "Mr. Lin, you haven't answered me yet. Why do your fans still insist on quoting $42? Aren't you afraid that others will steal your market?"

Lin Zhenhua said: "Ms. Belinda, you don't know that the reason why my fan is expensive is because we have to pay the patent fee."

"Patent fee?" Belinda asked strangely, "Is Five-leaf Fan a patented product?"

"That's of course." Lin Zhenhua said, "Have you not noticed that our five-leaf fan packaging box always has a patent number written on it. This patent belongs to our company. No one is allowed to produce and sell such fans without our company's authorization."

Belinda pointed to the Five-Leaf Fans in the Hall and asked, "Mr. Lin, you don't want to tell me that those fans are not authorized by you, right?"

"That's true." Lin Zhenhua said, "I am very ashamed that our country still has some shortcomings in patent protection. Of course, this is only a temporary phenomenon. I believe that in the near future, our country will also be very concerned about patent protection issues. My colleagues do not have enough understanding of patent issues, so this regrettable phenomenon occurs."

Belinda asked: "Mr. Lin, since that's the case, why don't you stop their infringement? If such an act occurs in the United States, these manufacturers will face huge compensation."

Lin Zhenhua said: "There is no way. Our country does not have relevant laws yet, and the patents I applied for are not domestic patents in our country. The current situation is that they will not be punished by legal punishment for producing these fans in China. However, if a dealer tries to sell such unauthorized fan products in the United States, Japan or a country in Europe, it will constitute an infringement of the country's patent law."

Belinda was so smart that she immediately understood what Lin Zhenhua meant in her twists and turns. She grabbed a British businessman who had walked by her and said to him: "Mr. Black, I heard that you signed a contract with China Red Guard to import a five-leaf fan. Is that true?"

Most of the foreign merchants who came to attend the Canton Fair stayed in several hotels, and everyone made home appliances, so they knew each other well. Hearing Belinda’s question, the businessman named Black replied: “Yes, that’s right. Sorry, their prices are much cheaper than Mr. Lin’s price. I’ve seen it. There is no obvious difference in the quality of their products compared to Mr. Lin’s products.”

Black and Lin Zhenhua also dealt with each other because last year he imported a batch of five-leaf fans from Lin Zhenhua, and they sold very well in the British market.

Belinda smiled and said, "Blake, if I were you, I wouldn't have signed this contract with Red Guard."

"Why?" Black asked in confusion.

Belinda pointed at Lin Zhenhua and said, "Because, as far as I know, the five-leaf fans produced by other manufacturers are infringing products. The patent rights of the five-leaf fans are in the hands of this Mr. Lin."

Lin Zhenhua seized the opportunity to hand over a list and said to Black: "Mr. Black, you can check this material. It contains the patent number of the Five-Leaf Fans we obtained. You can ask your lawyer to check it out. I have entrusted lawyer Qian Yuanping from Hong Kong as my agent to be responsible for the investigation of patent infringement issues. If the batch of Five-Leaf Fans you purchased from Red Guard Company appeared in a London store, I am worried that your company will get into trouble."

"Are you saying true?" Black's face changed suddenly. He knew very well what it means to sell infringing goods.
Chapter completed!