Daniel Bernoulli and his eldest son, Christopher, were in the room together examining patent application documents.
"There should be no problem. Let's go to the Patent Office tomorrow and get the patent that should belong to us. The principles discovered by my uncle can not only guide the research on ship navigation, but can also guide the research on flight and gases."
"Yes, Father, even if there are some things that are not very standard, as long as our flying machine really flies, the reviewers will not make things difficult, and will even help us modify it to the real standard."
"After our patent is approved, they will no longer have to face the headache of flying machine patent applicants."
"haha, yes……"
The father and son laughed happily, and then Daniel's second son, Johannes, ran into the room panting:
"Dad, brother, what's wrong, a flying machine appeared in the sky!"
The two men couldn't hold it any longer and stood up immediately:
"What plane did you say?"
"Whose plane is it?"
Johannes called his father and brother to run out of the house, came to the yard and looked up at the sky:
"Look..."
A simple airplane with a seal-letter logo on its wings has arrived above the yard where the Bernoulli family temporarily lives in Paris.
"Oh my god! It flies so smoothly!"
"Whose design is this? Has anyone applied for a patent?"
"Is this person crazy? What are they doing? Don't they want the patent?"
"What do the emblems on the plane mean?"
Daniel Bernoulli and his son were shocked, and they could no longer calm down.
I had just prepared everything and was about to formally apply for a patent, but someone else had already made the aircraft public.
Patent laws generally stipulate that things that have been publicly used cannot be patented.
Because it has lost its novelty, the key is that it is impossible to determine who originally created it.
Johannes, who had been running for a while, gasped and said:
"I heard that it is the emblem of the Ming Dynasty royal family. The buttons of the authentic Ming-style formal clothes have that emblem.
“I also heard people say that it flew up from the city hall.
"There are police controlling the road in front of the city hall, which means someone is applying for a patent for a flying machine and displaying it directly there."
Daniel and Christopher were both shocked:
"Flying from City Hall! That's several kilometers away!"
"How is this possible! How can it continue to fly for such a long time!"
Johannes was a little discouraged. He pointed at the plane in the sky and said:
"See for yourselves, it flies like this, flies so steadily and continuously, let alone the city hall, I feel it will be no problem if it flies to the Palace of Versailles and back..."
Daniel also regained more sense from the shock and looked up at the sky again, looking at the plane.
Then he let out an admiring and tangled sigh:
"This... this is really too stable... this doesn't look like a thrilling flight experiment at all..."
Christopher also said:
"It's like driving on the road or driving a boat on the water..."
Johannes said with some despair:
"Then what should we do? Should we still apply for a patent?"
Daniel was silent for three seconds, and then said decisively:
"Go, go right away, we want to prove that we independently made a flying machine before they showed it to the public.
"Even if we can't win the patent for ordinary aircraft, we should have the right to independently use flying machines for free."
This is also a general patent law principle.
Although patents are different from copyrights, patent ownership does not depend on the absolute date of invention, but rather on the date of application.
But if a person can prove that he independently invented a patent before it was approved.
Although he will not obtain ownership of the patent, he will also be able to obtain the right to use the patent for free.
Although he cannot license it to others, he can use it for free.
It’s just that this proof is very difficult. It’s hard to prove that you didn’t make it based on patents published by others. It’s even harder to prove that you didn’t make targeted modifications after seeing other people’s patents to achieve success.
It is because of the difficulty of proving that patent authorization is based on the time of application and registration.
Daniel Bernoulli immediately started packing his things and went straight to the city hall with the documents.
At the same time, Guan Zhengping's test plane circled over Paris and returned to the Plaza de la Ville Hall.
But it did not land immediately, but hovered in the sky.
Hubert, Director of the Paris Patent Office, and staff from the City Hall have completed the review of all documents.
It fully complies with the specifications. The key is to have the certification documents issued by the Ministry of Industry of Ming Dynasty and a copy of the patent certificate.
Physical review is no longer important. The usual physical review is always stumbling and there are various problems.
There is no need to look this time. Daming’s aircraft fully meets the requirements and far exceeds the review standards.
After the review is completed, it stands to reason that you should take photos of the patented product and file them, and then wait for approval.
But the plane had already flown away and there was no shadow at all.
Only occasionally you can hear the sound of the engine blown by the wind, indicating that the plane is still flying somewhere around.
Hubert looked at Chu Yuqiang and Guan Zhengping:
"Two shopkeepers...the flying machine...should we take pictures?"
Guan Zhengping smiled very calmly and said:
“The flying machine is on display over Paris so that as many Parisians as possible can see it.
“Let this matter become beyond doubt in public information to avoid any unnecessary disputes.
"But it will come back after a circle. Please wait patiently."
Hubert could understand that Guan Zhengping's words were a warning, and the plane's flying around was also a warning.
But I don’t quite understand. This kind of soliciting ordinary citizens to be witnesses should not be something people from the Ming Dynasty would do.
It is usually done by those who have no identity, have made strange creations, and are worried about not being recognized or being made things difficult for them.
Hubert could only think that shopkeeper Guan Zhengping was cautious enough, and at the same time he patted his chest very politely and said:
"Shopkeeper Guan, don't worry. Under the supervision of all our staff and witnessed by all the citizens of Paris, I and all the staff of the Patent Office will definitely deal with it impartially.
"We will definitely complete the approval process as quickly as possible and produce the patent certificate for His Highness Prince Dashi as soon as possible."
Guan Zhengping nodded noncommittally and said:
"I hope so, our plane should be back..."
Not long after, the sound of the aircraft engine became more and more obvious and circled back from the right side of the city hall.
It's been nearly an hour since it took off.
The newspaper reporter, who was keen on information, had already rushed to the city hall with his equipment.
The surrounding residents, who did not need to work, also came to watch the fun after hearing the news.
Everyone knows that although the plane has flown away, it will definitely fly back in the end.
Waiting here to finally see the plane land.
So the area around City Hall Square is now a sea of people.
Under the watchful eyes of all city hall officials, newspaper reporters, and a large number of citizens, the plane circled to the front of the city hall square.
After reducing altitude and speed, aim at the city hall and start landing.
The whole process went smoothly. After landing, the plane taxied for more than thirty meters and stopped directly in the City Hall Square.
There were cheers all around, and there were also a lot of faint camera flashes.
Hubert took the patent office examiners to observe the aircraft closely for a while, and at the same time took formal photos and records.
After all the reviews were completed, Hubert issued a receipt to Guan Zhengping, proving that the application had been received.
However, the process of patent issuance still takes time because the on-site review only examines the file format.
In the "substantive" review stage, you also need to study the principles and logic of the design, and do basic verification and confirmation.
This takes some time, so the patent cannot be issued directly on the spot.
And this process is what Zhu Jingyuan is a little worried about.
After the review, Guan Zhengping asked his craftsmen to check the status of the aircraft again and filled it with fuel again.
Then, under more cheers and attention, it took off from the City Hall Square again.
This time it was no longer hovering in the sky, but directly returning to the manor where the plane was stored.
Before the patent application document is submitted, it cannot be flown over in such a public way.
Meanwhile, the Bernoulli family finally arrived at the town hall.
Daniel sat on the carriage, looked at the sea of people around him, and sighed as the plane took off again.
The family's carriage struggled through the dispersing crowd and into the Town Hall Square.
Hubert, the director of the French Patent Office, returned to his office. He had just rested for a while when his subordinates ran in:
"Your Excellency Director, Mr. Bernoulli is here to apply for a patent for a flying machine..."
Hubert was stunned:
"Another flying machine? And it belongs to the Bernoulli family?"
The subordinate immediately replied:
"Yes, he is a member of the Bernoulli family. His name is Daniel, and he is the nephew of Daniel Bernoulli, who independently discovered the principle of fluids."
Hubert suddenly felt that something was wrong:
"We have... we just received the flying machine patent application from Daming Airlines, and Mr. Bernoulli came. How is this such a coincidence?"
The subordinate continued to ask:
"Then Mr. Director, what should we do now? Should we directly inform the other party that we have accepted Daming's application and let Mr. Bernoulli leave?"
Hubert thought for three seconds and then stood up:
"I gonna go see."
When Hubert came to the office hall, Daniel Bernoulli and his son were excitedly showing the certification documents to the staff and arguing with each other.
“This is our production record, our test record.
“We had completed the production of the flying machine before today.
“We were just making patent application documents, so it was a little slow for two days.
"You can't reject us, and you can't directly issue patents to people from the Ming Dynasty."
Several staff members had complicated expressions.
Most of them know Bernoulli. This family is so famous. Several generations of them have been well-known mathematicians and physicists.
They could also see that what Mr. Bernoulli said was probably true.
Bernoulli and his son must have discovered Ming's aircraft test when they were preparing documents, so they hurried over.
But this puts the staff in a very difficult position. On one side is His Royal Highness Prince Dashi, and on the other side is a well-known mathematical family in the West.
However, most people tend to favor Ming Dynasty, because patent applications are based on the first-come, first-served principle.
Representatives from Daming came to apply first and completed the on-site demonstration first, which caused a huge sensation.
If the patent office finally gives the patent to a latecomer, France may become the laughing stock of the entire Europe.
What's more important is that they may face sanctions from Ming Dynasty.
