Duke Richelieu and Talleyrand followed Prince Charles to meet Guan Zhengping and Chu Yuqiang.
After a brief introduction, Duke Richelieu spoke in an official tone and told the two shopkeepers:
After discussion and analysis by French senior officials, they believe that flying machines have become a de facto public thing in France.
Therefore, no one can apply for a patent for its basic model, but Prince Dashi is welcome to apply for a patent for an improved special aircraft.
Prince Charles kept a straight face and said nothing during the whole process. Talleyrand sat upright and carefully observed the reactions of Chu Yuqiang and Guan Zhengping.
After listening to this, Guan Zhengping and Chu Yuqiang were obviously a little surprised.
Chu Yuqiang subconsciously wanted to defend himself, but Guan Zhengping spoke directly:
"We understand. I will tell His Highness the Prince of Dashi that France refuses to issue an aircraft patent to His Highness the Prince of Dashi."
Chu Yuqiang was stunned for a moment, then shut up with a straight face, feeling that what Guan Zhengping said was very reasonable.
Duke Richelieu was also stunned. You conveyed this incorrectly.
If you convey this directly to Prince Dashi, the other party will think that France has rejected him without reason.
The consequences are unimaginable.
So Richelieu quickly explained:
"No, it's not that we in France refused to issue the aircraft patent to Prince Daushi.
"But according to French law, the aircraft itself is no longer novel, so no one can be granted a patent.
"No one, including Prince Albert, Mr. Bernoulli, or anyone else, can get a patent."
Guan Zhengping still said with a straight face:
"How France decided on this matter is purely France's internal affairs and has nothing to do with our Ming Dynasty.
"As the representative of Prince Dashi and the representative of Daming Airlines, this is the result we got.
"It's just that France refused to issue a patent to Prince Dashi and rejected our patent application."
Chu Yuqiang also added:
"I think France's refusal to issue patents to anyone is tantamount to the French government taking the patents for itself."
Duke Richelieu became even more anxious:
"No, that's not the case. Our French government has no such intention."
Guan Zhengping asked with an expression of incomprehension:
"Then what do you mean by France! Do you want to send the patent to Prince Dashi?"
Duke Richelieu immediately said instinctively:
"It's not that we don't want to publish it, but according to the law, we can no longer publish it."
Guan Zhengping became a little impatient:
"So we still won't send it. We will go back and tell Prince Dashi."
Duke Richelieu is completely uncontrollable. Why are you Ming people so unreasonable?
You didn't even bother to bargain, you just argued here about yes or no, and you didn't even discuss raising the roof or opening the windows with us.
Talleyrand finally couldn't help but interjected:
"We can contact Prince Dashi directly and explain."
Guan Zhengping smiled dryly and said:
"You can inform Prince Dashi directly, which is equivalent to the French official explicitly rejecting Prince Dashi's patent application."
Talleyrand and the Duke of Richelieu were silent. This seemed to be the reason.
Chu Yuqiang also added again:
….
"It's useless for you to come up with excuses. Your reasons have nothing to do with us.
"We only know, we only care, whether you refuse or allow."
After Talleyrand despaired, he could only show his cards:
"We did not refuse. If Prince Dashi insists on this patent, we can only issue the patent to Prince Dashi and Mr. Bernoulli at the same time, allowing both parties to own the patent at the same time."
Guan Zhengping looked at Chu Yuqiang:
"Is this reasonable?"
Chu Yuqiang thought for a while and said:
「
According to French patent law, can you decide this way?
"In order to prevent Prince Dashi from obtaining a patent, you have not hesitated to tamper with your existing laws. I will tell Prince Dashi truthfully.
"At the same time, I suggest to Prince Dashi that in the future, anyone who is granted a patent by France must apply for the same patent.
"Please follow the precedent this time and make the same decision."
The Duke of Richelieu and Talleyrand almost lost control.
Why do the words become so unpleasant when they come into your mouth?
The Duke of Richelieu gave up negotiations:
"Then what are your conditions?"
Chu Yuqiang seemed to be very confused and said:
"We don't have any conditions. We are just applying for a patent. It is obviously a very simple matter. You just follow your regulations. How did it become so complicated?"
Talleyrand tried again:
“Prince Dashi’s patent application complies with the standards, but there is indeed a case of squatting.
"Mr. Bernoulli has indeed completed actual flight experiments in France before you applied.
"Several researchers from the Academy of Sciences can attest that they are also the inventors of aircraft in France.
"So, we can issue the patent to Prince Dashi, but Mr. Bernoulli has the right to continue to use the flying machine patent.
"If the French Patent Office authorizes a patent in the future, and Prince Dashi can prove that the same production has been completed in France before the date of patent application, he can also obtain the right to use the patent."
Guan Zhengping looked at Chu Yuqiang as he listened:
"Does this comply with their patent laws?"
Chu Yuqiang nodded gently:
"It's basically consistent, but before the date of official patent application, successful producers other than the applicant only have the right to use the patent themselves and do not have the right to license it to others."
Having said this, Chu Yuqiang looked at Duke Richelieu and Talleyrand:
"That's it, right?"
Duke Richelieu and Talleyrand nodded helplessly, abandoned all strategies and ideas, and honestly agreed:
"Yes."
Guan Zhengping also nodded and said:
"Then please ask the French government to implement your laws."
Duke Richelieu and Talleyrand nodded again.
Prince Charles sat beside him and said nothing. Only now did he add in a strange tone:
"The Ming Dynasty's request was only to have the French government act in accordance with the law, but there was almost no way to achieve it.
"I really didn't expect that it would be so difficult for the French government to act in accordance with the law."
Both the Duke of Richelieu and Talleyrand wanted an explanation.
If the applicant hadn't been the prince of the Ming Dynasty, they would have acted directly in accordance with the law and wouldn't have been in such trouble.
….
It is because of the special nature of the applicant that this result was achieved.
But now no matter what they say, they are at fault, and neither of them made any excuses in the end.
Somewhat dejectedly, he said goodbye to Prince Charles and the two shopkeepers, and went to report to the King of France.
Guan Zhengping and Chu Yuqiang also left directly, leaving behind a flight tester and a maintenance inspection craftsman to guide Prince Charles's servants in learning to maintain and fly the aircraft.
After leaving the Palace of Versailles, Chu Yuqiang asked Guan Zhengping:
"How close is this to His Royal Highness Prince Dashi's bottom line?"
Guan Zhengping smiled and said:
"His Royal Highness did not say the bottom line, he just requested that at least he has the patent at the same time and can be authorized."
Chu Yuqiang smiled and said with emotion:
"Both at the same time, haha, Your Highness is too conservative.
"If political means are used, exclusive patents are not impossible.
"The French government does not dare to confront us directly.
"But it's good to do this now. We can publicize that we abide by
According to French law, we keep a thin line as human beings. "
Guan Zhengping also nodded lightly:
"Yes, next, I have to start formal licensing and sales.
“At the same time, patents from other countries have to be applied for.
"Information dissemination within the Western European continent is much faster than between Western Europe and China.
“If one country does it, other countries will soon have it.
"If I were Bernoulli, I would definitely try it in other countries."
Chu Yuqiang said immediately:
"When applying for a patent in other countries, do you need to display it with such fanfare? If so, remember to help me promote it..."
Guan Zhengping laughed directly:
"Don't even think about it. If someone hadn't made the airplane in France, His Highness wouldn't have planned to sell the airplane in the West.
"The high-profile display in France is just to gain the support of Paris citizens, obtain as many witnesses as possible, and put pressure on the French Patent Office.
“Since no one in other countries has successfully tested it, we have to quietly take away the patent.
“If someone comes to us based on the patent registration information, we will only use the highest price allowed by the market and the slowest delivery time to sell the earliest products that are all imported from Daming and assembled locally.
"Because the patent laws of many countries stipulate that you cannot apply for a patent domestically, then produce the goods abroad and dump the goods domestically, otherwise we will only sell purely original imported goods.
"If a manufacturer wants to obtain patent authorization, then it will charge 30% of the sales price based on the sales quantity."
Chu Yuqiang also smiled:
"Then we wait until someone secretly builds an airplane without paying patent fees, and then we sue them for infringement, right?"
Guan Zhengping smiled and said:
"We just... don't have the ability to build a complete production chain yet. It's not that we are not prepared to produce our own products. Why are they so anxious..."
The two chatted all the way and said goodbye at the next intersection. Guan Zhengping returned to his station in Xichang.
Chu Yuqiang subconsciously wanted to return to his shop, but after walking for a while, he changed his mind.
When I left, I declared that I would not go to the store tomorrow, so I would go the day after tomorrow.
So Chu Yuqiang went home directly, wrote a report and sent it to Zhu Jingyuan.
….
At the same time, in several major countries in the western continent, people were applying for patents for flying machines with Zhu Jingyuan's authorization and the certificate from the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty.
Faced with the review requirements of patent management departments, these people took them to the suburbs.
In the manor they rented, the flying capabilities of the flying machine were demonstrated on a small scale in the wilderness.
After the staff registered the information, they entered the patent approval process.
The fastest approval process was in Prussia, which issued the patent certificate directly on the evening of the same day that the on-site verification was completed.
The Austrians and Lucians followed, both completing the process the next morning.
The Ottomans and Italians were a little slower, finishing on the afternoon of the next day.
The normal patent application process, from review to approval and issuance, often takes a year and a half.
Going through the entire process in one day is not a normal speed at all.
The relevant personnel did not conduct an examination. Under the intervention of special powers, they went directly to register the certificate.
Because Prussia, Austria, Lucia, Italy, and Ottoman countries had already negotiated patent protection agreements with Ming Dynasty during the original peace talks.
In fact, they recognized Ming's patents, but they could not directly use Ming's patents.
The patent owners of Ming Dynasty can go through the fast approval process when they apply for the same patent in their country with the patent documents from the Ministry of Industry of Ming Dynasty.
Of course, the premise is that the same patent does not exist in their country before.
At the same time, Ming Dynasty was also guiding them to design and build their own navy.
From shipyards and port terminals to the design of the battleship itself, Ming Dynasty provided full support.
There are a group of Ming Dynasty craftsmen in design and construction who are scattered as teachers in the naval ministries of several countries.
Both parties now have a relatively close cooperative relationship. Even if other ordinary Ming people come here to apply for patents with Ming patents, the patent agencies in these countries will not deliberately delay.
Now that the applicant is Zhu Jingyuan, the Prince of the Ming Dynasty, who was also the original negotiator, it will be even more special.
It's just that the administrative efficiency of each country is different, so the time is only one day longer.
Wang Zixu
