Chapter 1548 You may be a little too radical

Liu Chenchen's voice was not loud, but it was like an ice bomb hitting the warm air of the laboratory.

The atmosphere seemed to freeze in an instant.

The expression on Chang Haonan's face was first a brief moment of surprise, and then turned into an almost absurd amusement.

It was expected that competitors would play tricks on patents.

But what he originally expected was that the two sides would engage in a wonderful confrontation on the technical level.

I didn't expect it to be done in such a simple and even crude way.

Academician Zhang Tao next to him had a completely different look.

Pure shock.

For a moment, he even wanted to see what kind of stubborn person was who would choose to flatter the great god in front of him.

In short, almost everyone was overwhelmed by this sudden and almost reckless business attack.

In the end, it was Chang Haonan who broke the silence first.

He turned to Zhang Tao and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Don't worry, Academician Zhang. I guarantee that this technology, from beginning to end, from principle to implementation, is the result of the collaborative research of the Torch Laboratory and the Institute of Biophysics. The patent layout is also solid enough, and there is no legal risk."

"That's too formal..." Zhang Tao immediately waved his hand, with an expression of "I understand" on his face. "Our determination to develop in-depth cooperation between the Institute of Marine Chemical Physics and the Torch Laboratory remains unchanged, and we can start discussing the details of the cooperation at any time. In addition, if there are any non-technical requirements, we will also do our best to cooperate."

His statement was firm and without any hesitation.

What a joke! Not to mention Chang Haonan's own energy, the tempting prospect of single-atom array characterization alone is enough for him to bet everything on the Torch.

Zhang Tao even felt a little grateful to those people who were playing tricks behind the scenes for giving him such a perfect opportunity to stand on the side.

But statements are just statements.

Now that things have come to this, Chang Haonan himself must first find a way to deal with the current troubles.

He quickly arranged for several accompanying administrative staff to stay behind to take charge of the specific matters of subsequent cooperation with the Institute of Chemistry, while he immediately set off back to Beijing with the core team.

After seeing off Chang Haonan and his party, Wang Lingxiao privately found Zhang Tao in the laboratory, with a trace of worry still on his face: "Teacher, this matter... judging from the situation just now, the other party is well organized and obviously came prepared. If we choose to cooperate now, will there be more troublesome lawsuits later?"

It’s not that the former has any opinion about Chang Haonan.

Rather, the topic of single-atom catalysts is the stepping stone for Wang Lingxiao to graduate and even enter the academic circle in the future. Any risk may affect his entire career.

Zhang Tao was half holding a water cup at this time. After hearing the question, he rolled his eyes in annoyance. He thought that even if Chang Haonan really became an academic tycoon and stole other people's achievements, most people would not be able to find a place to reason.

Not to mention that someone is now actively looking for trouble.

Of course, he couldn't say this out loud, so he patted his disciple on the shoulder and comforted him:

"Don't worry, the sky won't fall..." He said, not forgetting to drink a sip of tea leisurely, "In this matter, offending Academician Chang is equivalent to offending us. In addition, there is Academician Rao Zhihe in charge of the Institute of Biophysics..."

The meaning is very clear——

How many dishes are there? Challenging three academicians at one time?

Wang Lingxiao was choked by the teacher's domineering remarks, but after thinking about it, he realized that it was indeed true, and his heart finally settled down.

"I understand, teacher."

He nodded, turned around and went back to his workstation.

"and many more!"

But just as he reached the door, he was suddenly called from behind.

"Put aside your other projects for now." Zhang Tao's expression became serious. "Focus on the method of making single-atom arrays using the 'film shrinkage-induced self-assembly' that we have researched before, and perfect a feasible synthesis plan as soon as possible."

Faced with this sudden request, Wang Lingxiao was stunned: "But didn't President Chang just say that the TEM-APT with 3D imaging capabilities will not be available until next year at the earliest? We don't have the means of characterization. We are doing this now. The intermediate steps all rely on simulation, and the error accumulation will be very large. Reliability..."

"What do you know!" Zhang Tao tapped the table with his fingers, with an expression of an experienced person, "Academician Chang said that next year is a conservative estimate... According to past experience, almost all projects he presided over were completed ahead of schedule..."

This obviously exceeded Wang Lingxiao's ability to accept.

How can anyone finish a project ahead of schedule?

So he was stunned: "Huh?"

"Ah, what?" Zhang Tao pulled Wang Lingxiao out of his shock. "Anyway, don't worry too much about the reliability issue for now. Come up with a plan that can be implemented. This way, if there is any additional need, at least we can synthesize some samples for testing. It's better than trying to do it at the last minute and making a fool of yourself."

Wang Lingxiao looked at his mentor's confident expression. Although he was still a little nervous, he could only nod helplessly: "Then I will organize people and try to come up with a feasible synthesis plan as soon as possible..."

……

That afternoon, the atmosphere in the conference room on the top floor of Building B of the Torch Laboratory was solemn.

On the huge screen, Sun Fei and his core team members who were far away in Guangzhou were shown in separate frames.

Chang Haonan sat in the main seat with his eyelids half closed, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Liu Chenchen stood at the reporting seat and presented the information he had collected in a clear and rapid manner.

"The plaintiffs involved more than 30 registered companies, and the background investigation shows that the situation is very complicated. These companies generally have the following characteristics: the registered places are scattered but concentrated in several specific areas; the equity structure is multi-layered, and there are a lot of foreign investment or cross-holding phenomena..."

She pulled up a relationship diagram and paused for a moment to give the audience time to understand:

"According to public information and feedback from some channels, these companies generally have dozens or even hundreds of similar intellectual property litigation records, and their methods are highly consistent, which is a typical patent troll operation mode."

Then, several more organized charts were projected onto the big screen. "Based on the information we have so far, we believe that these more than 30 companies can be roughly divided into three relatively independent but possibly coordinated forces. Among them, the most intensive and sophisticated ones are those led by Liming Technology."

"Liming Technology?" Sun Fei on the other side of the screen suddenly said, "This name sounds familiar to me, as if I've dealt with them somewhere before..."

A young assistant wearing glasses beside him immediately reminded him in a low voice: "Director Sun, at the international intellectual property risk prevention seminar held on Science Island last year, the guest speaker mentioned several typical domestic NPE (non-patent implementing entity) cases. One of the plaintiffs in a malicious lawsuit was Liming Technology."

"Yes! I remember now!" Sun Fei slammed the table, "It's them, repeat offenders!"

Chang Haonan nodded slightly, expressing his approval of Sun Fei's recollections.

"These domestic white gloves are only responsible for execution, not the key." He leaned forward slightly, his eyes sweeping across the screen and the people in the conference room: "The most urgent task is to quickly dig out the real financial backers behind them. Which foreign companies are they? Only then can we target them more effectively."

As Patrick Mahach guessed, Chang Haonan did not only contact FEI.

So anyone could be the mastermind behind this.

"The overseas investigation is ongoing, but there is great resistance and it will take time," Liu Chenchen responded immediately. "But it can be basically confirmed that FEI is the most active and direct behind the scenes."

"Makes sense." Sun Fei nodded. "FEI has a strong background and its technology is more compatible with our patents. They should be the most motivated to do these little things."

"As for JEOL, Hitachi, Thermo Fisher and other companies," Liu Chenchen continued to analyze, "the specific role they play remains to be further investigated, but based on their past competitive strategies and current market trends, they should be happy to see this happen. It is not ruled out that they will even provide some informal support or information sharing in secret to form a tacit temporary alliance with FEI."

Song Jingming, deputy general manager of Torch Group, who was sitting to Chang Haonan's left, snorted coldly: "Birds of a feather..."

This former office director had joined the group's management team several years ago and was responsible for handling various administrative matters.

"Boss Chang, no matter if it's FEI or some other evildoers behind the scenes, these dirty hands will eventually have to reach out through domestic spokespeople." A fierce look flashed in his eyes, "Since they dare to reach out, we should just chop them off cleanly!"

Song Jingming's words were full of iron-bloodedness, which instantly made the atmosphere in the conference room more solemn.

Seeing that no one answered, he simply continued, "I suggest that we immediately report the situation to the relevant superior departments, and uproot these white gloves who are jumping the most happily. Those who should be investigated should be investigated, and those who should be arrested should be arrested! On the one hand, it can solve the current trouble, and on the other hand, it can also serve as a warning to others, so that others will not follow suit in the future!"

Chang Haonan showed an awkward expression——

The other party seems to be a bit too radical...

So I quickly raised my hand to stop him:

"This proposal... is good, but it doesn't quite fit our current identity..." He rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit troubled by the radical subordinates in front of him, "It would be better to go through legal procedures..."