Chapter 678: Intellectual property rights must be protected

For a software like TORCH Multiphysics that has been operating stably for more than a year, and there are basically no competing products on the market, the official release is actually a matter of course.

The main thing is to push a new version and take this opportunity to start charging.

Therefore, the three of them did not stay on this topic for too long.

"By the way, Mr. Chang."

Just when Chang Haonan was about to announce the end of the meeting, Yang Huimei suddenly changed the subject:

"When I participated in other project negotiations before, I encountered many software intellectual property disputes."

"In the past, our software was free to trial, so there was nothing to say, but now we are charging. Considering the reproducibility of computer programs, I think there is no guarantee that someone will not use pirated versions."

"Moreover, even if we don't consider the problem of cracking encryption, we have released so many trial versions before. If they continue to use them, we only rely on a user agreement. It will be difficult to impose restrictions on operations, right?"

When TORCH Multiphysics was first released two years ago, Chang Haonan specifically found people to write user agreements in multiple languages ​​for major regions in the world.

However, Yang Huimei’s concerns are indeed justified.

From the late 90s to the early 21st century, due to unclear legal provisions and difficulties in law enforcement, piracy problems were relatively rampant around the world.

Not to mention China.

How many software companies have been killed by piracy in recent years.

In order to prevent theft, many games can only set up levels in the game content that cannot be passed by normal means, and then provide a guide book with the genuine software.

The domestic office software WSP almost went bankrupt at this stage.

"I think big companies and institutions should be fine. Our Torch Group, and of course Mr. Chang, are all registered with it. The TORCH Multiphysics software is a key basic industry project designated by the state. There should be no one." Don’t open your eyes to this kind of thing.”

As the office director, Song Jingming doesn’t know much about business-level issues, but he has a clear view of the general trend:

"So, I think the main problem may still be small and medium-sized enterprise users, as well as universities and research institutions."

"I already have preliminary ideas about universities and research institutions."

Chang Haonan waved his hand directly:

"We have finally taken this opportunity to stand at the forefront of numerical computing in the world, and we must still play some social responsibilities in the field of education."

"What's more, cultivating new blood is also good for ourselves. After all, we can't expect others to never come up with products with similar functions to ours. But if users who engage in numerical simulation all over the world have adapted to TORCH Multiphysics during their student days, operation, it will form an innate barrier for latecomers.”

"At that time, they will not be able to compete with us in terms of computing performance, software ecology, and user habits. Even if they have more advantages in price, or even if they are free, it will be difficult for them to pose a threat to us."

As a Chinese engineer who has experienced the 2020s, Chang Haonan knows all too well how much benefit these hidden costs will bring to first-mover companies.

In the years when commercial software was intensively localized, even if the file formats were common to each other, many compatibility issues would arise that required manual processing.

As for those who can't even open each other's project files, the conversion is even more of a nightmare.

It can be said that if it were not for the large wave of assistance from the other side of the ocean, whether it is software or hardware, there would be no such strong motivation in China to engage in similar types of substitutions.

And now.

Hedong in thirty years and Hexi in thirty years.

Chang Haonan, who finally had his turn to be the pioneer, certainly couldn't let go of the opportunity to fight back.

"So what you mean is..."

Song Jingming opened his notebook as he spoke.

"For educational institutions, we can provide a free student version of the software, which even includes a full set of tutorials and training. In fact, we only need to change the name of the current trial version, but we need to add some features so that we can check which project at a glance. The files are from the free version.”

"Of course, this version is only for the education process. If you want to use it in research results or projects, you still need to purchase our commercial version of the software."

"This is a good way to start cultivating usage habits among students..."

Song Jingming scribbled in his notebook and quickly recorded what Chang Haonan said:

“But how will this version be promoted?”

"I mean, we can't just advertise that we have a free student version of the software."

"This is simple."

Chang Haonan's answer was almost without thinking:

"I compiled a textbook on numerical simulation two years ago..."

"what?"

As soon as he started talking, Song Jingming stopped taking notes:

"Have you ever compiled teaching materials?"

"what……"

The latter's sudden surprise made Chang Haonan confused:

"These...are all our own people who know everything about us. There is no need to act so exaggerated, right?"

Song Jingming’s answer was a little stumbling:

"No... I just feel that the people who compile the teaching materials should be the kind of older industry leaders..."

As he spoke, his voice became quieter and quieter, until finally he could no longer hear him——

To put it bluntly, this is a matter of mindset.

Song Jingming joined Torch Group relatively late, had not participated in the development process of TORCH Multiphysics, and had little relationship with institutions such as Beijing Hang University.

From his perspective, although Chang Haonan is indeed very powerful, he is still mainly a "young and promising leader of a state-owned enterprise".

But if you think about it carefully, you will find that although Chang Haonan is not very old, he can already be regarded as a leader in the industry.

You must be qualified to compile textbooks.

Chang Haonan also knew that the other party was in the dark under the lamp, so he just waved his hand and continued:

"In short, most domestic colleges and universities should be using my book for classes now. I just need to find some cases and compile something like a practice manual later, and let those colleges and universities open practical courses."

He dare not talk about wider fields, but in the field of numerical simulation, he definitely has a monopoly in the entire field.

A person is likely to have used the textbooks compiled by him since he was a student. After entering the laboratory, he read the papers published by him. When he was doing research, he was still using the software issued by Torch Group. After graduation, he encountered problems that he could not solve when doing projects. If you have a problem, you will probably have to find a solution from Torch Group...

Yang Huimei on the other side was Professor Jinghang after all. She didn't show too much surprise, but she shook her head slightly, feeling that it was a bit outrageous. Then she started to wonder why her children were not so up to date...

The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she became, so she finally decided to change the topic directly:

"That will be the case for universities and research institutions first. The focus is still on small and medium-sized enterprises. The annual fee for our software is at least six figures. Some small companies have great motivation to get trial versions for commercial use through some channels. This If the pen is counted, it is definitely a big loss.”

"How about just catching the big ones and releasing the small ones?"

Song Jingming obviously didn't have any good ideas. At the turn of the century, many professors and researchers were actually opening small companies outside, using the school's resources and their graduate students to help themselves make extra money.

It is difficult to completely kill a company of this size.

"Simply catching the big and letting the small go will definitely not work."

After all, Yang Huimei is experienced and experienced, and directly rejected this idea:

“We don’t know what is big and what is small at all. For example, I opened a large company, but outsourced all the business related to numerical simulation. The high probability of outsourcing is to a small company. Can’t we just ignore it?”

"I think we should start from the legal perspective and set up a special legal department to target people who take advantage of this kind of loopholes and punch two to death from time to time. At least there must be a deterrent, otherwise wouldn't it mean that people would be watching? Become a soft persimmon?”

In fact, Chang Haonan's initial thoughts were similar to Song Jingming's, just focus on the big ones and let go of the small ones, and capture users of large enterprises and institutions.

But when Yang Huimei said this, it did make sense.

In the field of intellectual property rights, some companies have never lost when it comes to lowering the limit...