Chapter 933 Xiao Han, You Can’t Control the Depth of the LNG Ship

Chapter 933 Xiao Han, you can’t control the water depth of the LNG ship...

"Mr. Chang, do you need to ask the comrades from the legal department to handle this?"

Looking at Chang Haonan with an uncertain expression on his face, Lei Zhixing asked tentatively.

Of course, as a purely scientific research institution, Torch Laboratory does not have a legal department.

But Torch Group has——

In fact, long before the official release of TORCH Multiphysics, in order to adapt to the intellectual property and computer software-related regulations of other countries, Chang Haonan entrusted Teacher Yang Huimei to set up a legal department with a very broad business scope.

Over the years, the reason why the Torch Group's products and services have been able to flow unimpeded in many countries is that it has never encountered any case worth writing about. Apart from its own strength, Chang Haonan and some small local tycoons. In addition to good relationships with influential companies, rigorous, detailed and timely updated user manuals also play a very important role.

However, that's why.

Compared with its hard-working counterparts in other companies, Torch Group's legal department is still slightly lacking in experience in practical operations, that is, in litigation.

"Well……"

Chang Haonan hesitated for a moment, but nodded in an instant:

"I'll contact Professor Yang and Director Song and hold a meeting between various departments of the group..."

"good!"

Lei Zhixing showed a relieved expression:

"They should be taught a lesson by stealing our patents so blatantly!"

You know, in this round of the overall game on the technical route of the second-generation membrane LNG ship, even if it is not a life-and-death battle, the party that wins in the end will most likely be the winner-take-all, while the loser will have to wait for at least the next 10-15 years. It is difficult for me to raise my head again in this field, and I can only survive on scraps.

Originally, the Hudong plant, which had lost the opportunity, had made strategic plans to give up the past more than ten years, but at the most critical moment, it was revitalized by the BOG re-liquefaction patent developed by Chang Haonan. At least it saw victory. possible.

But if Samsung Offshore also uses the same level of re-liquefaction technology, then relying on the inherent lightweight advantage of the Technigaz cargo tank, China will have no chance of winning.

Therefore, for Lei Zhixing, who has been working on this project for two years, this is tantamount to being jumped in the face and ridiculed.

Being able to maintain rationality without being red-tempered is already considered a mild-tempered person.

However, seeing the other party's excited reaction, Chang Haonan just touched his nose in embarrassment:

"Well……"

"Actually, Zhixing, the actual situation may be a little different from what you think..."

Lei Zhixing's expression suddenly froze:

"Mr. Chang, what do you mean..."

"never mind."

Chang Haonan waved his hand:

"You'll find out during the meeting tomorrow."

His thoughts cannot be clearly explained in a few sentences.

Moreover, Lei Zhixing was in a state of anger right now, so it was not suitable for him to talk about too in-depth topics.

Therefore, after getting started, Chang Haonan decided not to waste words for the time being and wait until the meeting to discuss it together...

…

The Torch Group itself is actually not very large, so it won't take long to convene a meeting of middle- and high-level leaders.

Chang Haonan made a call, and the next morning, except for Wei Yongming, who was not directly related to the matter and couldn't leave, all the other department heads sat in the conference room.

As usual, Song Jingming made a simple opening statement and briefly introduced the current situation.

At this time, not only Lei Zhixing, but also most of the participants felt angry and funny.

The reasons for being angry are naturally similar to the former.

And laugh...

This kind of blatant theft of technology is simply food for the legal department...

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the conference room became lively.

In the end, it was Chang Haonan who stretched out his hand and pressed it down to calm down the already somewhat off-topic debate.

However, it’s not like there aren’t calmer people.

After the conference room became quiet again, Kang Kaicai, director of the External Relations Department in charge of external cooperation, asked:

"Mr. Chang, although I don't quite trust the character of Samsung Offshore Engineering, after all, the other party has much richer experience in international commercial law and transnational patent rights than we do. Even if we consider it purely from a rational perspective, the other party is unlikely to expose it. It’s only right to give us such a big loophole.”

"So, will there be anything behind this..."

At this time, China has only joined the WTO for a year, so domestic companies will show some inexperience when dealing with international trade disputes.

Many times, we even accept the loss and accept the defeat.

This naturally includes the Torch Group.

It can be said that except for members of the legal affairs and external relations departments, everyone else still has a partial understanding of these contents.

Chang Haonan held this meeting today. In addition to deploying his own plan, he also took this opportunity to train everyone's troops.

So, he nodded, agreeing with Kang Kai's view, and then turned to the head of the legal department and an expert in international commercial law, Dr. Hou Shunda:

"Director Hou, please explain the situation in detail."

"good."

Hou Shunda opened the folder in front of him unhurriedly:

"Although I understand the emotions of all comrades, as a legal officer, I still have to pour some cold water on everyone to cool down."

"Last night, we compared the previously registered patent description document with the design document disclosed by Samsung Offshore Engineering, and finally confirmed..."

At this point, he paused slightly:

"It was finally confirmed that the other party has basically circumvented our group's patent on the BOG reliquefaction system. Although there are some marginal areas, if a lawsuit is filed on this basis, I'm afraid it will be a long-term dispute..."

"What?!"

Lei Zhixing, who was full of expectations, immediately sat up straight.

He had only known that Chang Haonan had registered a patent for the BOG reliquefaction system, but as a technician, he had not actually read the relevant legal documents sentence by sentence.

It's naturally a little hard to accept now.

"calm."

Chang Haonan didn't change his expression, just stretched out his finger and tapped the table lightly.

In fact, he knew this would be the case when he saw the design document for the first time yesterday.

And the reason why he was extremely shocked at that time was also due to another reason.

"In fact, the liquefaction process of the BOG reliquefaction system itself, whether it is cascade type, refrigerant type, or expander type, is a fairly mature technology in the chemical industry."

Facing a group of subordinates with different reactions, Chang Haonan slowly opened his mouth and explained:

"Their core patents have been registered as early as last century, or even last century, and now the protection period has expired. No one can re-apply for patents based on these contents."

“Of course, we can register patents for some bits and pieces of peripheral technologies to obtain certain protection, but this registration method is very easy to be bypassed, especially for an experienced player like Samsung Offshore Engineering, so it makes sense. Not big either.”

"So, when I submitted the patent application, I changed my mind and registered a large number of patents focused on the adaptation between the reliquefaction system and the cargo tank, as well as the reliability design of the entire ship."

“At that time, I felt that as everyone was professional in shipbuilding, they should be able to see that this system would have an impact on the hull structure itself, so no matter what path our competitors took in liquefaction technology, they would eventually have to come to us to solve safety issues. "

"I never expected that someone would be so bold as to risk his life and directly change the design we made to ensure safety beyond recognition. Then he wouldn't even test it and just draw it directly on the design plan... "

Chang Haonan said helplessly, holding his forehead with one hand and shaking his head.

The core technical principles of this BOG reliquefaction system were basically developed by him alone. No matter the Hudong plant, Lei Zhixing and Liu Fangping, they can only understand the specific design plan at present.

That's why there was this oolong.

In fact, from the perspective of hindsight, he did underestimate the urinary nature of Koreans.

In the previous life, South Korea did similar things when developing its own KUH1 "Perfect Eagle" helicopter (actually a copy of the Super Puma).

Because I just thought about it for a while and then blindly changed the propeller hub without going through detailed arguments, which caused the main rotor of a helicopter to directly separate from the fuselage during flight and fly away...

Thinking about it this way, the things in front of me seem to have a trace of rationality in the absurdity...

…

For a moment, the expressions of other people in the conference room were very exciting.

"so……"

Lei Zhixing, who was so excited that he almost banged the table, inevitably felt a little embarrassed:

"Actually, we don't need to care about this matter at all?"

"That's not the case."

Chang Haonan waved his hand:

"After all, the other party still made some marginal moves, and the design plan obviously borrowed a lot from us. Even if the lawsuit cannot reach a final result, it can allow the comrades in the legal department to practice their skills, and by the way, help us Torch Group and Hudong Factory to Wave publicity.”

"I'm thinking now, should I take the initiative to remind Samsung Offshore Engineering that the risks behind this technology are not small, and if you mess around, something could easily happen..."

At this moment, even Kang Kai and Hou Shunda were a little confused:

"Mr. Chang, this...isn't necessary?"

"Yeah, if we don't add fuel to the flames from behind, it would be a big favor for them..."

"If there is a problem with Samsung Offshore's LNG ship, wouldn't that be a huge benefit to us?"

"..."

All kinds of doubts arise one after another.

In fact, Chang Haonan was a little hard to make a decision at this time.

"On the surface, it is indeed what you said."

He frowned slightly and rubbed the acupuncture points on both sides of the bridge of his nose:

"But these beasts like Samsung Offshore...these guys are so courageous. If those LNG ships are put into use, I can't even estimate how much trouble there will be..."

In fact, if this is a normal transaction, Party A will also conduct relevant testing before receiving the goods, and there is a high probability that unqualified products can be kept out.

But the problem is that this wave of Zall is to deceive and sneak attacks.

The Norwegians simply don't wait for delivery and start their classic operation.

In the end, these eight LNG ships will definitely be sold as second-hand ships to an unknown buyer.

As for this type of transaction, it’s hard to say how standardized it is.

"What if Samsung Offshore & Marine inherits the glorious tradition of the Japanese and controls the risk within a very precise range, resulting in no detection during the test, but a major problem after it is put into use... For example, it explodes, which may be a major blow to the entire LNG transportation industry."

"Ordinary people don't care whether the liquid cargo tank you use is Gas-Transport or Technigaz, nor do they care whether your ship is built by Samsung Offshore & Marine or Hudong-Zhonghua. If it really explodes, I'm afraid that major ports will have to refuse LNG ships to dock the next day... This is also a big risk for us."

"In addition."

Chang Haonan took a sip of water from the teacup, and then continued to add:

"Although it sounds outrageous, in the eyes of many foreigners, several countries in East Asia are actually tied together..."

"Japanese companies exploded a few years ago. If Korean companies also explode immediately, it may not be a good thing for our image..."

This explanation made the faces of the rest of the people solemn again.

"Isn't this a pure disaster..."

Kang Kai complained as if venting.

But complaining aside, as the head of the external relations department, he knew that the situation Chang Haonan described did exist.

At this time in 2001, China's own influence was still at a relatively low level.

It has indeed not yet gotten rid of the shackles of the "East Asia" classification.

"Then... do we have to rush to clean up their mess?"

Lei Zhixing also found it a bit hard to accept.

"Of course it's impossible... We are not doing charity."

Chang Haonan decisively denied it.

For a while, everyone fell into the same dilemma as him.

No matter what choice is made, there are pros and cons.

And because there are too many variables, it is difficult to choose the lesser of two evils.

A few minutes later, Chang Haonan finally decided to cut the Gordian knot:

"Forget it."

He took a deep breath:

"Suing Samsung Marine is actually a wake-up call for them."

"If the other side insists on being stubborn, we are not their parents, there is no need to follow behind and serve them. When the time comes, we should make a good cut in advance and try to reduce the impact on us..."

"Dismiss!"