In the spacious conference room, a group of white coats were accompanying Jing Jian to watch the movies playing on the TV, and bursts of laughter were heard from time to time.

The group of white coats are all researchers from Yikai Laboratory, that is, the former Wang An Laboratory, and they are watching the latest film "Kung Fu Campus" shot by Seed Pictures (USA) and just released.

This small-budget campus youth comedy film, which purchased scripts from China Beijing Film and has a total investment cost of only $14 million, is scheduled to be screened in the New Year, and like its sister films shot by Beijing Film, it is also a big hit in North America. Kung fu and comedy do transcend cultural boundaries and are loved by audiences around the globe.

In the two weeks since its release, the North American box office has exceeded 37 million, and if nothing else, it should easily reach hundreds of millions of box office. And the global box office should be no problem with more than 200 million. Seeing such results, the management of Seed Pictures (USA) has already gathered the original team and started preparing for the filming of the sequel.

However, the reason why Jing Jian went to Yikai Lab today to "enjoy with the people" is not for any other reason, but to visit the company's latest product, that is, the playback device - VCD.

......

In fact, for a company with strong scientific research strength like Yikai, the VCD based on MPEG1 is simply too simple, and there is no difficulty at all. There are two reasons why I haven't thought about research before: one is the patent restrictions, and the other is that it is not worth it, and there is no desire to develop it at all.

The main reason has been introduced before, mainly because European and American video recorders and videotapes have been saturated, and the pixels of VCD are similar to those of video tapes, so there will be no similar home appliances to buy another one, right? Therefore, even Sony, Philips, etc. have no power to develop. They're still waiting for the DVD to come out. If you add in the high patent fees, it will be even more than worth the loss.

This is why, it was the VCD first invented in China back then, and it was also the only home appliance invented in China, not that the technology of Europe and the United States could not be reached, but that they were not interested in studying it at all, or that the evaluation of European and American manufacturers had no development value at all.

However, Jing Jian is very clear about the future history, and in the Chinese mainland market alone, an industry with an annual output value of up to 10 billion yuan has been generated. If you add the surrounding home theaters, karaoke, pirated DVDs, etc., there will be a zero added to the back of this industry. It is no exaggeration to say how many hawkers and ...... were fed back then Chengguan?

Therefore, despite the criticism of the researchers, Jing Jian insisted on developing the project. And the opposition is ...... Not too intense. This kind of pediatric project is not difficult, and the cost is very small, seeing that the boss is happy, those scientific researchers will develop a finished product by dividing it by two, and soon complete a complete set of processes for a series of industrial production.

By the way, these works were actually completed before Jing Jian and Philips negotiated. When the contract for the exchange of patents was signed, even this last obstacle was removed.

While watching the movie, Jing Jian smiled and asked Miller, who had just returned to the United States: "Have you applied for patents, especially in Chinese mainland and Eastern Europe?"

"I've applied for them all, and I'm sure it's okay. Miller shrugged, seeming a little dismissive of Jing Jian's caution. He didn't understand why Jing Jian attached so much importance to this "gadget". In particular, the key to patent issues is not in the European and American markets? The Chinese mainland and Eastern European markets themselves are negligible.

Noticing Miller's expression, Jing Jian smiled slightly and didn't explain much.

In the past life, the miracle of VCDs was due to imperfect intellectual property protection, that is, pirated video discs. Although sales in Europe and the United States are not very good, they shine in the Chinese market. Of course, Jing Jian will never let go of similar markets in the former Soviet Union in Eastern Europe.

In particular, the experience of the inventor of VCD is embarrassing.

In the history of the previous life, the world's first VCD player was the "Wanyan" brand VCD that appeared in April 1992. At that time, after the successful development in Hefei, the "high price" of 4000-5000 yuan per unit was put on the market, and the first batch of 1000 VCD machines were sold out as soon as they were launched, and the sales were extremely hot.

However, when Wan Yan was trying to make a big splash, Aiduo, Xinke, Xiaxin, Malata, Jinzheng, and Xianke flocked to the market. The VCD products they made with the prototype of Wanyan immediately occupied most of the market. In 1995-1997, the media even used "blowout" to describe the grand situation of the VCD market.

However, because he did not apply for a patent for his first invention, in the face of low-price competition from many brands, Wanyan gradually lost its advantage, coupled with backward sales methods, the glory created by this brand has become a sad history in the home appliance industry, and was finally ruthlessly eliminated by the market.

Jing Jian certainly wouldn't make the same mistake. In fact, what is the use of applying for patents in China now? Can it stop other manufacturers from copycating? As for what peer non-compete contract, the high compensation prevents the technical staff from being poached?

So why does Jing Jian attach so much importance to patents? It is nothing more than a matter of trouble for those copycat manufacturers. They can't be bombarded with CCTV advertisements, right? Hong Kong celebrities won't advertise for copycat machines, right? Especially it is impossible to blatantly branch after-sales maintenance points, after-sales service is always very troublesome, right? It's not that the low-price competition of copycat machines is useless, but Jingjian's machines can always guarantee a certain market share.

Jing Jian then asked Miller, "What about the factories in Nanwan and Warsaw, China?"

"The foundation stone of Warsaw should have been laid. We have sent more than 20 technicians to the factory in China, and it has been more than a month, so it should be put into production, right? Judging from the feedback news, the skilled workers there are all okay, especially the labor is very cheap, which is quite helpful to our computer assembly plant in the future. ”

Exactly like the R&D situation, Jing Jian had already started the construction of the factory before the patent transfer was negotiated with Philips. In particular, the Nanwan factory, which Xiao Miao is in charge of, has already purchased complete sets of equipment from Japan and recruited workers, so that the VCD products will be fully marketed after an order.

On the contrary, Miller was unimpressed with VCDs. As a result, CEC does not have a stake in the two factories at all, but only charges a technology transfer fee of US$18 per machine. In Miller's mind, the project brought Yikai millions of dollars in "pocket money" at most, which is really nothing. Of course, I wonder if he will regret it in the future?

Miller has his eye on the computer assembly plant that will be built, which will definitely be wholly owned by Yikai. Therefore, at this time, he only regarded those two factories as Yikai's future technician training schools.

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