IBM's counterattack came unusually quickly and fiercely. However, IBM's patent lawsuit against Aikang is not expected by everyone, but it is not beyond everyone's expectations. The patent stick is one of the most common and effective means for large companies in the IT industry to attack their competitors.

"Of the seven patents that IBM sued us for infringement, 5 involve ABC-3 computers and 2 involve ABC-1 and ABC-2 computers!" said Ke Lilun briefly introduced the matter to Li Xuan along the way.

After Li Xuan arrived at the headquarters of Dongfang Electronics Central, Han Peng, the chairman of Aikang, was already waiting in his office, he had just returned from a plane to London, and he would soon fly to the United States after Li Xuan reported the situation.

"What is the specific situation, how is Ai Kang going to deal with it?" Li Xuan didn't have much nervous expression on his face, but asked with a relaxed expression.

It is said that IBM has a large contingent of intellectual property lawyers, and it spends more than $100 million a year to support them, and these people always have to show their own value! IBM's newly launched personal computer products have not only failed to reverse the bad impression that IBM has been arrogant, bloated, and inefficient in recent years. On the contrary, they were criticized again, and they naturally had to find a way to divert the public's attention!" Han Peng shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Aikang is a company that is now in the limelight in the personal computer market, and as a result, IBM has been attacked as a leader.

"What is the probability that we will lose the case for those allegedly infringing patents, and how much impact will it have on iKang?" Li Xuan continued.

"These 7 patents. The two patents ABC-1 and ABC-2 are not very important core patents, and even if they lose the lawsuit, they will only pay a fine of one or two million US dollars. IBM's main target is the ABC-3 computer. Two of the five patents relate to the number of motherboards, bus and circuit interfaces, and the remaining three are concentrated in the architecture instruction set of the ERM-1 processor.

For the first two patents, we have obtained the technical authorization of similar patents from the Bell Sil Yàn room. Ability to circumvent IBM's patent traps. As for the last three ERM-1 processor instruction set patents, our technicians found that their arguments were not rigorous and there were many loopholes to be caught according to the complaint materials provided by IBM. Moreover, we have applied for dozens of new patents with unique instruction sets for the ERM architecture, and we are confident enough to convince the USPTO to reject IBM's infringement claim!" said Han Peng with a confident face.

When the company launches its products, it will make a detailed list of all the patents that may be involved, and then demine them one by one. Although it is impossible to guarantee that there will be no infringement, at least there will be no serious infringement incidents that will lead to such strict consequences as forcing one's own products to be released on the market.

Therefore, IBM's request to prohibit the sale of IC's ABC series computers in the U.S. market is unlikely to be upheld by the courts. Li Xuan believed. IBM's well-paid intellectual property attorneys are not unaware of this. However, they still filed such an unreasonable claim with the court, in order to intimidate consumers into not buying ABC series computers, which are potentially legal personal computer products.

As long as consumers are affected and stop buying Aikang's products before the lawsuit is over, some people may choose IBM's PCs as a replacement for ABC computers, so that their goals will be achieved.

IBM's allegations of infringement of ERM's instruction set are pure nonsense. The RISC (Reduced Instruction Set) architecture is still in the early stages of development, and all companies hold very few patents.

IBM was the first company to propose the RISC architecture, but we were developing the ERM instruction set. Specially avoided the patents they held!" Li Xuan said disapprovingly.

The ERM architecture can be said to have been developed under his golden finger, and he naturally knows the whole situation inside out. The most important reason why Li Xuan chose the RISC camp instead of the CISC (Complex Instruction Set) camp at that time was that the RISC architecture had just begun to develop. The big companies haven't laid a dense minefield yet, and everyone is still on the same starting line. If it chooses to develop the CISC architecture, it will be difficult for Dongfang Electronics to bypass the dense patent barriers set by IBM, Intel and other companies. If you are not careful, it is easy to cause infringement.

There are generally two purposes for companies to apply for patents, the first is to protect their technology from being misused by others. It's defensive. But there is also a purpose that is offensive, like IBM which invests heavily in R&D every year. Together, its real and Bell offices are two of the most powerful technology research and development centers in the United States.

IBM technicians file thousands, if not tens of thousands, of new patent applications every year. Most of these patents are not used by IBM itself, but they are often used to sue others for infringement. IBM pays hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties to other companies every year, which is definitely a very profitable business.

"IBM was a little too anxious, and the timing they chose this time was actually not very appropriate! Our ABC-3 and other PCs had just finished the battle, and IBM immediately sued us, which is easy to leave a bad impression that we can't afford to lose!

Moreover, the U.S. Department of Justice has just concluded its antitrust investigation of IBM, and we only need a little guidance to make the media once again set off a debate about whether IBM is suspected of using technology monopoly to suppress competitors!"

"The ABC series of computers is the source of all the profits for Aikang, and a single PC is just an inconspicuous small business for IBM. Naturally, they can't be like us, who think deeply and think about every little detail!

Even if IBM's PC sales can double on the current basis, the annual sales will not exceed 200 million US dollars, accounting for only 1% of IBM's current annual output value of 20 billion yuan.

IBM mainframe sales, on the other hand, are worth millions of dollars in an ordinary order, and a 10% annual service fee can be charged in the future. If they can take over a big order from a government department, one order may be as high as hundreds of millions of dollars! Therefore, most people in IBM naturally disdain PCs and will not have much enthusiasm!" Li Xuan hit the nail on the head and pointed out the root cause of the problem.

"Compared with the blue giant of IBM, our Aikang company is still just a toddler! A child who is bullied by a giant is always the most vulnerable to the public's sympathy and support! The company has a detailed plan for tackling key problems, and is ready to start relevant public opinion guidance in the United States!

And we may not be able to turn a bad thing into a good thing, just relying on this patent case to carry out a new round of hype! Regardless of whether the final judgment of the court will reject all of IBM's claims, as long as the words of Aikang can be put together on an equal footing with IBM and keep appearing in front of the eyes of the American public, we will win!

Even if it ends up paying millions of dollars in royalties, it's worth it, it's much cheaper than advertising on our own, and it's even better!" Han Peng quickly said the detailed plan of Aikang.

When the weak and the strong go to court, the ass of the American media and the public will not hesitate to sit on the side of the weak. That's why you see the news that the old lady fell in KFC and KFC was sentenced to pay tens of millions of dollars in punitive damages.

The courts in the United States have a jury system, and it is up to the jurors to determine whether there is an infringement or not. Only after the jurors have found that the infringement has been established, will the judge award a specific amount of compensation based on the actual circumstances.

For example, patent infringement cases have always been known for being cumbersome, and the delay of the case can be as small as half a year or even several years, and it is impossible for the jury members to be closed to the outside world for such a long time, and they will be more or less affected by external media reports. If Ikang is portrayed as a bullied person, he is likely to win the sympathy of the jurors, who will lead them to make a strong verdict against Icon.

"The most important thing now is to dispel the concerns of American consumers, so that the sales of the ABC series cannot be affected by this! Their lawyer team is all elites in the industry, and Aikang can also spill a lot of dollars to form a super luxury lineup of lawyer response team!" Li Xuan said with a smile.

Han Peng nodded: "Aikang will hold a press conference this afternoon in the United States time to refute IBM's infringement claims one by one. At the same time, the Board of Directors has urgently resolved to temporarily increase the advertising budget in North America, and will point out a series of new advertisements within two days to eliminate the negative impact of the patent dispute on sales!"

Business competition is by no means a sports competition, and the winner can be decided within a few hours, especially against a strong opponent like IBM, Li Xuan never thought that he could knock out an opponent with a single punch. On the contrary, the opponent is a heavier boxing champion with higher strength, and if Aikang can't deal with it carefully, it is likely to be knocked out by the opponent with a punch.

The patent stick wielded by IBM this time can be regarded as a wake-up call for Aikang Company and Li Xuan, who are a little fluttering, and let everyone quickly calm down again. Fortunately, Aikang is already a leading company in the personal computer market and has a good position in the industry.

If Aikang is a small and unknown company, it may be dragged to death in the face of an attack like IBM. Therefore, business competition has always been cruel and bloody, and if you are not careful, you may be swallowed up by competitors. (To be continued......)

ps: Ski went back to Jinhua to take the provincial civil service examination, everyone wishes me success! So today and tomorrow can only use the manuscript, and the bottom is guaranteed two times a day!