There's no denying that Hull Donald was a successful businessman. But he's also an obnoxious person. Because his big mouth always offends people. Especially his always deliberately big mouth.

Hitting business competitors with a big mouth is commonplace for Hull Donald. But he's also smart and always exaggerates for well-founded things. That would be a way to discredit a competitor, and the other party would not win even if he wanted to.

Generally speaking, people always have shortcomings. Or rather, no one is completely clean under the butt. Hull Donald knows how to take advantage of this. So he always has a big mouth, and often makes a profit without losing money.

When Luke Truss sued Link, especially after the California court made a request for a ban on the sale of Blue Lagoon wines, he subconsciously felt that it was a false stain on Link. He didn't even check whether the grapes planted by Link were really infringing, but he found out that the grapes that Link bought were indeed bought from Luke Truss, and then he sprayed directly.

And in the beginning, he did use the media attention to Link to advertise the wines he represented, or incidentally suppressed the Blue Lagoon wines. If he had gone on the same trajectory, he would not only have reaped a successful marketing case, but would have erased the joke that he had rejected the best wine of the year.

But he never imagined that things would turn around like this. First, Link proves that Blue Lagoon grapes are not the so-called Truss II, and takes him to court for defamation.

However, he was not very worried about it. Because Link sued him for defamation, he had to prove that he was "indeed malicious", and this principle was very beneficial to the defendant. Because Luke Truss has sued Link again, his statements have become substantiated.

As long as the argument is passed, he does not constitute defamation. At most, it is just an exaggeration of the facts, and losing the case is only an apology. When the time comes, publish a "regret". He doesn't lose half a hair.

But when Luke Truss issued a statement saying that Blue Lagoon grapes have nothing to do with Truss II.

Since then, Link's lawsuit has put him on pins and needles. In his opinion, it was Link deliberately targeting him.

Before, he could have pretended to be an ostrich, but the news of Link's appearance in New York forced him to face up to the fact that he was being sued by someone who was much richer than him. And the available evidence is very unfavorable to him, and conceding defeat to Link is his best option.

So he called the lawyer: "Mike, if I reconcile with Link Hans, what do you think I need to pay?"

His lawyer had already been urging him to publicly apologize to Link and seek an out-of-court settlement.

However, the lawyer does not feel that the out-of-court settlement is something that Hull wants to get. He said: "Hur, it's not a question of what you have to pay now. It's whether he's willing to reconcile. ”

"You mean he won't drop the lawsuit?" Hull Donald was rather upset with the lawyer's words. "But isn't that what you're supposed to do?"

"Hur, you have to figure it out. You don't live in the center of the earth, and the world doesn't center around you. The lawyer knew his temperament, so he said it unceremoniously. "Now this lawsuit doesn't have any negative impact on him and will find a good creative for his wine. Why do you think he wants to reconcile with you?"

When Hur heard this, he was speechless. Previously, he felt that the lawsuit would have little impact on him, because the wine he represented could be advertised. Link would certainly think that way now. So what the lawyer said is absolutely right.

But he is an employer and has the power to demand that employees do things, at least according to his orders: "I don't want to hear reasons. I just want results. I hope to solve this problem with minimal cost!"

The lawyer retorted: "The initiative is no longer in your hands. Hur. You have to be aware of this fact. ”

"I know what the facts are. I'll just fix this as soon as possible. Hull Donald interrupted the lawyer. "If you can't do it, I can find someone else. ”

The lawyer paused for a moment and reluctantly said, "OK! I'll try to contact him." ”

"Don't try. I want satisfactory news. ”

After hanging up with the lawyer, Hull Donald stared at the computer screen. He wondered what kind of conditions Link would offer.

Link didn't disappoint him, though. Because Link did put forward the conditions.

Link receives a call from Matthew. He was not surprised to hear that Donald had proposed an out-of-court settlement. From the evidence provided by both sides today, Donald is in a very unfavorable position. If the lawsuit continues, the other party will definitely lose.

It's just that why should he reconcile?

"What conditions did he make?"

Matthew laughed and said, "No." It was his lawyer who called me and said he wanted to meet with you. ”

"I don't have that time!" Link said as he browsed the Internet for entertainment news. "Tell him that it's okay to reconcile if you want to. But I have three conditions. ”

"Wait a minute, I'll take the notes. Matthew waited for a while before continuing. "Alright. ”

"First of all, the premise of the settlement is that Hull Donald must publish an apology for me and Blue Lagoon on the front page of the top 10 print media in the United States for three consecutive days, and explicitly admit to slandering me and Blue Lagoon. ”

"Second, to publicly admit that slandering me and Blue Lagoon Wines is an act of unfair commercial competition. ”

"Thirdly, compensation for my losses, including physical, reputational and moral damages, totaling $80 million. ”

"Link, I think he'd rather die than agree to such a condition!" Matthew gloated.

"That's his business!" Link clicked on an entertainment news item about the films he had invested in. "Those conditions, there is no need to negotiate. All he had to do was say yes or no. I gave him three days. If they don't agree within three days, let them wait for the court to begin. ”

“OK。 I will convey your full meaning to the other person. ”

Link casually put his phone on the desktop and watched the news on the computer.

Both films invested in were promoted as well. However, Martin's "The Red Neck Knight" will have a test release in mid-November, and "Las Vegas God of Gamblers" will be released at Christmas.

Both films used him as a gimmick to promote him. But the former is only that he has an investment, and he shoots on his Hans farm. And the God of Gamblers film is directly connected with him.

He didn't care about it either. His investment in both films is not small, and he contributed more to the movies at that time.

But he doesn't focus on the propaganda news. It's about looking at those media.

After several incidents, he felt the power of propaganda. He wanted to buy a media outlet.

But he can't just buy one. The media he needs to buy must of course have a large audience. And it has to be of a certain level.

Buying a company is not only about acquiring its fixed assets, but also about the operation team. There are even some businesses that are acquired, and the only reason is that they have a good team. He's looking at these newspapers or websites from a different perspective. Look at the level of the team of those media.

Nowadays, newspapers and periodicals with a certain amount of weight will have their own websites. This also needs to be examined by him. In fact, what he values more is the online version of those media. Because nowadays most people prefer to browse the news on the Internet. Instead of buying newspapers and magazines.

But he's just looking at it now, and he's not sure what kind of media he's going to buy. He still needs to talk to a professional about this matter.

Link was roaming around the hotel on the Internet, but Hull Donald was furious at his words.

He whispered to the lawyer, "He's delusional!" and he understood that it had nothing to do with the lawyer, and that he wanted the lawyer to help him. He forced himself to suppress his anger and said. "You tell him: I gave an interview to the media and publicly apologized to him. I can't agree to any of the other conditions. ”

The lawyer didn't understand why he thought he could be tough? It was only after the difficult employer had finished speaking that the lawyer said, "His lawyer has made it clear to me that he will not relay any more information to you unless he accepts those conditions." ”

"Are you from over there?"

The lawyer ignored him and said to himself, "Maybe you can talk to Link Hans personally." I think you can find out where he stays. ”

Hull Donald was embarrassed by the lawyer, but he couldn't express the bitterness in his heart. It's not that he doesn't want to go to Link, it's that he can't. Once he went, if he couldn't agree to Link's conditions, then he really had no hope of reconciliation.

If it were just an ordinary defamation case, he would have lost millions of dollars at most. But now Link is suing him for more than just defamation. It is also suspected of unfair competition in business.

Link collected the evidence submitted, and it was true that his remarks caused Link's physical damage, reputational damage, and even mental damage. At the same time, Link elevated his slander to an act of unfair business competition.

That could involve criminal liability.

And he had no evidence to refute Link's accusations. Once he loses the case, an apology is only the most basic sentence. Perhaps he will be compensated tens of millions of dollars. Because the actual losses listed by Link are more than 10 million. Link's claim for moral damages is as high as $50 million. If the court really found that he had committed an act of unfair competition, the punitive damages awarded could not be estimated.

That's just a long-term concern, and the near-term worry has already appeared.

Sales of South African wines, which he is responsible for, have fallen dramatically.

He had rubbed Link's attention and put a beautiful ad on those wines. Now, Link's marketing team is using Link's lawsuit against him to make the Blue Lagoon more famous.

The market positioning of the Blue Lagoon series of wines completely covers the positioning of the wines he represents. The Blue Lagoon wine at the same price is higher than the one he represents, both in terms of quality and fame.

The best result of the wine he represents at the ISC in New York is a silver medal. The Blue Lagoon wines have won 11 gold medals. This achievement of Blue Lagoon wines makes even the wines that did not participate in the ISC more upscale than the bronze medals he represented.

He didn't want to admit it, but it turned out that he would indeed be a joke in the marketing service industry. And the grapes he marketed have been completely defeated by the Blue Lagoon grapes.

His customers have expressed their strong dissatisfaction with the suspicion that the wines are involved in unfair competition. Of course, he could not agree with Link's offer to admit that he had committed acts of unfair competition. Otherwise, his C&C can be shut down.

However, if he loses the lawsuit against Link and is convicted, he may be subject to a hefty administrative fine and may even be banned from engaging in commercial activities. And his clients will also make high claims against him as a result. Then his C&C will be ruined as well.