the third week of may.
while the alternative energy industry was going through a thunderstorm, a message from the us department of commerce added oil to the fire.
a spokesperson from the department of commerce spoke toward a row of cameras at a press conference.
âafter a week-long investigation, we have conducted forensics on 16 alternative energy companies around the world and have consulted industry leaders.
âwe have enough evidence to suspect that star sky technology is conducting monopolistic behavior.
âin addition, we have noticed that the charging station subsidiary of star sky technology has adopted malicious business methods when competing with teslaâs charging station business in the yangtze river delta city group area. they have set up exclusive thresholds that violate free trades and hinder the development of the industry.
âbecause of this, we will bring a lawsuit on the legality of the sh standard.
âconsidering the fact that the sh standard is one of the pieces of evidence that star sky technology is interfering with the free market, this case will be conducted in conjunction with an antitrust investigation!â
the press conference was in an uproar.
the reporters at the scene rushed forward, like sharks that smelled blood. they desperately took photos, capturing every expression of the spokesperson.
the sh standard is illegal!
the us department of commerce is going to launch an antitrust investigation against star sky technology!
as expected, the development of chinaâs new energy industry finally alerted the united states.
both the white house and the united states congress could no longer turn a blind eye to this.
it was foreseeable that the entire energy industry would go through a drastic change, due to the actions of the department of commerce!
the reporters at the scene could already imagine the newspaper headlines.
the newspapers would be talking about this for the next month!
shortly after the department of commerce press conference, the content of the press conference was released online.
discussions began to explode on social networks such as facebook.
in the blink of an eye, whether it was academia or industry, whether it was wall street, investment banks, or blue-collar workers, everyone was talking about this.
[i think itâs about time the white house makes a move!]
[those people are erroneously using legal loopholes to achieve their motives! they are destroying capitalism!]
[i think the qi standard is good, it should be compatible with electric vehicles, so why should i use the sh standard? canât the chinese just do things our way?]
[f*ck, why do we have to use your standards! why donât you get a lithium-air battery patent then!]
[donât forget, the lithium-air battery patents actually belong to exxonmobil.]
[nonsense! i heard the mathematical model used by professor stanley was stolen from professor lu.]
[thatâs ridiculous, it sounds like youâre in academia as well, do you really believe that?]
it seemed like there were two sides to the debates; one side believed the us department of commerce, while the other side believed that the act of suppressing high-tech enterprises in other countries was worse than setting up patent barriers.
simply put, patent barriers were a common thing; any companies dedicated to research and development would do everything they could to protect their intellectual property rights.
after all, if they couldnât own their technology, why would anyone conduct risky and costly research and development?
therefore, it was unreasonable to interfere with star sky technologyâs rights to exercise their patents, on the grounds of affecting industry development.
however, when one enterprise had the strength to influence a country, they were no longer just an enterprise.
in some sense, it was only a matter of time before the united states took action on star sky technology.
even if the sh standard didnât happen, someone else in the future would have triggered this investigation.
the americans would never allow another company like qualcomm to exist; a company that used their patents to monopolize the entire industry.
putting it bluntly, a third world country like china trying to overtake america in terms of science and technology was a sin in their eyes...
because of this, there were also people on the neutral side of all this.
the sh standard was just a market move with no political purpose. but the us department of commerce investigation would raise the tensions between the two countries...
from the perspective of the americans, this was not a good thing.
in fact, this was what people were worried about.
once a conflict began, it would take a war for it to stop.
the day after the department of commerce press conference, the justice department also expressed that after reviewing the patent acquisition case from six years ago, the company that bought the patents from exxonmobil, which was a shell company of star sky technology, used questionable business tactics.
also, the acquisition itself was suspected of contract fraud!
the former exxonmobil employee that signed the patent transfer admitted that he received a us$500,000 âbribeâ from star sky technology.
if this allegation turned out to be true, the patent acquisition from six years ago could be labeled illegal.
and it might be possible for exxonmobil to retrieve caged carbon molecules patent...
without having to pay money...
...
exxonmobil office.
professor stanley pushed the door open and walked in. he stared at woods like he was a monster.
âare you crazy? you know we stoleâsecretly borrowed the data from them. i donât know why the chinese didnât chase after us, but weâre the ones that stole that patent!â
âi think a scholar like you should just stay in the laboratory.â woods smiled and said, âregardless of how we obtained the data, the court is all about evidence. do you know what i mean, professor stanley?â
woods obviously didnât care.
the only thing he cared about was a success.
however, unlike him, professor stanley was a scholar, not a businessman.
he wasnât willing to do anything shameless and disgraceful!
âthere is evidence!â
professor stanley said to woods, âyou donât get it! people in academia have been talking about the mathematical model used in the caged carbon molecules, and the data processing was almost exactly the same as the 2018 nobel prize results! some people even said that my name should be on the nobel prize!â
woods: âisnât that a good thing?â
ânot good at all!â professor stanley said angrily, âthis thing was almost over, but because of the patent, people are digging up this story again!â
woods frowned and spoke casually.
âi donât know a lot about academia, but youâre not guilty, right? people suspect you are, but they donât have any evidence.â
âi just want to tell you that, if they bring this to court, you wonât be able to win over the jury!â
âthis is a lawsuit, there wonât be a jury.â woods smiled and looked at stanley as he said, âdonât worry, my friend... also, do you want to work here again? donât tell me you came all the way to talk about this boring stuff.â
âiâm too stupid! i shouldnât have come here, you donât understand what iâm talking about!â stanley continued, âyouâre going further and further down the wrong path, youâre the one being ignorant.â
âyouâre overcomplicating things.â woods shrugged and said, âdo you really think weâre going to play a fair game with them? this is the white house, no one on this planet can go against them.â
woods smiled at professor stanley.
âit doesnât matter if the patent belongs to them.
âjust know that they are screwed!â