Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1056 A Significant Money-Sharing Ceremony in Response to Japan's Patent Offensive for Kampo Medicine (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

Fang Yan held a prepared red envelope in his hand and said to the people present:

"This money is part of the fine imposed on Tsumura for selling generic drugs in the Hong Kong market after we caught them."

"I discussed it with Lao Hu, and we decided to distribute the compensation money to everyone as a way to celebrate our success in protecting our rights in market competition."

"Everyone who is a shareholder has a share."

Old Cheng, who was standing nearby, asked curiously:
"How much money did they actually lose?"

Today, besides Li Zhengji and his group, there were also professors invited by Fang Yan.

It's been a long time since we had a shareholders' meeting, and now we need to inform them about many things that happen in the company.

Fang Yan said to them:

"Two hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars in compensation, plus payment for our appraisal fees and litigation costs there, and an apology in the newspaper."

"Since the project was mainly managed by Mr. Huo's family, we gave them half of it."

Everyone nodded upon hearing this:
"Yes, it should be given to them."

Fang Yan continued:

"Then the rest is ours. Although each penny is not much, it is very meaningful and everyone gets a share."

“We have already distributed the public funds; now it’s just that the money for us individual shareholders hasn’t been distributed yet.”

Speaking in his local dialect, he and Lao Hu distributed the cards to everyone present.

One hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars is roughly equivalent to twenty thousand US dollars, which is about thirty-five thousand eight yuan.

If you disregard the money allocated to the public and distribute it according to shareholding percentages, the amount actually received by each individual is not much.

It's probably just a few months' salary or a year's living expenses.

However, this is still quite memorable. First, it was the company's first dividend payout; second, it was obtained through a lawsuit; and third, it also taught other market competitors a lesson.

Although the amount of money may not seem like much in the dialect, it is of great significance.

After receiving their share of the money, everyone was quite happy. Although they had also received a lot of foreign currency bonuses along with Fang Yan, this was the first time the company had distributed money, which made them feel a greater sense of belonging.

Just like paying wages, these days only employers have that kind of authority.

Once we got the money, we were all on the same side.

The conversation naturally moved on to international patent registration without any need for dialect guidance.

"So, in other words, once we register our ancestors' prescriptions, anyone who wants to use them will have to pay up? Is that what you mean?" Professor Yue Meizhong, holding a red envelope, asked Fang Yan curiously.

Fang Yan thought for a moment and said:
"Not entirely. Patents mainly target their commercial activities. If an individual uses it secretly, we can't do anything about it. Moreover, there are places where there are no patent laws, so we can't do anything about that either. But if they sell our patented medicine products in places where there are patent laws, then we can sue them. Either they lose money and have to withdraw from the market, or they have to pay us patent fees every year and let us authorize them to operate. Either way, they can't use the wisdom of our ancestors for free."

Yue Meizhong said:
"That's great!"

At this moment, the taciturn Wang Zhijun asked:

"Which countries have this kind of patent law?"

Fang Yan turned to look at Fang Jie, the eldest sister who was sitting on the other side listening to the lecture, and asked:

"Do you know the specifics of this, sister?!"

Upon hearing the question about dialect, the eldest sister thought for a moment and said:
"Patent laws exist in European countries, such as the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the Soviet Union; in American countries, such as the US, Canada, and Brazil; as well as in Australia and South Africa; and finally, in Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, and India."

Everyone suddenly realized, and Chu Qiaonan asked in surprise:
"Wait a minute, India has that too?"

The eldest sister nodded affirmatively:
"Yes, it was enacted in 1970, but they themselves don't abide by it."

"..." Chu Qiaonan and the others were speechless. As expected of the Indians, their motto was "I may not need it, but I must have it."

Next, Fang Yan and the others began discussing the prescription they wanted to register. Fang Yan explained to everyone:
“After this incident, Tsumura Pharmaceuticals will definitely be inspired and will definitely start registering these drug formulas in various places with patent laws. We can only compete with them in speed.”

"The first prescriptions they registered were probably those by Zhang Zhongjing."

"Therefore, I suggest that we immediately concentrate our resources on registering the classic prescriptions in Zhang Zhongjing's Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases, such as the core prescriptions like Guizhi Tang and Mahuang Tang, and complete it before Tsumura."

"In addition to traditional Chinese medicine formulas, the team needs to register its independently developed special-effect drugs, such as the Huashi ointment for relieving rheumatic pain and the Jiegu ointment for treating bone injuries."

"Simultaneously register unique prescriptions that have proven efficacy but are not traditional Chinese medicine formulas, thus creating a double barrier."

Fang Yan glanced at Lao Hu, who nodded and continued, saying:
"I discussed it with Fang Yan."

"We will prioritize patent registrations in high-paying markets such as Japan (Tsumura's home market), the United States (the largest market), and Europe, based on commercial value."

"I had already sent the telegram before our meeting, and I estimate that our professional managers in these countries have already received my message by now."

Everyone was surprised; they hadn't expected such high efficiency.

In other words, this is not about consulting with them, but about informing them.

Fang Yan picked up the conversation and said:
"Furthermore, we considered that the other party might circumvent infringement by 'modifying the formulation.' The fine imposed on Tsumura Pharmaceuticals actually reflects the logic behind their plagiarism. Therefore, another action suggestion I gave was to register multiple formulation variations for the same drug formula, such as adjusting the dosage or replacing one or two excipients, to close their legal loopholes."

"This plan is not yet perfect. We need everyone to express their opinions and then come up with a detailed list. We will then send people directly to various places for registration."

Everyone quickly nodded.

The prescription involves directly slapping the thigh:

"That's good, it would be best to block the Japanese devils' path completely!"

At this point, Professor Wang Yuchuan said:
"I see that everyone's got nothing to do right now, and since we're all together today, let's brainstorm and start working on it!"

“I know the Japanese quite well. They will definitely retaliate if they suffer a loss. They may already be holding meetings in Japan to prepare to rush to register trademarks in various places.”

"They'll definitely want to win back the market they lost from us."

After he said this, the older men all agreed.

Young people haven't witnessed the brutality of the Japanese, but they lived through that era and know the character of these bastards very well.

If they are even a little slow, they will exploit these loopholes and then turn around and bite back hard.

At this moment, Lao Hu said:

"Of course, we have taken their retaliatory nature into account, so we plan to strike hard. In the key market of Japan, we plan to use American shell companies to simultaneously register trademarks, such as the old brands like 'Tsumura' and 'Kotaro.' We can't just defend; we also need to launch an offensive."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up; wow, this is interesting.

Fang Yan began to summarize:
"Our overall strategy is essentially to exchange speed for barriers. The core is to use limited funds to block the patents of Zhang Zhongjing's classic prescriptions and unique prescriptions in Japan, the United States, and Europe before Tsumura can react, and to use trademarks to attack their home countries."

Professor Yue Meizhong nodded:
"A very good strategy!"

Others echoed.

Professor Tamagawa stood up and said:
"Now let's start checking for omissions and filling in the gaps. We must beat the Japanese to it and block all the crooked ways they can think of to plagiarize."

"Alright, let's get started without delay!" Professor Fang Yaozhong also stood up to show his support for the operation.

After the money was distributed, everyone was in high spirits, saying in the local dialect that it was of great significance.

Then everyone started checking for omissions and filling in gaps in the dialect study room and making the most of the time.

P.S.: I still owe you 42000 words after finishing this chapter.

There will be more this afternoon.

(End of this chapter)