On the plane from Xiangjiang to Washington, Zhao Shanhe booked out of the first class of the plane, and formed a huge team with seven lawyers and their paralegals.

This is a Hong Kong Dragon aircraft. The crew is of course not unfamiliar with Zhao Shanhe, a wealthy man in Hong Kong. Several flight attendants who think they are good-looking often show their presence. Unfortunately, Zhao Shanhe did not seem to notice them.

Along the way, he kept whispering to different people, and others had time to rest, but he had not stopped for even a quarter of an hour.

Everyone admired his energy. This kind of long-distance flight of more than ten hours is the most physically consuming.

Zhao Shanhe could not predict what would happen during this trip, so he didn't bring any of the women.

On the one hand, I am afraid that it will be a burden to bring them with me, and on the other hand, I am also afraid that they will become their own weaknesses.

No matter how long the journey is, it will arrive. It was noon on the 20th when we set off. It was only a dozen hours after flying. When we arrived in Washington, it was still afternoon on the 20th.

Looking at Washington, which was spread out like a pancake under the plane and without a tall building, Zhao Shanhe felt a desire to conquer.

This feeling was very dangerous, so he quickly changed his mind and did not continue thinking.

You can do whatever you want in the mission world, but this world is the world where you live, so you should be more at ease.

Of course, he won't always admit defeat, it depends on whether someone is sensible or not.

In order to come this time, his space was filled with dozens of boxes of bullets, nearly one hundred grenades, and several long and short guns.

If anyone wants to make him surrender, then he will see who is so soft.

Seeing Zhao Shanhe staring at the city under the porthole, Zhou Guowei asked with a smile: "Have you been to Washington?"

"No, I've only been to..." Zhao Shanhe recalled his experience belonging to Zhao Shanhe. "I've been to New York and Los Angeles, and there is nothing attractive about this city."

"Apart from power." Zhou Guowei smiled.

Zhao Shanhe also smiled. "In addition to power."

This city has nothing but power.

But that's enough.

The plane landed at Reagan Airport. When leaving customs, Zhao Shanhe's passport was tossed and turned several times. The white aunt from the customs asked, "Why are you here in Washington?"

“Official business.”

"You're only seventeen years old."

Zhou Guowei immediately stood up and looked at the aunt and said, "Madam, please pay attention to your attitude. The person in front of you is not only a seventeen-year-old young man, but also the boss of a multi-billion dollar asset company. Anyone may enter the country on excuses, but he will not. If he wants to immigrate to your country, the White House will invite him directly."

"Who are you?"

"I am his lawyer..." Zhou Guowei glanced at the dozen suits and ties behind him, and said, "We are all."

The white aunt's arrogant expression calmed down, looked at Zhao Shanhe, who was still looking at him, and stamped his passport with an official seal.

No matter whether he has billions of dollars in assets, she is not something she can afford to mess with.

After leaving the customs, Zhou Guowei smiled and comforted: "People in this country are always extremely arrogant, especially Japan is now asking to buy the United States, and they are in a bad mood for Asians."

Zhao Shanhe smiled. "Do you think I would care about a customs officer? Let's go..."

North America is the territory that Zhao Shanhe attaches most importance to, and an office is set up here at the US Patent and Trademark Office.

On the one hand, we search for various new patent applications every day, and on the other hand, we prepare to negotiate patent authorization affairs with all walks of life.

There are two lawyer groups working here, which are managed by Zhou Guowei. The person in charge is Ren Yunsheng, a patent lawyer from Xiangjiang.

Zhao Shanhe didn't want to come here, but he had to come this time.

Because of the 150 patents he has applied for now, sixteen of them have not been granted patents.

They are unwilling to grant patents here, and other countries are unwilling to give them.

Patent authorization is basically submitted by the inventor or his authorized person. The USPTO (Patent and Trademark Office) accepts it, determines the date of receipt and gives the application number; the application department conducts formal review and determines the application date, completes document processing and data collection, and the rights transfer department handles the matters involving rights transfer.

Then the Patent Office will classify the types of applications and assign the applications to the examination department for review by classification number.

The review process mainly includes: 1. Formal review and search; 2. Substantive review; 3. Applicant reply; 4. Re-examination; 5. Make a final decision and other contents.

Finally, after the decision is made without authorization, the applicant may appeal to the Patent Appeal and Conflict Committee if he is dissatisfied with the decision.

Today's patent authorization is very different from later generations. For example, patent applications will not be published before authorization, and the USPTO is responsible for keeping them confidential and consistent with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

It will not be until 1999 that the United States revises the patent law, and it will be determined that the patent application should be published immediately after 18 months from the filing date or priority date, and the applicant may also request to publish it in advance.

This is mainly the popularization of computers. Before 1999, any patent application and search required a dedicated person to process it, and ordinary people could not access these application materials at all.

Only after computers are popularized can other people not have to search patents through special candidates.

As for the patent examination expressways that were later promoted, there are no conditions for implementation now.

Among the patents applied for by Zhao Shanhe, 134 have no conflicts with existing patents. The sixteen problems with these problems are more or less conflicts with existing patents.

There are only two items, which the Patent Office cannot determine the purpose of the application, and Zhao Shanhe, the inventor, needs to defend.

Patent applications all over the world are submitted by the inventor or his authorized person; various related fees are paid within the statutory period.

The four major elements of a patent application are: 1. Description (i.e. Description of invention and creation and at least one claim); 2. Attachment of drawings (if required); 3. Oath or declaration (usually signed by the inventor without infringement); 4. Fees (all fees that are statutory to be paid). Among them, the first two elements are the basic conditions for obtaining the application date.

The total number of claims in each patent application cannot exceed 20, of which the independent claims cannot exceed 3, and shall not contain any multiple dependent claims.

The applicant must also complete the search of the existing technology by himself, provide all the existing technology and related information that are most similar to his inventions and creations; explain the differences between the invention and creation, practical value, and whether the contents of the written description and claims are consistent.

Therefore, patent application is easy to say, but it is actually very troublesome to operate.

Especially in today's 1987, computers have not yet entered the daily office work, and they are not professionals and cannot do these things at all.

Zhao Shanhe formed a 30-person lawyer team, and there were nearly 100 lawyers.

If he wasn't very rich, just hiring these lawyers could make an ordinary person go bankrupt.

Zhao Shanhe must come in person to conduct a defense, and others cannot give a comprehensive introduction to the technology that Zhao Shanhe has produced.

The Washington office arranged four cars, not the paralegal came to pick up people, but Ren Yunsheng led the team himself, and the lawyers accompanied him were all attorneys.

The boss Zhao Shanhe is rarely here today, and he wants to be familiar with Zhao Shanhe.

After a brief greeting at the airport, everyone got into the car and did not enter the city. Instead, they drove to Alexandria, a small town south of the airport.

This small town is five kilometers away from the airport and ten kilometers away from Washington, and belongs to Virginia.

This place was originally a railway hub, with many federal government agencies and scientific research institutions, and the US Patent and Trademark Office is in this small town.

The Patent and Trademark Office belongs to the Ministry of Commerce. With more and more patent applications, the business of this department can be said to be the busiest.

Taking 1986 as an example, he accepted 310,000 patent applications, an average of nearly 1,000 applications per day.

Twenty years later, more than 600,000 new patent applications are expected every year, and the busyness of this department is imagined.

Therefore, in the early 1980s, they specially built a vast patent and trademark office in this not-so-remote small town to facilitate people around the world to apply for new patents.

The car drove less than ten minutes and arrived at this small town on the banks of the Potomac River.

Zhou Guowei rented a villa in a high-end community next to the Washington Memorial Hall. This red and white villa on the hillside has three floors, enough to accommodate 30 people working and living.

On weekdays, there are only a dozen people working here, which is comfortable to stay and convenient to travel, which is cheaper and more affordable than staying in a hotel.

Lawyer Ren Yunsheng, who was in charge here, also specially hired a Chinese chef, and a group of people were calling him fat.

Since Zhao Shanhe applied for a patent, the legal team will not revoke it. Zhao Shanhe is also planning to buy a villa nearby, but he did not encounter a suitable one for a while.

Zhao Shanhe was arranged in the second floor with the best room, with the window facing the tower of the Washington Memorial Hall.

Putting down his luggage, Zhao Shanhe went downstairs to meet a group of lawyers and lawyer assistants one by one. Many people were meeting Zhao Shanhe for the first time, and they were also full of curiosity about Zhao Shanhe, a genius investor.

Before dinner, without revealing the secret, Zhao Shanhe briefly introduced himself and satisfied their curiosity.

Except for a few lawyers sent from Xiangjiang, most of them are full-time patent attorneys and paralegals recruited from the United States, with professional knowledge and experience in patents.

Zhao Shanhe has little expectations for them. As long as he can do his job well, he will be satisfied.

Because they do procedural work, they have to rely on their own people if they really want to sue.

Everyone was happy about Zhao Shanhe's arrival, but Zhao Shanhe could easily identify it. There were at least three people here, and the purpose of working here was not simple.

The chef is a Cantonese chef. His skills cannot be said to be very good, so he can only say it. Maybe it is because Zhao Shanhe, the delicacies of every day, and the taste is too picky, and everyone else is very satisfied with what they eat.

After dinner, it was still early, and Zhao Shanhe looked at Ren Yunsheng. "It's still early, why don't we go out for a walk?"

Ren Yunsheng nodded quickly, and Zhao Shanhe looked at Zhou Guowei again. "Together."

Zhou Guowei also nodded.

The villa is on a small hillside, and it takes ten steps to reach the parking lot at the entrance. The community is covered with green trees and the flowers, plants and trees on both sides are very neatly trimmed.

Turning along the right side of the Asphalt Road is the iron fence of the Washington Memorial Hall, you can clearly see the white memorial hall.

"It's not convenient for me to ask on the phone. Now that the sixteen patents are unauthorized, is there anyone behind the scenes?"

Ren Yunsheng shook his head and said, "I can't say there is no, but it's unlikely. Because there is a complete process for patent application, registration, and authorization. If someone is trying to do something behind the scenes, there will be links that are not in line with normal circumstances, but we have not found anything so far."

"In other words, the problems we are facing are just purely technical reasons?"

"Yes."

Zhao Shanhe is not a conspiracy theorist, but what happened in Xiangjiang recently forced him to be alert.

He asked again: "Academy of Science, has anyone contacted you?"
To be continued...