Rebirth: Rewriting Youth

Chapter 309 Design Patents
As soon as Shen Yu said this, even Han Shuang silently put down the MP4 in her hand, and everyone in the meeting room looked towards Shen Yu.

"Redesign the cup lid?" Salesman Zhou looked at Shen Yu in surprise and asked repeatedly.

"Is it possible that among all the cup lid styles we have here, there is no one that satisfies you?" Salesman Zhou paused and asked again.

"Well, I'm not very satisfied. I want a lid that allows me to drink drinks without a straw." Shen Yu said with a smile.

“No need for a straw? Then you can use this coffee cup lid and drink from this small hole.” Salesman Zhou said, pointing to the cup lid next to him.

"That one is too small and not suitable." Shen Yu said.

"Wouldn't it be better to make it bigger?" the designer said casually.

"I want to design a unique plastic cup lid that is refreshing." Shen Yu said with a smile.

"Oh, do you have any ideas? Or just tell me your needs and I will help you design it?" the designer asked with a faint smile.

"No need." Shen Yu smiled and pointed to his head and said, "I already have a definite idea in my mind. Now I just need to put it on paper."

The designer smiled with a hint of disdain and said, "Then tell me, I'll help you draw a picture and see how refreshing it is." Then he turned to look at Salesman Zhou and joked, "Is this a private matter or a business matter? If I do a good job, can you ask the supervisor to give me a raise?"

"Don't talk nonsense." Salesman Zhou patted the designer on the shoulder and blamed him, then smiled and said to Shen Yu: "Mr. Shen, if you want to redesign, this factory has to make a new mold, which is called opening a mold. Therefore, we need to charge a mold opening fee. For the cup lid mold, it is about 6000 yuan. We can help you make about ten samples first. Can you accept this? Of course, I can help you reduce the design fee."

"No problem." Shen Yu nodded in response.

Hearing 6000 yuan, Han Shuang couldn't help but frowned and pulled Shen Yu's clothes, then asked in a low voice: "Why do you want to make a new mold? 6000 yuan can buy almost 1 cup lids."

Shen Yu turned his head and smiled, comforting him softly: "Don't worry, I know what's going on."

Han Shuang opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but finally chose to close it and sit quietly aside.

“Then tell Designer Chen about your design ideas and thoughts and ask him to draw it for you.” Salesman Zhou said with a smile.

"Yes, you tell me and I'll draw it." Designer Chen said calmly.

Shen Yu thought about it and asked doubtfully: "Can this newly designed cup lid be considered a patent? Should we sign a confidentiality agreement or an exclusive agreement first?"

Designer Chen glanced at Shen Yu and said calmly: "The design patent is considered a utility model patent and can be applied for."

Salesman Zhou said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, Mr. Shen. Our company has made a mold for you. This mold will only be used by you and will not be given to others."

Shen Yu pondered for a while, and said: "Then let's sign a confidentiality agreement first. This appearance design belongs to me."

Salesman Zhou looked at Shen Yu, nodded with a smile, and then said, "Wait for me for a moment. I'll go to the computer and get the agreement template and modify it."

"Thank you for your hard work." Shen Yu said politely.

"It's okay." Salesman Zhou waved his hand and left the meeting room.

"Hey, brother, are you so confident in your design? Do you still need to sign a confidentiality agreement?" Designer Chen asked with interest.

"That's about right. Mine is quite novel and will gradually become popular in the future." Shen Yu said confidently. "Oh, OK." Designer Chen nodded and said nothing more.

Han Shuang looked at Shen Yu and Designer Chen, and felt that there was nothing for her to do, so she started watching MP4 again.

Shen Yu took this opportunity to think in his mind whether he should use the flip-top cup lid (a flat lid that is cut in half and can be flipped up, the earliest milk tea cup lid) or the rotating cup lid with a rotatable mouth designed by Heytea?

Or take out the perforated lid of Nayuki? (There are two drinking holes on the lid of the cup. One is covered with a cute little lid. Just take off the red lid when drinking. The other is closed and is specially for straws. You can directly poke it through with a straw when needed.)
After thinking about it, Shen Yu first ruled out Nayuki's perforated lid, because this cup lid is very practical and basically all milk tea shops in the future will be equipped with this cup lid. As for the flip-top cup lid design, Shen Yu vaguely remembered that it was eliminated very quickly. And if the folding is not done well, it will scratch your mouth when drinking milk tea, which is also quite troublesome.

Therefore, Shen Yu decided to first come up with Heytea's rotating cup lid, a special cup lid for milk tea. He could then find someone to design the perforated lid and then register the patent himself.

After all, they are now in Hengxin's factory, and they are doing this. If Shen Yu reveals too much, he is afraid that the patent application will go wrong.

After a while, Salesman Zhou came in with two confidentiality agreements, and both parties signed them.

Only then did Shen Yu feel relieved.

After asking for a pen and paper, Shen Yu drew the general appearance of the rotating cup lid of HEYTEA in his previous life with just a few strokes.

Designer Chen looked nonchalant at first, until Shen Yu drew the entire picture and briefly explained the design elements, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Hey! Your design is quite clever! You can play with the cup lid like this! It's really interesting!" Designer Chen looked at Shen Yu curiously and said with a smile: "What's wrong with your brain that you can come up with such a design?"

Han Shuang, who was watching the excitement on the side, was also staring at Shen Yu's profile quietly, with deep admiration in her eyes. Her burning gaze was like a thin thread, tightly surrounding Shen Yu.

Shen Yu listened to Designer Chen's words that sounded more like scolding than praise, smiled helplessly, and asked: "Can this design be drawn?"

"Of course, just wait!" Upon hearing this, Designer Chen immediately started operating the software with great interest.

Salesman Zhou frowned and looked at the simple design drawn by Shen Yu on paper. His eyes flickered, and it was unknown what he was thinking.

After a long while, Salesman Zhou relaxed his frown and tried to ask Shen Yu, who was looking at Designer Chen's computer, "Mr. Shen, your design is very unique and thoughtful. Can I call our manager to discuss the authorization of this rotating cup lid?"

Shen Yu blinked his eyes, looked at Salesman Zhou with a half-smile, and asked, "Your company wants to do this? This shouldn't be very practical, right?"

Salesman Zhou smiled faintly, pursed his lips and thought for a moment, then said bluntly: "Boss Shen, to be honest, there are actually no design patents in the disposable products industry. In fact, you use it, I use it, and everyone uses it. It can't be eliminated at all."

Shen Yu was actually mentally prepared for what Salesman Zhou said.

After all, China is a country with a lot of counterfeit products. In 2010, the patent system was not perfect. It doesn’t really make much difference whether there is a design patent or not.

In later generations, tea beverage companies basically did not apply for formula patents. After all, tea beverage products cannot escape milk caps, fruits and pearls, making it difficult to innovate.

Moreover, as a country with a large catering industry, Chinese people would not want to apply for patents for their food, nor would they even think about protecting the recipe.

Can you imagine applying for patents for the recipes of fish-flavored pork shreds, West Lake vinegar fish, and sweet and sour pork? The patent office would be polite if they didn't arrest you and give you two big slaps in the face.

(End of this chapter)