The top student must be diligent.

Chapter 204 The Value of Patents

The answer given by the professor from Qinghua University will undoubtedly surprise everyone.

After all, the advancement of science and technology is a tangible benefit that everyone can enjoy.

Just like from the brick computers in the past to the smart phones today, everyone has enjoyed the convenience brought by smart phones and the changes in entertainment methods. Coupled with various other very simple functions, modern people can enjoy life experiences that people decades ago could not imagine even without leaving their homes.
Now, this innovation in battery technology can actually solve the various pain points that people have encountered in their lives in the past.

The poor battery life of mobile phones is indeed a pain point!
For a while, in the comment section below this answer, netizens from all walks of life fully expressed their thoughts.

[That's right! The demands for battery life of all the electronic products I use are increasing day by day. I basically charge my cell phone twice a day. I have never seen a cell phone that can last as long as the advertised battery life. I urgently need a cell phone that can be charged once every three days.]

[My requirements are not that high. No matter how the phone is made, as long as it can last for 23 hours, the remaining hour can be used for charging, and the rest of the power can be used to improve other functions. For example, replace the screen with a brighter one with a faster refresh rate. Anyway, there is plenty of power, and those manufacturers do not need to compromise on battery life, and can replace it with more awesome functions.]

[Holy crap, is this true? My hometown is in the northernmost part of China. Every time I go home for Chinese New Year, my phone has problems. Can this battery really run at low temperatures?]

[You can rest assured. Since they dare to advertise it this way, there must be no big problem at minus 100 degrees. Solid electrolytes themselves have this function. Because at extremely low temperatures, liquid electrolytes may solidify, but solid electrolytes themselves are solid, so why do they need to solidify? ]

[Does this mean that pure electric vehicles can be used with confidence in the future? Is the 2000-kilometer range really a joke? Also, will it be possible to travel across the country with pure electric vehicles in the future? Can we go to Mohe and Xinjiang? Can we withstand low-temperature environments? ]

[Of course you can. Just wait and see. With such awesome batteries, the car companies will definitely try their best to make them.]

[Okay, okay, I was planning to buy a pure electric car in the past few years, but now I can wait a little longer. ]

[When can I use it? Urgent! I am the King of Urgent!]

[It will take at most a year for the corresponding products to be available. However, as you know, the new technology has just been born, so the cost will definitely not be low. It is estimated that the price of the first batch of products will be relatively high. The price will only drop after the marginal cost is reduced. Of course, if you are rich, just ignore what I said.]

[No matter what, I will try it out when the product comes out. ]

【…】

A bunch of netizens are fantasizing about the convenience that lithium-sulfur solid-state batteries will bring to them in the future.

Compared with the original high-temperature superconductors, this discussion is even more heated.

After all, the conditions for using high-temperature superconductors still need to be provided by some specialized equipment and institutions. Ordinary people generally do not have the need to use high-temperature superconductors in their living environment.

But it’s different with batteries. Everyone can use batteries, and everyone knows what batteries are used for.

Of course, in addition to this type of netizens, there are also quite a lot of netizens discussing things related to Xiao Yi.

[This is outrageous. How come Xiao Shen is so proficient in materials that he can even make lithium-sulfur solid-state batteries? Is there anything he can't do? ]

[Just kidding, they have already developed high-temperature superconductors, why should we worry about a battery? 】

[It's not that I look down on batteries so much. Moreover, this is a lithium-sulfur solid-state battery, not just a lithium-sulfur battery, or a solid-state battery. These are two technologies, representing solutions to the solid electrolyte and sulfur electrode technologies respectively. In addition, Xiao Yi has developed a new nanoporous carbon material that has solved the problem of lithium dendrites. This material alone is worth a lot. I think the joint breakthrough of the three materials is not much different from the difficulty of researching high-temperature superconductors.]

[Indeed, it is difficult to solve just one of the materials, but this time we solved three materials directly! The difficulty is completely unimaginable. ]

[By the way, I thought Xiao Shen would not submit papers to foreign journals in the future. This time, he submitted to JACS and ACSnano. It is interesting that he did not submit to Nature. It seems that the Nature Department will not have the opportunity to receive Xiao Shen's submissions in the future. ]

[It’s not that Xiao Shen submitted these papers to these two journals himself. Xiao Yi is the corresponding author of these three papers. The first and second authors are from his laboratory. I checked and found that among the authors, only Tang Chunming is an assistant researcher, and the other three are postdoctoral researchers. I don’t believe that the four of them have made a great contribution to this project. I can only say that this is the benefit of working on a project with Xiao Shen.]

[Fuck, three articles in top journals, this benefit is too great, right? 8 said, I will apply for a job at Science Island Laboratory now, what if Xiao Shen has a project for me to work on? ]

[Don't even think about it. Science Island Laboratory isn't hiring right now. Otherwise, who wouldn't want to go? ]

[Damn, such a good boss, I want it in my dreams! ]

【…】

Finally, a lot of comments were left in the comment section expressing envy for Tang Chunming, Liu Xiaodong and the other three.

Of course, in addition to this answer, there are other highly-praised answers that also interpret these news from various angles.

For example, from the perspective of the country: [Let me just say one thing: from now on, the battery market in this world belongs to us! ]

From an academic perspective: [Xiao Shen's three material breakthroughs fully demonstrate the great role of his previous electron-interface reaction migration model, especially in the material technology of solid electrolytes. It can be said that solid electrolytes are the most difficult to study among the three materials, and the electron-interface reaction migration model can be said to have made an absolute contribution.]

Of course, there are also some who are going crazy: [Fuck, our research group is researching lithium-sulfur batteries. Now, all the three years of hard work have gone to waste! It’s all waste! It’s all waste!]

In short, everyone looks at the problem from a different perspective, so the answers are also different.

But what everyone knows is that this is definitely a good thing for China.

……

"Hello, Professor Xiao Yi. I am Argyle Bentliff, the president of ExxonMobil. First of all, I would like to congratulate you on behalf of ExxonMobil. Battery technology is a very important and critical technology for us humans. I have always respected every scientist who has made great contributions to battery technology, such as Professor Stanley Whittingham, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on lithium-ion batteries. Professor Whittingham himself has always been a special consultant to our ExxonMobil company."

"So I am here to invite you to become our special advisor. Of course, if you are willing to become our chief scientist, on behalf of ExxonMobil and the Rockefeller family, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you."

Although the tone on the phone seemed to express welcome, it actually had a kind of almsgiving feeling, which made Xiao Yi, who was answering the phone at the time, curl his lips.

Then he asked, "Mr. Bentliff, do you always like to talk like this?"

The other party asked back on the phone: "What do you mean?"

Xiao Yi burst out laughing, then said, "Okay, let's talk about this later. Mr. Bentliff, please tell me why you called first."

"It's very simple. We want to acquire your three battery patent technologies for $30 billion. I think this price is a fair deal. At the same time, you can also gain the friendship of ExxonMobil. Please consider it carefully."

Xiao Yi shook his head.

Apparently, the ExxonMobil president has lost respect for ordinary people because he is always in a high position.

Perhaps, people still think that the so-called ExxonMobil friendship is something very precious.

Then, he said, "Mr. Bentliff, as a mathematician, I sincerely want to give you a good suggestion. Please study mathematics well, otherwise you will not be able to calculate a price of 30 billion."

"Of course, whether it's an acquisition or a patent licensing cooperation, it doesn't exist. Well, that's all for now. Goodbye."

Afterwards, regardless of what the other party said, Xiao Yi hung up the phone. The value of the lithium-sulfur solid-state battery patent is definitely not something that can be measured by $30 billion.

It is even more impossible for Xiao Yi to simply sell this patent.

After all, he also wants this patent to become a long-term source of funding for the Science Island Laboratory in the future.

As for the specific price, we have to consider the size of the battery market. According to the current battery market size of over 1000 billion and close to 100 billion US dollars, the total value of these three patents may be billion US dollars.

Of course, considering the risk that others may be able to develop alternative patents in the future, this value needs to be lowered.

However, how much of a possibility this is has yet to be determined.

"The next question is how to license it and at what price."

How to authorize is a key issue.

First of all, it is impossible to authorize only one company, otherwise it will easily lead to monopoly.

Although there are giants in the battery industry today, such as Linde and Diaby, which together account for half of the market, there are also many other companies.

There is development only when there is competition.

If it is monopolized, it will affect the social structure, especially the technology such as batteries which can even directly affect people's livelihood. Of course, this technology also has strategic significance. After all, military drones are already popular on the battlefield. This technology alone can greatly enhance the tactical position of drones by improving their endurance.

However, what makes Xiao Yi a little curious is that I have not called Diaby and Linde, two huge companies in the battery field, yet other slightly smaller companies have called him.

His response to these small companies was: it depends.

However, at this moment, his phone rang again. He took a look and found that it was Director Liu Cong of the Science and Technology Bureau calling.

He raised his eyebrows and then answered the phone.

He said with a smile: "Director Liu, why did you have time to call me?"

"Well, don't you know why I called you?"

Liu Cong's hearty laughter was immediately heard from the other end of the phone.

Then he said: "You really brought us a huge surprise, lithium-sulfur solid-state battery."

"As soon as the news came out two days ago, I went straight to a meeting. Guess what the leader said? 'Good, very good.'"

"The leader is so happy!"

"Now that the meeting is over, I was asked to call you and ask you to come to Beijing to discuss the commercialization of this technology. I hope to ask for your opinion."

"In addition, the bosses of Linde Times and Diaby are also here, Wang Chuanfu and Zeng Yuqun. They are also holding meetings here these two days."

After hearing what Liu Cong said, Xiao Yi finally understood why these two companies had never contacted him. It turned out that the two bosses were in a meeting in Beijing.

After thinking for a while, it seemed that he had to go to Beijing, so he said, "Okay, when do we go?"

"Of course, the sooner you come, the better! Your suggestions are of utmost importance right now." Liu Cong said with a smile, "If you have any ideas now, you can tell me first, and I will report them to the leader."

Xiao Yi said: "I don't have any ideas. Anyway, there is only one patent, so it's fine as long as it doesn't lead to a monopoly."

"Hey, that's for sure, you can rest assured!" Liu Cong laughed, "You don't need to tell us about this, we all know it."

"Okay, then I'll book a flight now and come to Beijing right away."

hang up the phone.

Xiao Yi sighed. Just as he had thought before, this technology would ultimately depend on coordination from the national level.

However, this is also good. He doesn't have to worry about it. He can just license the patent and wait to collect the money.

Finally, without further ado, he asked Wang Hao to book a flight to Beijing and then set off directly.

……

That afternoon, Xiao Yi arrived in Shangjing and was personally received by Director Liu Cong. At the reception, he also met the two big bosses, Wang Chuanfu and Zeng Yuqun.

Both bosses are from science and engineering backgrounds, and they were both involved in batteries.

In particular, Zeng Yuqun, who is a doctoral student graduated from the Institute of Physics and can be regarded as a "friend of the institute" with Xiao Yi, is also quite solid in technology. He once led a team to overcome the industry problem of battery bulging in the polymer lithium battery technology patent purchased from Bell Labs. It can be said that he demonstrated his ability in battery technology research very early. It is no surprise that he was able to start a business like Linde Times, a company that occupies one-third of the global battery market.

After meeting Xiao Yi, the two CEOs took him aside to have a good chat about their ideas on battery technology and each talked about their thoughts on the future development of battery technology.

Especially in the field of lithium-sulfur solid-state batteries, there are still quite a lot of technologies that can be explored.

Xiao Yi’s three patents are only material patents, but how to combine these three patents in the future to develop battery technology with better performance is something that companies like Linde need to consider.

For example, Diaby’s famous blade battery structure.

Twenty years from now, when the patent for lithium-sulfur solid-state batteries expires, it will be the turn of various companies to compete in structure and design.

For a while, they had a very pleasant conversation.

As time came to the second day, Xiao Yi entered the most mysterious place in the country and began a discussion on the future layout of the battery industry.

The meeting lasted for three days.

Until the third day, when Xiao Yi, Wang Chuanfu, Zeng Yuqun and others left here with smiles on their faces, it basically meant that the future battery landscape had been determined.

……

(End of this chapter)