Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 24 Patent License Fees

"You little person, you are so hypocritical, you just want to have fun every day."

People feel refreshed when good things happen. The next morning, Masato Takeshita hummed a happy tune and returned to his temporary residence last night with the breakfast he had bought.

"Good morning, President!"

"Well, good morning!"

"Good morning, President!"

"Good morning!"

Masato Takeshita had a smile on his face and nodded gracefully in response to the factory employees who took the initiative to greet him.

"Saori, tell me, is the president in love?"

After Masato Takeshita left, a female employee whispered gossip to her friends.

"Well, I don't know, but it looks like it has that flavor."

The girl named Saori also felt that it was like a relationship, but she didn't know much about it and didn't dare to make a judgment easily.

"Absolutely, 100% in love. It was similar to when I first fell in love."

At this time, another girl interrupted, her tone full of affirmation.

"That's right, I wonder what the president's girlfriend looks like."

"She must be very beautiful and charming. The president is so handsome and rich."

"She should be the daughter of a chaebol family."

"Yes, it's true that you can own a factory at such a young age, absolutely."

The female workers were talking about it, their faces full of gossip. Then their voices became louder and louder, and soon reached the ears of the male employees next to them.

"Alright, alright, you guys. You dare to gossip about the president's affairs."

"Huh, isn't it just a question?"

After hearing their minister say this, although a few women expressed dissatisfaction, everyone tacitly changed the subject.

Masato Takeshita naturally didn't know that he had caused a stir among the workers, and he was still happily humming his little tune in the office.

"Yuriko, please help me call Vice President Suzuki over. I have something to discuss with him."

"Okay, President, please wait a moment."

Yuriko Kagawa is a girl with a rather plain appearance but very strong abilities. Masato Takeshita went to great lengths to persuade this top student from Waseda University to come to him through his mentor's relationship.

He currently serves as his assistant and is considered a direct subordinate of Masato Takeshita.

In addition to Yuriko Kagawa, Masato Takeshita also recruited three other top students from Waseda University. They were all the favorite students of Kunihiko Inoue and served as deputy positions in the finance, human resources and marketing departments.

If it weren't for the bright future of trolley suitcases, there was no way these people would have condescended to set up such a small factory.

Big banks, big trading companies, and real estate giants are the correct development path for several people.

"Mr. Suzuki, please take a seat. What would you like to drink?"

“Do you have oolong tea?”

"Yuriko, make a pot of oolong tea."

"Yes, President!"

After chatting for a while and drinking a few cups of tea, Takeshita Masato finally got the conversation back on track. "It's like this, I hope Suzuki-san can temporarily take on the role of head of the R&D department and recruit some relevant talents. We need to develop suitcases of various sizes, materials, and shapes to provide customers with more choices."

People without thought, he must worry about.

Although Matsumoto Manufacturing can rely on its first-mover advantage to monopolize the trolley suitcase market in a short period of time, this thing is too simple and competitors will soon appear.

If a company does not plan ahead and carry out a variety of personalized designs, it will easily be eliminated by the market.

As for other businesses that use patent cards.

It's ok to think about it, but it's impossible to do it in practice.

Because this type of utility patent is a type that must be open to the public in every country. If Takeshita Masato insists on holding on to the patent, governments will directly use the market monopoly as an excuse to force their own companies to grant patents.

"Yes, President, I will complete the task as soon as possible." Suzuki Zensuke responded very straightforwardly.

He had long wanted to set up a research and development department, but unfortunately, with the succession of Yusaku Matsumoto and the strong appreciation of the yen, this plan eventually came to nothing.

Now that he heard that the new president was going to set up a research and development department, he naturally supported it very much.

Because he always believes that a company can go further only after it has core technology. And core technology requires a large number of R&D talents.

After deciding to set up the R&D department, Masato Takeshita took the old man aside to talk about how to expand the R&D department.

In the end, the two of them unanimously decided to hire a research and development manager from a large luggage company. Such talents are high-end talents, and Matsumoto Manufacturing simply cannot cultivate them in a short period of time. If they want to develop quickly, the best way is to poach.

It shouldn't be too difficult. After all, we are in the same industry and can easily see the value of a trolley suitcase.

After talking about things in the factory, Masato Takeshita went to the law firm again.

"Excuse me, Ms. Asuka."

"No, you're welcome to take a seat anytime." Asuka Ryo smiled and shook hands with Takeshita Masato, then instructed his assistant, "Haruko, go make two cups of black tea."

"Okay, President."

The legal profession is very different from ordinary Japanese industries. The most typical difference is that law firms all take the elite route and grant top lawyers partner status.

Ryo Asuka is the top lawyer in the firm, so it is normal for Haruko Yamashita to call Ryo Asuka the president.

After all, every partner in a law firm gets a share of the firm's profits. They are equal to the president, which is almost equivalent to the position of vice president of a company.

"Well, I want to work out a patent licensing agreement for our trolley suitcases with you."

"Well, you said."

"My request is this. In addition to the fixed licensing fee, each suitcase must pay our company 200 yen + 10% commission on the sales price."

Masato Takeshita learned this move from Gao Tong in his previous life.

Qualcomm relies on this trick and can make tens of billions of dollars every year without doing anything for a long time.

Although the commission from suitcases is far less than that from mobile phones, it is enough for a small company like Matsumoto Manufacturing.

As for 200 yen + 10% commission, is it too expensive?

of course not.

There are countless mobile phone patents, of which Qualcomm only holds a portion, while the trolley suitcase is the exclusive patent of Matsumoto Manufacturing. Let alone 5% of sales, even if it is 20% or even 30% of sales, countless people will choose to accept it.

This thing is too simple to make, there is no learning threshold at all, even a small family workshop can make it. Enterprises do not need to spend too much to enter this market, and the patent fee will naturally be higher.

Anyway, in the short term, the demand for trolley suitcases will exceed the supply. When companies are making money, they will put on a show even if they are unhappy.

(End of this chapter)