Rebirth in Hong Kong: From Dessert Shop to Industrial Empire

Chapter 79 Matrix (First update of 10,000 words a day! Please vote with your monthly tickets and recommendations!)
The next day.

Chen Bingwen walked steadily through the somewhat noisy factory area of ​​Kwun Tong Factory and headed straight for Ling Peiyi's office.

The door to Ling Pei-yi's office was ajar, and through the gap, one could see Ling Pei-yi working on documents at her desk.

"Boom! Boom!"

Chen Bingwen knocked on the door, then pushed it open and entered.

Ling Peiyi looked up at the sound of his voice and saw that it was Chen Bingwen. She immediately put down her pen and stood up: "Mr. Chen, good morning."

“Director Ling,” Chen Bingwen nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the somewhat cramped and even messy space of Ling Peiyi’s office.

There were still several unopened boxes of marketing materials piled up in the corner. He said, "Now that the company headquarters has been established, I plan to move the headquarters away from the Kwun Tong factory. This place will only retain production and warehousing functions."

Otherwise, production, warehousing, office, and R&D would all be crammed together, creating chaos every day.

Look, even your office, as the operations director, looks like a makeshift warehouse.

Hearing Chen Bingwen mention the issue of office space, Ling Peiyi nodded in agreement, "Mr. Chen is right, there are too many people and too much gossip in the company."

It's really inconvenient to work at the Kwun Tong factory, since it's a place where food is produced.

The R&D center needs a quiet environment to conduct experiments, and the marketing department makes business calls and the finance department calculates data, all of which are easily disturbed by machine noise.

Not to mention core formulas and customer information; with people coming and going in the factory area, confidentiality is difficult to guarantee.

She pointed to the boxes of materials piled up in the corner, "Look, even when I'm negotiating with a franchisee, I have to clear the table temporarily. The environment is just awful."

Chen Bingwen nodded. "Therefore, the headquarters must be separated."

The R&D center must be located in the safest and most professional environment, ideally alongside the headquarters.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Bingwen arranged: "There is a Wai Yip Industrial Building not far from the Kwun Tong factory."

The entire top floor is vacant, with an area of ​​approximately 1200 square meters. I think the location, size, and independence meet the requirements.

Come with me to take a look later. If it's feasible, we can sign a lease and move the R&D center and headquarters out as soon as possible.

Ling Pei-yi smiled and said, "I know about the Wai Yip Industrial Building. It's only a five-minute walk from there to the Kwun Tong factory. If the company headquarters moves there, it will be very convenient to come here to do business."

"The Kwun Tong plant is, after all, the company's most important production base, and it cannot be too far away."

Chen Bingwen explained with a smile.

Since Chen Bingwen had spoken, Ling Peiyi didn't delay.

After quickly finishing processing the documents, I accompanied Chen Bingwen and several workers from the company's renovation team straight to Weiye Industrial Building.

On the other side, at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, in the faculty lounge of the Department of Food Engineering.

Professor Zhou Zhiyuan was quietly tidying up his personal belongings on his desk.

His movements were calm and composed, but the gazes cast by his familiar colleagues around him were complex and hard to describe.

Puzzled, regretful, and even a hint of barely perceptible disdain.

Professor Zhang, the department head, pushed open the door and walked in, his brows furrowed: "Old Zhou, have you really thought this through?"
Although the engineering college is a bit tight on funding, it offers a free academic environment and a platform for academic exchange.

You've just given up on the few research projects you were leading that were starting to show promise?

"Go to a company that sells sweet soup?"

He deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of the words "selling sweet soup".

Zhou Zhiyuan stopped what he was doing, looked up and smiled in response, "Director Zhang, thank you for your concern."

I have gained a lot and am very grateful during my years at the Polytechnic.

But the value of scholarship ultimately lies in practical application.

My research, whether it's aseptic filling alternatives or flavor-locking technologies, ultimately aims to produce better, safer, and more convenient food.

He looked at Professor Zhang and said frankly, "Chenji respects technology. There, I can clearly see how my research transforms from bottles and jars in the laboratory into a continuous stream of products on the assembly line, entering supermarkets and homes, and changing people's lifestyles."

This tangible sense of accomplishment is something that publishing a paper cannot completely replace.

As he spoke, he picked up an academic journal from the table and gently stroked its cover: "As for academic achievements, Mr. Chen promises that all technological breakthroughs, academic paper publication rights, and honors of the R&D center will belong to me personally."

Perhaps in your eyes, I have left the halls of academia, but for me, I have simply moved to a broader laboratory to explore the possibilities of perfectly combining food science and commercial value.

After saying that, Zhou Zhiyuan picked up the packed box and nodded slightly to Professor Zhang and his colleagues in the lounge: "Until we meet again."

He turned and left the teachers' lounge, his steps steady and firm, leaving behind a silence and thoughtful gazes.

"Mr. Chen, Director Ling, the entire floor area is a solid 1100 square meters, with a net height of 3.5 meters. It's a frame structure, so there's absolutely no problem with its load-bearing capacity."

The water, electricity, and ventilation systems are all configured to high standards, and the independent freight elevator provides direct access to the unloading platform, which is very convenient.

Look at this view, this space.

On the top floor of the Weiye Industrial Building, the building manager warmly introduced the place to Chen Bingwen and his group.

Chen Bingwen walked to the window, his gaze falling on the Kwun Tong factory area not far away. He nodded slightly: "The location is indeed excellent, very close to the factory." He turned to Ling Peiyi, "Director Ling, what do you think?"

Ling Peiyi had already quickly calculated it in her mind.

She walked to the window, looked in the direction of the Kwun Tong factory, then turned back to survey the vast space, and affirmed:

"Mr. Chen, the space is sufficient, the structure is solid, and the transportation is convenient."

This distance, in particular, ensures both the efficiency and confidentiality of the headquarters' independent operations, while maintaining close contact with the core production base, resulting in extremely fast response times—it's ideal.

“Okay.” Chen Bingwen nodded and said to the manager, “We’ll rent this floor.”

Director Ling will finalize the contract details with you.

There's only one requirement: as soon as possible!

The administrator's face instantly lit up with a smile: "Mr. Chen, you're so generous! Don't worry, the contract will be prepared immediately, and the keys will be ready for you today!"

Central, Hong Kong Island: Headquarters of Swire Coca-Cola Company for Hong Kong Island and Southeast Asia.

General Counsel William Lee, clutching a thick report, walked hurriedly into President Thompson's office with a grave expression.

“Sir, the final investigation results for the bottle cap at Chen’s are in,” William Lee said, placing the report on the large mahogany desk in a low voice. “The situation is far more complicated and serious than we initially anticipated.”

William Lee's hesitant manner greatly displeased Thompson.

He put down his pen, glanced at the report cover, and said with a displeased expression, "Get to the point, William."

“Chen Ji Foods,” William Lee took a deep breath, “They not only registered the patent for that diamond-shaped anti-slip bottle cap design in Hong Kong, but after in-depth analysis, we discovered…”

Chenji has woven an extremely intricate web of patents around this seemingly simple concept of diamond-shaped anti-slip texture!

To date, we have confirmed an astonishing total of thirty patents directly related to its core design and valid in different countries and regions!

"Thirty items?" Thompson's pupils contracted sharply, and his body involuntarily leaned forward.

“That’s right, Sir.” William Lee nodded firmly, his face full of helplessness. “This is not a simple case of repeated applications, but rather the construction of a rigorous three-dimensional defense system.”

Each patent precisely covers possible variations of the design in different application scenarios.

The shape, density, depth, and arrangement of the textures, and even the connection between the textures and bottle caps made of specific materials, the related processes for optimizing the opening mechanics, and the quantitative analysis of the anti-slip effect—in short, they have virtually blocked any attempt to circumvent their patent protection through micro-innovations.

The technology department and top external patent attorneys unanimously agree that, under the current technological path, it is virtually impossible to substantially circumvent this impenetrable barrier comprised of thirty patents.

He opened the report and pointed to a key page: "According to the professional patent search agency we commissioned, Chen Ji obtained patents through the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Paris Convention within just one month."

These design patent applications have been filed with patent management agencies in the United States, Japan, various European countries, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and South Korea—virtually covering all major beverage consumer markets worldwide!

Thompson's eyes narrowed instantly, and he questioned, "A global strategy? Does a company that sells sugar water have that kind of vision and execution capability?"

“Yes, sir,” William Lee replied with unusual certainty. “Their patent agency is a well-known London law firm that is affiliated with Dexin Accounting Firm, and has a branch office in New York, USA. They are very efficient.”

The patent documents are professionally drafted, and the claims are clearly defined. Currently, all patent applications in the target countries and regions have entered the national phase, and in some countries such as the United States and Japan, they have entered substantive examination.

He paused, then added, "More importantly, Chen Ji's patent application date was almost three months earlier than when our marketing department first noticed this bottle cap in the convenience store."

This means that they had already completed the patent layout for their core technologies before the product was launched on a large scale.

Thompson leaned back in his chair, paused for a moment, and then asked, "Is there any possibility of circumventing this with our existing glass bottle cap design?"

Or, should we acquire the patent directly?

William Lee shook his head with a wry smile: "It's extremely difficult to circumvent."

Chen Ji's patent claims are very rigorous. Our technical team's preliminary assessment is that designing a structure that is equally useful but does not fall within the scope of its patent protection would require a large investment of R&D resources, and the cycle and cost are difficult to predict.

Regarding the acquisition

He turned to the valuation section of the report: "Based on the significant improvement in user experience brought about by the patent for the diamond-shaped anti-slip bottle cap, the potential market value, and the successful validation of Chenji's own products, the professional evaluation agency gave a preliminary valuation range of $500 million to $800 million."

This only considers the value of the patent itself, without taking into account the potential brand bundling or market access conditions that Chen Ji might impose.

"A bottle cap design? $500 million to $800 million?" Thompson's voice rose sharply, finding the valuation utterly unbelievable.

“Yes, sir,” William Lee confirmed. “Moreover, Chen Bingwen, the owner of Chen’s, has a very unique and assertive style of doing things.”

Judging from their rapid expansion, precise patent strategy, and market performance, he would never easily sell his core patent assets.

More likely, he will use these patents as a stepping stone and a moat for Chen Ji's entry into the global beverage market.

Thompson's face darkened completely.

He realized that he had underestimated this "King of Dessert Soup".

Chen Bingwen not only understands products and markets, but also capital operations and intellectual property strategies!

These bottle cap patents have transformed from a small design innovation into a formidable technological barrier for Coca-Cola's glass bottle product line.

(End of this chapter)