Reborn in 2010, the AI ​​in my mind is too powerful.

On Tuesday afternoon, Chen Yiran first took Pidan to the dog nursery.

Near Silicon Valley, there are many similar services. After searching for a long time, Chen Yiran finally chose a small, non-chain store called Tails Up Pet Care.

The online reviews are pretty good. This place also offers dog walking services and often takes the pets from the daycare to the beach.

Pidan is still young, which is the perfect time to develop social skills; otherwise, the Border Collie's separation anxiety could become quite severe.

Upon arriving at their destination, Chen Yiran heartlessly abandoned the dog and walked away.

The Fenwick & West offices aren't far away either, in the Mountain View office building complex. That's Silicon Valley for you; those buildings are probably housing some kind of monster-level unicorns.

Upon arriving at the floor and registering at the front desk, Chen Yiran noticed several company logos hanging in the lobby: Facebook, Google, and Apple. This was likely a show of force, as these were all clients of the law firm. Next to them was a bronze plaque marking 1972, indicating that such a young company was considered a veteran in Silicon Valley.

Ted Wang received him in a conference room on the third floor. Next to him sat another person, Stuart Meyer, the tech-savvy person Tom had introduced.

Ted looked sharp in his suit, exuding style, and appeared to be in his early thirties. Stuart, on the other hand, looked quite bizarre, dressed in a black shirt and jeans, giving off an air of being a die-hard Steve Jobs fan.

Ted asked his secretary to get some drinks and then got straight to business, speaking in English because Stuart Meyer was also there.

"Come, sit down. Tell me about your situation first? I need to know some details, what specific services you want, besides patent registration."

Chen Yiran gave a brief introduction, mentioning a code editor project that had completed its core functionality. He wanted to register a patent for protection and explore commercialization opportunities. He also explained his situation: he was still on an F1 visa, working under his own name, and owned an LLC in Delaware that was involved in other businesses.

Ted nodded after listening: "F1 visas don't affect patent applications. Patent rights are property rights and have nothing to do with visa status. But if you generate income in the US later, there will be differences in taxation, which we'll discuss later."

Stuart continued, "Let's talk about patents first. Are you familiar with the US patent application process?"

"I only know the general outline."

Chen Yiran learned a general understanding online, but for legal matters like this, practical experience is far more useful than text on websites.

Stuart adjusted his glasses and said, "Let me explain briefly. There are two application paths in the United States: provisional application and formal application. I suggest you go through the provisional application first."

"What's the difference?"

"A provisional application, simply put, is like reserving a place. You submit your materials, the USPTO stamps them, and establishes a priority date. From that day on, you are the first inventor of this technology."

"No censorship?"

"No examination is required, and no formal claims are needed. Once you submit the materials and pay the fee, it becomes effective. You then have 12 months to submit a formal application, during which time substantive examination will begin. However, it is advisable that the materials be useful. In short, they must be detailed enough that an average technician can implement the function after reading them. Otherwise, if problems arise and a lawsuit is filed, it will be very disadvantageous."

"From formal application to obtaining the patent?"

"The examination cycle for software patents is very long, taking two to three years, and the USPTO has a serious backlog. But for you, you don't need to wait for patent grant. After submitting a provisional application, you can mark the patent application as pending, which in itself is a deterrent."

Ted added, "If your goal is to sell to a large company, you don't need a licensed patent. What you need is proof that you are the first inventor, with legal documents in hand. When large companies' legal departments see a patent application, they know that the technology is already owned. They will either discuss an acquisition or circumvent the restrictions; they are unlikely to risk directly copying it."

"What if they really shamelessly plagiarize?"

Ted laughed loudly, "That's not much different from buying it directly from you. You can't win these kinds of deadlocked lawsuits unless you refuse to sell at all. Otherwise, those big companies won't do that. It's not like there haven't been cases of people trying to force their way in before; they only cause trouble when they can't buy it."

"Then let's proceed with the temporary application. What documents do you require from me?"

Stuart flipped through his notebook: "Technical specifications, architecture diagrams, flowcharts, and excerpts of core code are also welcome. The more detailed your technical documentation, the broader the scope of protection we can define when drafting the claims."

"I brought everything. If things go quickly, we can get it done today?"

Ted quickly waved his hand, signaling Chen Yiran not to take out the documents, and then waved to the secretary who had been watching from outside the office.

The secretary quickly brought over several documents: a power of attorney, a conflict of interest waiver/confirmation, a fee pre-authorization, and a remittance slip.

Tedwang switched to Chinese and said, "We can only provide services after you sign. Consider the time before that a free service. We charge 800 per hour for the two of us, so you're getting a great deal. Make sure you don't have any lawsuits against you with this waiver. If you do, you need to let us know. We can only provide services after we confirm you don't have any previous clients with you."

Chen Yiran was ashamed. Is this what top-tier law firms charge? It's outrageous!

"No, no, I was studying in Delaware before. I came to Silicon Valley because my TOEFL score was good enough that I didn't need to study language courses."

As Chen Yiran spoke, he looked at the documents. Jasmine had previously entered some legal knowledge online, so reviewing these documents should be no problem.

Tedwang, standing nearby, started egging him on: "Oh, you still need to go to school? Tom told me that with your level, you could easily find a job or start a business. Are you here to go to Stanford or Berkeley?"

If you need connections, you don't need to; your skills are your own source of connections. If you need that piece of paper, then I can't help you; you'll just have to focus on your studies. But if you just want to improve your skills, then I can help you.

Chen Yiran confirmed that there were no problems with the documents and signed them all.

The secretary skillfully left one copy for Chen Yiran, and took the rest to file.

As Chen Yiran pulled out the prepared technical manual, architecture diagram, and core source code—the syntax parser—he asked, "I just want to take the classes. A degree would be great, but I'm not insistent on it. Waiting until next September to enroll would mean waiting over a year, which is too much of a waste of time. Do you have a solution?"

Ted glanced at the materials and handed them to Stuart Meyer. Technical information is best left to professionals; it's like gibberish to the average person.

It's still a legal issue, and networking is what he's really good at.

Ted confidently assured him, "Leave it to me. I'll get you a spot on an industry advisory board. Stanford and Berkeley's computer science departments organize projects every year, inviting founders of Silicon Valley startups or patent holders to campus to share their insights, so that professors and students can stay informed about the latest industry developments."

"Most places are reserved for big companies like Microsoft, but I have connections with several schools, so getting you a special spot shouldn't be a problem. They won't refuse an 18-year-old inventor. You won't need to give a lecture; just take the invitation to class. For some smaller courses, just tell the professor you're interested in the topic."

Chen Yiran was surprised by this unexpected surprise and quickly expressed her gratitude.

"Multi-process isolation, semantic analysis engine, C# precise completion and cross-file jump, you're a genius! I don't even need to wrap this up. Trust me, Microsoft will definitely buy it."

Stuart glanced at the information Chen Yiran provided and gave it a very high rating.

Ted asked from the side, "Can we use it directly?"

Stuart nodded and said, "I'm sure, it's very complete and can be used directly."

Ted nodded, indicating that he would proceed directly.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) supports 24-hour online electronic filing. The law firm, of course, had its own account, so it simply operated on the computer. Besides submitting the patent materials, they also requested Chen Yiran's passport number and a declaration of inventor's statement. Unfortunately, not having a Social Security Number (SSN) is a bit of a hassle.

Ten minutes later, I received a receipt with a barcode containing Chen Yiran's information, thus locking in the priority date.

Stuart told TED, "I'm very optimistic about this. I don't think we need to register overseas anymore. Microsoft will definitely come within a year. We just need to stop dancing to their tune."

This refers to US patents, which in most countries have a one-year priority period during which you don't actually need to apply for a patent. However, if you don't apply within that year, it's considered a waiver. Many large, unscrupulous companies will engage in aggressive haggling during acquisitions, dragging things out until October or November. They'll use the cost of patent applications in various countries as leverage to drive down the price.

But it's not very useful for professionals like Fenwick & West; it only fools naive tech geeks.

TED nodded and said, "Okay, let's start with a six-month timeframe. If no one inquires within six months, we'll have to take the initiative. Chen Yiran, you can put the data on GitHub now. Today will be the public disclosure date for this patent."

Stuart chimed in, "My suggestion is to open-source the front-end compiler and parser, and license the surrounding toolchain to open source, while keeping the core engine and performance testing benchmarks closed source. Then, the MIT license would suffice; the AGPL would scare Microsoft away."

Chen Yiran had already considered the relevant issues and nodded in agreement.

The MIT license is extremely lenient. Others can freely copy, modify, and even commercially use your code in a closed-source manner. However, the core engine is not open source. If others want to reach the same level, they need a huge amount of money. What's worse is that if the patent is bought by another large company halfway through development, it would be a complete tragedy. Therefore, large companies basically only buy, buy, buy.

AGPL is a pure hedgehog; if you modify the code and provide services to the public, you must also open-source the modifications. This is unacceptable for large companies.

Therefore, in the open-source world, MIT is a merchant that gives you whatever you want, while AGPL is a hedgehog that kills anyone who crosses it. Only by using MIT can you lure Microsoft to use your technology. Once Microsoft realizes that they must adopt this technology, they will have no choice but to obediently buy the closed-source core.

TED focused on a different issue: "Let's talk about taxes. To be on the safe side, you need to register a new company first."