Chapter 58. The Fountain of Wisdom (2)

Companies apply for patents to protect their trademarks and technologies. If these are infringed, they exercise their rights through litigation.

However, there are companies that do not actually conduct business but specialize in such lawsuits. These are known as patent trolls.

They buy patents from individuals or companies and demand large sums in royalties from companies that violate intellectual property rights. If their proposals are rejected, they immediately file lawsuits.

They file for injunctions to halt sales and operations, tying up the company's hands. When the company can no longer bear the pressure and raises its hands in surrender, they extract settlement fees, and if the case goes to judgment, they demand compensation.

Even global giants like Enfl or Gubl can be targets.

When CoolCloud achieved a miraculous success with its NASDAQ listing, a patent troll called Patrol began its attack.

They discovered during their investigation that Rolf Butch had copied Jason Kim's program to start the company and obtained the rights to the program Jason had developed from his wife.

It is known that they paid only $50,000 for it at the time.

Patrol filed a lawsuit against CoolCloud for intellectual property infringement and an injunction to immediately stop using the program.

Ultimately, CoolCloud entered negotiations, and the two parties settled the case. While the exact settlement amount was not disclosed, it is estimated to have been around $2 billion.

Taking responsibility for this, Alex Preston and Rolf Butch stepped down, and Sid Lucas was appointed as the new CEO.

However, the two remained major shareholders, and CoolCloud continued to thrive, making them global billionaires.

But this time, I secured those rights.

What will this bring about?

While I was thinking about this, David said:

"I was a bit surprised by the negotiation amount."

I did start off with a high demand.

"How much did you sell it for?"

"Even a $100,000 offer would have been sufficient."

She didn't know the true value of the program her husband had created. Considering she was raising twin sons alone, every penny would have been precious.

So, if I had wanted to, I could have bought it for a pittance.

But I didn't. Am I just too kind?

Not at all.

It might sound a bit self-congratulatory, but I'm not that kind of person. My financial situation isn't that comfortable either.

Still, the reason I offered this amount is...

"Even if we secure the rights and file a lawsuit, it will take a long time for a judgment, right?"

"It could take over five years."

"Before that, we need to attack the other party's morality. If they stole and we lowballed, it would be a case of pot calling the kettle black, wouldn't it?"

But if we pay a fair price to secure the rights, we can maintain a moral high ground and hit them hard.

Another reason is Sid Lucas.

He praised Minerva as a program developed by a genius. If it were known that we bought it for a pittance, what would he think?

Patent trolls might not care if they are criticized for lowballing, but I am different.

Since Patrol bought it for just $50,000, one might think Julia and her children continued to struggle, but that wasn't the case.

After Sid became CEO, he paid Julia's family $1 million annually on the anniversary of Jason Kim's death.

He expressed respect for Jason Kim multiple times and, when he visited Korea, his first words were, "This is Jason Kim's country."

"Shouldn't we pay a fair price for the achievements of a genius?"

David looked surprised at my words.

"Was that too far-fetched?"

"No, I was just thinking about the money. You're looking at something bigger. I'm a bit surprised, to be honest."

"Not at all."

It's all thanks to knowing the future.

While we were talking, Julia brought the laptop she had been keeping at home.

It was dusty, as it hadn't been opened in a long time, but it turned on fine when connected to the adapter.

"There's not much data on it."

As she said, there wasn't much on the computer. But there's no need to worry.

"In the 21st century, important data is usually stored in the cloud."

Julia let out a small exclamation at my words.

"Oh..."

"Why?"

She smiled faintly.

"Jason used to say the same thing."

I wondered how he could have worked on the program with just a laptop, but it's possible with cloud computing.

Through the internet, you can remotely control a distant computer, and by paying a fee, you can run heavy development programs on the cloud.

I connected to the internet and tried to access the cloud, but there was a password.

"Oh..."

I hadn't thought of that.

Of course, a developer wouldn't allow just anyone to access the program.

The fact that Patrol filed a lawsuit against CoolCloud means they had evidence, which implies they knew the password.

"Did Jason ever mention the password?"

"Not really..."

"Is that so?"

After thinking for a moment, she had a realization.

"Oh!"

"Did you remember something?"

"Mimir said only one person could handle it."

"Right."

David added:

"He must have been talking about himself."

I tried the password. I typed 'jasonkim' but it didn't work.

"Wrong."

At that moment, something came to mind.

Jason Kim's English name is Jason Kim, but his Korean name is Kim Jaehyun. So, I tried 'kimjaehyun'.

"This one doesn't work either."

The problem is...

David said with a serious expression:

"It says there's one attempt left."

"Oh..."

What happens if I get it wrong three times? Does it lock forever? Or does it erase all the data inside?

Then I'm in trouble.

Damn, what should I do?

I thought for a moment and got up.

"I'll consult an expert and be right back."

Outside, I called Korea.

"Hey! What time is it to call?"

"Sorry, it's probably early morning in Korea."

I knew that but called anyway.

Seonwoo asked in a sleepy voice:

"Having fun in the U.S.?"

"I'm working."

"Is everything going well? Is my money safe?"

"No, I lost it all."

"What!?"

"Just kidding."

Seonwoo shouted:

"Don't joke like that!"

Fortunately, he seemed fully awake now.

"I have one question."

"What is it?"

"Do you know Mimir?"

"Are you talking about Norse mythology?"

"Yep."

"Of course. It's a common character in games."

It's a familiar name to anyone who plays fantasy games.

"The current situation is..."

I gave a rough explanation.

Seonwoo was silent for a while. Did he fall asleep again?

"Are you sleeping?"

"No."

"Then why aren't you talking?"

"It's too easy."

"Huh?"

"Do you know that Mimir guards the Fountain of Wisdom? Odin asked Mimir for a drink to gain wisdom. Mimir asked for one of Odin's eyes in return, and Odin plucked out his own eye and drank the water."

"I've heard that before."

That's why Odin is always depicted as one-eyed in games and movies.

"Mimir's head was later cut off, and Odin revived it and carried it around, seeking advice."

"So?"

"Who do you think is the only person who can handle Mimir?"

"Oh..."

It's really that simple.

I feel bad for waking him up just to ask this.

"Thanks. Get some sleep."

I went back and sat in front of the laptop.

David asked:

"You know this is the last attempt, right?"

"Be quiet."

I typed the password with trembling fingers. The password was 'odin'.

The cloud opened.

* * *

We returned to the hotel where we were staying with the laptop.

"Can we be sure this program is Minerva?"

"I don't know. Do you want to take a look?"

David glanced at it and said:

"I'm a lawyer."

"..."

We're both humanities majors, so there's no way he could know just by looking.

Fortunately, the cloud also stored emails and messages. There were all the conversations Jason Kim had with Rolf Butch.

We were shocked when we read them.

"Isn't this irrefutable evidence?"

David's eyes sparkled.

"It's truly amazing. A genius of Silicon Valley stole someone else's program to start a company."

"What will happen if this is revealed?"

"Rolf Butch's reputation will plummet. He will also face legal responsibility."

"What about CoolCloud?"

"Given the clear evidence, we can file for an injunction to stop the use of the program. Once a judgment is made, we can claim compensation for past use and breach of contract. Alternatively, we can negotiate to sell the rights to CoolCloud or receive a corresponding equity stake."

I shook my head.

"That's not enough. I promised Julia to restore Mimir's original name."

"You don't mean..."

"Yes. I plan to use this as leverage to acquire CoolCloud entirely."

David sighed.

"So your talk about acquisition wasn't a joke."

"Mimir is the core program of CoolCloud. If they can't use it, they'll have to rebuild the system from scratch, which is practically impossible. If they don't want to shut down the business, they'll have to sell, won't they?"

He raised a practical concern.

"Do you have the acquisition funds?"

"We can think about that later, can't we?"

"..."

His expression seemed to say, "What are you talking about? You want to acquire a company without any money?"

After thinking for a moment, David spoke.

"Can I ask one more question?"

"Go ahead."

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Do I seem rushed?"

"Isn't that the case? It's as if someone is chasing you. If you push too hard, even a small mistake can lead to a huge loss."

He's right.

I understand why he's worried. Victor Investment collapsed that way.

"Do you know about stock investing?"

"I know that October is a particularly dangerous month."

I chuckled.

"That's a Mark Twain quote."

He listed other dangerous months: July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February.

"Even if stock prices seem to be rising, the actual period of increase is only about 5% of the total holding period. Missing that period, even after holding for years, is useless."