The first half of 2001 passed by, but this period was also the highlight of Qin Xizhen. After obtaining the preliminary architecture of the ringback tone technology from Cheng Ran, Qin Xizhen established a ringback tone technology department and cooperated with Fulong to carry out relevant technical verification and research and development, repeatedly patching the various possibilities and loopholes of the ringback tone service technology. After the domestic patent was registered, these technologies were immediately deployed to the patent offices in the United States, Europe, Japan, and South Korea.
Qin Xizhen made this move very beautifully. He utilized Fulun's technical and talent advantages, and in terms of law, he cooperated with a law firm that was at the forefront of the relevant patent laws of the country to be deployed. He professionally wrote and searched for the patent application to be filed, and his defense skills were impeccable under the guidance of professional lawyers.
This is what Tianxing Music has been working on for the past six months. After completing the layout of electronic music copyrights, it has begun to focus on a breakthrough.
This puts us at the forefront in patent application and layout. Of course, a lot of money is spent in this process, but in order to complete the patent layout in the fastest time, there is no need to save costs.
The results were soon seen.
South Korea was the first to open up the market. In the previous time and space, South Korea was the first country to invent the technology for the ringback tone service, and this service then became popular all over the world. However, it was not until around 2002 that the Koreans took this technology into shape. After the technology came out, South Korea did not explore more ways to implement the ringback tone service, so that there were actually many loopholes in the overall technical details and places where its patents could be circumvented.
This leads to a major problem. If other companies do not want to pay for patents, the most important thing is exclusive competition. Because they are not allowed to use the opponent's technology, in order to take advantage of the huge CRBT business market and increase their ARPU contribution under the pressure of declining ARPU (average revenue per user), they have to develop CRBT patent technology on their own.
With the update of equipment and the advancement of technology, this technology actually does not have too many technical barriers. It is not a difficult problem for other telecom operators to overcome it.
Therefore, telecom operators in various countries have developed their own ringback tone systems, and some have even directly applied other people's technical implementation methods. For example, when the ringback tone service was growing and developing in China, the Koreans came and wanted to sue China because of its use of some patented technologies. China could also refuse them by nitpicking about the details, such as the Korean patents did not include "Chinese ringback tone service".
The root cause is the exclusive competition among operators, which forces them to resort to large-scale infringement and skirting the rules in order to solve business implementation problems in the ringback tone patent licensing business. This has led to a vicious circle from the beginning, making it impossible to compete on a healthy track.
Qin Xizhen's Tianxing Music, which emerged in this life, served as a good balance point among the competition among all parties.
"There are three major operators in South Korea, SK, KT, and LG. KT already has a ringback tone service based on simple technology, but its technical support is not as strong as ours," Qin Xizhen talked about the entire strategy when he called Cheng Ran, "so we negotiated with the three companies to ensure that they use our technical patents and open the ringback tone service. Among them, SK Telecom was the most irresistible."
Qin Xizhen's voice was soft and calm over the microphone. "The Korean telecommunications industry is very competitive. After all, it is known as the country with the fastest per capita Internet speed. The competition in the telecommunications industry is very cruel, and the domestic monitoring of the telecommunications industry is very strict. SK Telecom acquired New Century Telecom at the end of 1999 and had more than half of the market share. The regulatory authorities ordered it to reduce its market share or it would be fined 1 billion won. This requires SK Telecom to take a path of actively shrinking its user base while maximizing its users' ARPU value. Xuanling services, which can increase ARPU value, are obviously what they need most right now."
Cheng Ran asked, "Then how do you ensure that the largest telecommunications company in South Korea does not develop its own technology, but uses your patented technology?"
"First of all, time is the most precious opportunity for competition." Qin Xizhen said, "The other two telecom companies that SK Telecom faces have the need to swallow up SK Telecom's shrinking market space during the ban period. Therefore, facing the ready-made technology, neither of the two companies will let the opponent take the lead, and both are willing to obtain the technology at a certain price.
At the same time, the Korean telecommunications market is so small, with more than 40 million users, a low increase and a constant stock. Facing the domestic ban, SK Telecom can only actively expand outward while maintaining its domestic position. The ringback ring service can become their weapon to attack overseas.
Overseas, they will also encounter our patent deployment. If they ignore our patents, infringe on us, and develop overseas, it is better for them to choose to pay off the patent fees at the beginning rather than suing us overseas and getting into disputes. "
Cheng Ran asked, "What if one of the telecom operators demands an exclusive license for your patent in order to block competition?"
"It's still about time," Qin Xizhen said, "because of the fierce competition in the Korean telecommunications industry, they can't sit back and watch other companies acquire technology while they choose to spend time and energy on developing their own technology to hinder competition, so they have to buy time, and they don't have the capital to make conditions with me. We will license to any company that can pay the price, and it is not appropriate to use price as an anchor to engage in a tug-of-war with us. What's more, my asking price is not high. We charge each company RMB 7 million in patent licensing fees per year, and then adjust according to market growth. This is a win-win situation for everyone."
What could Cheng Ran say? Qin Xizhen, a small company, was trying to snatch food from the mouths of the three major telecom operators in South Korea... They were crazy about money!
Cheng Ran shook his head and said, "This is... a prisoner's dilemma."
It was obvious that the three giant operators were sharing information, so it was clear that Qin Xizhen was taking advantage of their competitive relationship. But the problem was that there was no way the three giants would sit at the same table for such a small matter, and they were all afraid of suspicion that their rivals were ahead, which made it impossible for them to refuse the technology Qin Xizhen offered to them.
Cheng Ran praised them, "The asking price of 7 million is a very unique one. Compared with the competitive advantage created by the time cost of R&D required by Korean operators, they can afford this price. It may be a little expensive, but it is still affordable and will not force them to flip the table."
"This is all thanks to the information on the CD you provided me," Qin Xizhen smiled, "At least it allowed me to calculate a range of amounts that is easier to ask for.
That’s why I’m a bit more moderate in China. The licensing fees from China Unicom, China Telecom and China Mobile are only 5 million yuan each per year.”
"… "
"Low? Don't worry... It's just the beginning. When it comes to the market next year, according to your speculation, won't ringtones be a must-have cool thing for mobile phones for all ages at home and on the road? ... By then, we'll add a little more money."
Cheng Ran was speechless when he heard this female hero who had taken the prisoner's dilemma to the extreme and even dragged the three major domestic operators into the trap. He said, "Once they use your patented technology, in a short period of time, the related equipment and the upgrades surrounding the equipment will greatly increase the cost of switching to other equipment, so they can't get away from this form of paying for patent licenses. But it is not ruled out that new technologies will be used in the future to circumvent the restricted basic core patents."
Qin Xizhen said, "Let's drink and enjoy life today. At least this peaceful life of getting paid with just a snap of a finger can last for a while."
Cheng Ran asked, "Has the domestic operator signed it?"
Cheng Ran counted on his fingers and figured out that if he could win over the domestic operators, he would earn 36 million just from patent fees.
"I just completed the final signing. Don't worry, you will get a share of the money. I just found a villa in the downtown area of New York. It has five floors and is over 700 square meters. It costs about 5 million US dollars. It is designed and renovated by a first-class design company and is ready for you to move in... I invite you to come and have a look... The master bedroom bathroom is very peculiar. The shower room has two shower heads and a large shower system in the middle. It is a very complex and high-tech system. The designer said that the owner might like this experience of showering as if in a storm..."
“… It’s really unique.”
"Just wait for a while, and I'll add a million to sell it to someone else. There's a girl I know who debuted last year. Her name is Lavigne. She's 18 years old and Canadian. She has great potential and will definitely be very popular in the future. I made a promise with her to buy my house when she makes enough money... Hehe, do you want me to introduce her to you? She's very cute and beautiful?"
“… This is not necessary.”
Qin Xizhen paused for a moment, and then she spoke in a slightly melancholy voice, "Cheng Ran, from your position, do you still feel that the world I live in is incompatible with you? You still don't want to enter my world..."
Cheng Ran was stunned. Why did he suddenly feel sad about moving the hamster
The key point is that as an important partner in making money together, why are you leading the charge
But at this moment, he was speechless. In the end, Cheng Ran explained, "I didn't mean that..."
"Maybe I'm just a singer, and I'm not the same kind of person as a capitalist like you..."
"ah… ?"
There was a "hiss!" on the other end of the phone, and her voice suddenly became ethereal and clear, "Did you get fooled? Do I have the potential to enter Hollywood? At least I thought my tone was right just now..."
Cheng Ran frowned, "You are crazy!"
"I'm crazy. Will your hospital accept me..." Qin Xizhen laughed on the other end of the phone after he finished speaking. His laughter was so touching. Then he said, "I understand you. You used to blame your uncle for any musical talent you had. You tried to keep your name secret when you wrote songs for me. And you also had a head full of ideas. It was as if your brain didn't belong to this world. There were always new and advanced ideas popping up. I didn't understand it before, but when you passed the provincial exam, I realized that people like you are born knowing that you are geniuses, so you don't want to stand out in everything. You probably hope that others won't pay attention to you."
“It’s not that complicated… My dad is nominally an entrepreneur now, and I’m afraid of being kidnapped or asked to borrow money by someone jealous, sister…” Cheng Ran hurried to clarify, not wanting Qin Xizhen to figure out anything. The “brain doesn’t belong to this world” alone was close to the truth, but his identity as the top scorer in the college entrance examination became a natural disguise, causing people to call him a “genius” when everything was inexplicable… Not bad.
"But, gold cannot be hidden. I think..." To be honest, it is really enjoyable to listen to Qin Xizhen talk, it is very pleasant to listen to. But what is this sudden melancholy? Sister, can you please stop being melancholy all the time? People have shadows in their hearts.
"Since you think my world is too far away from you, you don't want to come in. Why don't I just kneel down and come over? Do you think it would be fun and exciting if I came to your school to find you?"
What!
Sure enough, the melancholy just now was waiting here!
Cheng Ran said, "I want to live peacefully in college, so don't shoot arrows at me."
"You can still dodge, I can just send out the Nanman invasion and kill..." Qin Xizhen laughed, "Don't worry, I'm just kidding. I'm dead."
The phone call was hung up.
Cheng Ran shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Qin Xizhen was also stunned on the other end of the phone. The two of them just turned to the terminology of the board game Three Kingdoms Kill. It seemed that they remembered the time when they went to sell board games together at Shanhai No. 1 Middle School.
Those were the days when we had nothing.
She has nothing.
There was only the hoof flower shop among those old streets and alleys, with the lights on and the fragrant hot steam fluttering out, and the two people who could see the clear starry sky and the crescent moon.
It smells so good.