616: Chapter 616 The Fusang Lawsuit Begins

Inside the conference room, the projection screen clearly displayed the map of core dispute points for the patent lawsuit in Japan. The 37 infringement accusations marked in red corresponded one-to-one with the counterclaim evidence from Xingyuan Exploration and Deep Blue Semiconductor, making the logical progression clear at a glance.

Chu Qianlan's gaze fell on the core dispute item, "EUV Light Source Optical Design": "The trial pace at the Fusang Court is faster than expected. The opposing legal team is clearly well-prepared, attempting to create an illusion of infringement by piling up a massive number of patents."

Japan is a pawn of the US, and in many matters, it will uphold the interests of the US. It is precisely for this reason that the patent lawsuit in Japan is progressing the fastest, and it is now nearing the start of the trial.

This lawsuit is the first confrontation between Chu Qianlan and the foreign Semiconductor Alliance, and its outcome is likely to affect the patent lawsuit judgments in other regions. More importantly, it is highly likely that the Fusang Court will favor the Semiconductor Alliance in its judgment for the sake of Japan and US interests.

Wang Shijie scanned the evidence list on the projection screen, his tone grave: "The opposing side has submitted 11 core patents in the field of EUV Light Source, attempting to build a technological barrier. However, we have already verified that the technical solutions for 3 of these patents were disclosed in public journals long ago, and 4 have essential differences from our optical design path. Only 4 basic patents can truly constitute a dispute."

Qu Feng added: "Japan's technical review system has always favored local enterprises, and the Semiconductor Alliance has also united several Japanese lithography equipment supporting manufacturers to testify in court. The public opinion tendency during the trial is unfavorable to us."

Speaking of this, he looked up at Wang Shijie. "CEO Wang, have Deep Blue Semiconductor's Lithography Machines been sold to Japan?"

Wang Shijie shook his head. "Japan has its own Lithography Machine companies, and no companies have come to purchase ours!"

In reality, Deep Blue Semiconductor does not export many Lithography Machines, and most of the countries it exports to are developing countries.

Upon hearing this, Qu Feng chuckled, "Since that's the case, we don't need to worry about this part. After all, Japan has no business operations for Deep Blue Semiconductor, so naturally, it has no authority to hear related cases. The Legal Counsel team just needs to focus on the patent dispute involving Xingyuan Exploration!"

Chu Qianlan tapped his fingertips on the conference table, his eyes calm: "This line of thinking is feasible. The Japanese market currently has no core business for Deep Blue Semiconductor; getting entangled in a lithography equipment patent lawsuit is a waste of energy. The Legal Counsel team just needs to concentrate their firepower on addressing the patent dispute for Xingyuan Exploration."

He looked up at Qu Feng, "In terms of patent barriers, we should not be inferior to the Semiconductor Alliance, but I am worried that the Japanese court will play favorites. When the trial begins, have the internet trolls release news that if Xingyuan Exploration suffers losses due to an unfair judgment by the Fusang Court, then Xingyuan Exploration will adjust the prices of the Lithium Battery and Carbon Fiber exported to Japan to compensate for the losses."

A flash of realization crossed Qu Feng's eyes, and he quickly responded: "CEO Chu's insight is brilliant! Xingyuan Exploration's high-end Lithium Battery and Carbon Fiber have a market share of over 40% in Japan's new energy and aerospace sectors. If prices are suddenly raised, the production costs for related Japanese enterprises will skyrocket, and they will inevitably pressure the government. I will contact CEO Ma later and have their Public Relations Department prepare the public opinion talking points for the price increase plan in advance, emphasizing that 'commercial losses caused by unfair patent litigation must be compensated through market actions' to make the deterrent more credible."

Wang Shijie looked at the patent dispute map on the projection screen, his tone carrying a hint of worry: "But our counterclaim evidence chain is already solid enough. If we really go to the step of raising prices, will it affect Xingyuan Exploration's international reputation?"

"Reputation is built on the foundation of fairness and reciprocity." Chu Qianlan's gaze was as sharp as a knife, "If the Fusang Court truly dares to ignore the facts in its judgment, that would be openly condoning technological hegemony. We have no need to pay for such injustice with our own interests. Moreover, if we do not fight back after being treated unfairly, the trials in other regions will follow suit. At that time, we will be even more passive."

He said with a firm tone: "Raising prices is only a deterrent. The goal is to make the Fusang Court hesitate. And only if we truly receive unfair treatment will we actually implement it."

...

Just as the three were finalizing the trial response strategy, anonymous exposé posts began to appear on social media platforms, with titles pointing directly at "StarChat Interest Groups Harboring Filth, Virtual Currency Transactions Surging Undercurrents."

The posts included dozens of screenshots of StarChat groups. Some group names contained terms like "Currency Circle Exchange" and "Overseas Investment." The chat logs within the groups showed users obscurely pushing virtual currency transaction links and even providing "buying and selling on behalf of others" services.

The exposé posts were quickly reposted in large numbers by public relations companies and internet trolls cooperating with Tencent. The topic "StarChat Illegal Traffic Redirection" quickly climbed to the end of the trending searches. Some netizens commented: "So StarChat isn't clean either, it just hadn't been exposed yet!" "Chu Qianlan has the nerve to talk about Tencent when his own products have a bunch of problems!"

The Public Relations Department of Xinghai Technology discovered the abnormal public opinion trend immediately. Su Yezi urgently reported to Chu Qianlan: "CEO Chu, Tencent has started to fight back. They exposed the virtual currency transaction issues in StarChat interest groups and are inciting netizens to question the compliance of Xingliao Wallet."

Chu Qianlan's eyes were calm as he quickly browsed the content of the exposé. A faint smile curled at the corners of his mouth: "As expected, this is all the tactics they have."

He raised his hand to signal Su Yezi to calm down: "The issue of non-compliant groups on StarChat does indeed exist; there is no need to deny it. We have already resolved the issues that were reported in the past. This is fundamentally different from Tencent's indifference toward whistleblowers. As long as we grasp the core difference, the problem can be solved. Let's leave this matter for CEO Du to handle!"

Chu Qianlan had long since delegated the daily work of each company. As the controller of Xinghai Technology, Du Guangbai understood better how to deal with Tencent's attacks.

When Du Guangbai received the instructions, he had already grasped the complete sequence of Tencent's counterattack through the Nuwa System. He did not fall into a panic but instead quickly formulated a three-fold strategy of "candid response + precise cutting + proactive strike," completing the entire response plan in just two hours.

At two o'clock that afternoon, the official Weibo account of Xinghai Technology simultaneously released the "StarChat Platform Compliance Governance Statement" and the "Announcement on Handling Non-Compliant Groups."

The statement did not avoid the issue, candidly admitting that "due to the rapid expansion of the user base, a small amount of virtual currency transaction traffic redirection behavior has appeared in StarChat interest groups," but it immediately highlighted the core difference from Tencent's handling method:

"The StarChat platform consistently adheres to the principle of 'investigate all reports, ban upon verification.' As of the release of this announcement, 837 non-compliant groups and 1,264 accounts have been banned, with a 100% disposal rate. Regarding sensitive content such as virtual currency transactions, the platform has enabled an AI real-time monitoring system, with a keyword interception database covering over 2,000 risk terms, compressing the space for non-compliance from the source."