American History 1988
Chapter 177 - 171 Judgment

Chapter 177: Chapter 171 Judgment

By the end of July, it had been more than a month since the hearing.

The federal court for the Northern District, which should have had a result by now, continuously delayed publishing its opinion due to repeated waves of media attention.

Although there is no specific date stipulated for the announcement, obviously too much delay would also be detrimental to the public’s perception of the court.

Hence, on this day at the end of July, the federal court for the Northern District finally gave a preliminary pretrial ruling on the lawsuit.

Firstly, regarding Southern Bell’s claim demanding Byte Company pay 7.96 million US dollars in compensation, the Northern District court rejected this demand.

Because Byte Company’s behavior was authorized by the International Telegraph Union, this was not a subjective infringement of Bell’s patent by the former.

Secondly, the design of Byte Company’s software is compatible with the G.722 standard, which is considered reasonable use within industry norms, and should not be used as a basis for determining infringement.

Therefore, after internal discussion, the Northern District court decided not to file Bell’s claim for compensation.

Of course, this does not mean that the lawsuit is over; on the contrary, the court will divide the Bell versus Byte case into three parts for processing.

Damage compensation: As mentioned above, this part will not be filed due to evidence and legal support.

Patent issues: Whether Byte Company’s continued use of the improved patent based on ADPCM technology constitutes an infringement on Bell’s patents, this detail needs to be tried in a separate court session.

Standard issues: Whether the scope of essential patents in international standards grants exemption to related non-direct industries, and whether the principles of fairness and non-discrimination of international organizations can serve as a basis for judgment, these parts also need to be filed for separate trials.

In addition, the Northern District court encouraged Southern Bell and Byte Company to reach a private settlement on patent issues and advocated for both parties to conduct business negotiations under the auspices of the court.

This is the preliminary pretrial opinion of the Bell versus Byte Company case, from the initial lawyer’s letter to the current division of the case for trial processing.

Through more than two months of tumultuous patented infringement accusations, we finally have a more tangible outcome.

The rejection of Bell’s claim for compensation was not unexpected, and this seemed not to surprise the public too much.

After all, Byte Company’s actions were both lawful and reasonable, which was essentially Bell’s intimidatory litigation.

But the situation was not that simple. There was a lot of internal negotiation within the court before today’s outcome materialized.

James Weir wanted to change the presiding judge’s opinion, and he needed to win over several other judges.

Of course, this belongs to dealings outside of public view; Dean doesn’t even know the details currently.

However, the rejection of Bell’s claim for damage compensation is already a partial victory for Byte Company.

Regarding the subsequent patent and standard issues, these won’t be resolved in a short time.

According to attorney Boris from WSGR’s estimation, they can at least drag out the subsequent litigation until ’93, which is when the ADPCM patent’s protection period expires.

So upon receiving the court’s official written notification, people at Byte Company have already started popping champagne at their headquarters.

"Guys, to our victory, cheers!" Valentine wrapped his arm around Dean’s shoulder and raised his glass high.

"Cheers!" The board members and senior managers of Byte Company laughed as they clinked their glasses together.

From today, the Sword of Damocles that had been hanging over Byte Company’s head has temporarily been removed; Teams software is going to aggressively penetrate the North American market.

"It just goes to show that the Bell octopus can’t do anything to us, in fact, we can even give it a good kick in the ass!" After a drink, Valentine’s remarks became even more crude.

"Yeah!" Everyone banged their glasses on the table, echoing with loud cheers.

"To get the Bell octopus to retract its tentacles, we need to thank a hero!" Valentine put his hand on Dean’s shoulder, the gesture couldn’t be clearer.

"He, as the company’s CEO, appeared on a late-night talk show, endured public ridicule willingly, just so that Byte could catch everyone’s attention!

He made it onto the Los Angeles Times; he made our governor remember Byte Company’s name; he attracted the gaze of the entire West Coast!

Because of him, Byte Company got sufficient media exposure, the public took up our cause, and the Northern District court could not ignore his presence!

He is the founder of Byte Company, the inventor of Teams software, and the man who keeps Hollywood starlets up at night, Dean Price!"

"Yeah!!!" Cheers, the clinking of glasses, and the sound of banging on tables erupted in the conference room.

"Come on, Dean, say a few words!" A drunken Valentine tapped his glass, signaling everyone to quiet down.

The crowd spontaneously quieted, waiting for Dean to speak like they would welcome a hero.

"OK," Dean stood up with his glass, "I’ve always believed that Byte would be the victorious party, and of course that wouldn’t be possible without the help of our best team sitting here!"

"Yeah!" Everyone tapped the table in unison, cheering in agreement.

"However, I’d rather announce some good news to everyone here," Dean pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket, "This is Teams software’s sales volume for the month of July that I’ve just received."

"Yo~!" This time, everyone’s face showed anticipation.

"In the past month, all versions of Teams software sold a total of 230,000 copies! This is higher than the sum of all our sales since the company was founded!"

"Oh! F*cker!" Many people held their heads, finding the news somewhat unbelievable.

"Guys, yes! 230,000 copies, 35 million US dollars in sales! We did it!"

Dean passed the freshly produced sales report to Valentine next to him, who, cursing, then handed the read report to the next person.

This figure deeply stimulated everyone; achieving in one month what Byte had accomplished in the previous half of the year was incredible.

The talk show, the Los Angeles newspaper, and then the coverage from the entire West Coast created the legend of Byte’s July sales.

Although they knew it would be difficult to replicate such success later, that did not stop everyone from being elated.

Not just the executives of Byte, even many board members had strings of M and F words popping out of their mouths.

Maintaining this momentum, everyone seated in the meeting room would become millionaires, even multimillionaires.

"So..." Dean raised his glass, "Go Public."

"Go Public!" Everyone cheered, raising their glasses.

...

"Glen! I’ve already said, you’ve broken the rules; Mayfield is no longer our partner!"

"Dean, I’m really sorry about what happened before. But we had a good start, didn’t we? I promise..."

"No, Byte Company doesn’t need partners who jump ship at any time!"

Snap, Dean hung up the phone directly.

Standing opposite him, Duerr shrugged, "Where were we?"

Dri, dri, dri... As they were speaking, another call came through.

Dean reached for his Motorola instinctively but then suddenly stopped.

Because the sound wasn’t coming from his end, the real source was from the handset in Duerr’s hand.

Signaling Dean to wait, Duerr answered the call.

"This is John Duerr."

"Duerr, it’s me, Glen. Can we talk again?..."

"Glen, don’t call again, I’m afraid Dean will misunderstand~"

Snap, Duerr also hung up the phone.

"OK, where were we?" Dean didn’t want to dwell on Mayfield’s matter; they had new business to attend to.

"Dave Goedel, MCI~" Duerr reminded with a smile.

"Yeah," Dean nodded in understanding, "Have they sent any news?"

Since they met at Duerr’s house a few days ago, Dave hadn’t given them a response yet.

The timing chosen by the Northern District Court to announce the hearing results was very appropriate, forcing MCI to reassess their options with Byte Company.

MCI wanted to take away the future market of internet phone services between AT&T and Byte through the lawsuit.

But now, since Byte Company no longer needed to worry about a huge compensation problem, Dean and his team didn’t face the same pressure to make a hasty decision.

So MCI knew their calculations would fall through, but Dean’s proposal to each contribute half to form a joint subsidiary was also difficult for MCI to accept.

A juicy piece of the pie that was about to be in their mouth, now had to be shared in half, which no one would be happy to accept.

"MCI accepted the proposal of a joint venture, but they have doubts about the proportion of the investment," Duerr had been acting as a middleman, or rather, a broker these past few days.

However, he was also a beneficiary, so this made it hard for MCI to make concessions.

"MCI believes they have undertaken the largest hardware investment in the development costs of internet phone services, including lines and product terminals.

Therefore, they don’t agree with a fifty percent stake. According to the news from Dave, MCI wants to take at least 80% to 85% of the equity."

"Greedy bastards," Dean spread his hands helplessly, "Their so-called hardware investment, a large part of it was already paid for by the National Science Foundation."

MCI was a contract contractor for the National Science Foundation’s office, undertaking the fiber optic mainline installation projects in several states like Virginia.

These lines are the foundation of IP telephone communications; MCI didn’t spend a penny to complete the early investment for internet phones.

And regarding product terminals? Come on, current landline phones can be modified for communication interfaces and protocols to be used, which requires almost no research and development investment.

"Stay in touch with them for the time being; I’ll also have the WSGR people find some trouble with Bell, at least to make Byte Company appear to hold the advantage."

Continuing to pressure Bell in litigation was to signal to MCI.

Codec technology was no longer an obstacle for Byte Company; they would have more options.

"OK, I’ll take care of the MCI side," Duerr was very keen on the IP telephone business, another emerging market.

Dong dong dong...

As they were talking, there was a knock at the door.

"Boss, sorry to interrupt, but I think you should take a look at this..."

Anna quickly walked up, placing a newspaper on the desk in front of Dean.

It was a statement from an interview on Bell’s side, well, or from AT&T.

Never mind who it’s from, according to the newspaper, Bell might propose a motion to change the venue of the trial.

As Byte Company expanded, they had established branches in many states.

According to the "Federal Rules of Civil Procedure", a regular business site can serve as the venue for a patent dispute.

Now Bell was preparing to change venues to continue the contest with Byte Company, which wasn’t good news.

The expressions on the faces of Dean and Duerr became serious, "Anna, call the WSGR people over."

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