Novel Bin Chapter 138
When she asked about patents, which she was curious about earlier, she was told that there is a system in the Imperial Kingdom that allows the exclusive protection of inventions for a certain period.
The term of validity is ten years. At first, it was three years, but gradually it became longer and longer.
The fifth head of the Yurinova family, Vassily, had once lobbied the emperor to establish this system. At that time, he invited famous inventors from other countries to come to Yurinova to make inventions that would help improve mining and the iron manufacturing, and they were very successful. So, to encourage them to stay for a long time, they instituted a system to protect their rights as part of various generous treatments.
Since other countries, including the inventor’s home country, did not have a patent system, the inventors probably decided to stay in the imperial country as long as they could protect their rights. It was a smart move.
Although it sounds like they were more desperate than being wowed by the patent protection.
“However, it’s not always advantageous to register in this system. To register, you have to report the process, principles, etc., so you expose your whole trade secrets. When it expires, it will be imitated all at once.” (Halil)
That was just like patents in her previous life. When she thought about intellectual property rights at work, she remembered learning that the purpose of a patent was to protect the rights of the inventor and encourage inventions, and disclose the inventions for wider use.
“You should consult with the craftsman and Danielle to see if the ten-year exclusivity is worth it.” (Halil)
Danielle was Danielle Regal, legal advisor to the Duke of Yurinova, a name Ekaterina had heard often but had yet to meet.
“Yes, thank you, I’ve heard that Danielle is a very talented person and I would be happy to discuss things with him.” (Ekaterina)
“Is there something on your mind?” (Halil)
“Following the example of our ancestor, Lord Vassily, I would like to establish rules and regulations in my workshop to attract good craftsmen. These are rules that I, as the employer, will have to abide by as well as have the workers abide by.” (Ekaterina)
She continued.
“For example, I will not force them to work long hours, I will also guarantee them a certain amount of minimum salary, and if the workshop makes a profit, I will give them a portion of the profit as a reward. I would like to make sure that these things are clearly stated in the contract and exchanged. I would like to consult with you to see if there are any problems with the content of the contract in light of the laws of the empire.” (Ekaterina)
The story about the fifth generation also gave her hints, but as an ex-corporate worker, if she was going to institute a proper employment act, she would want to implement work rules and employment contracts.
Once in her past life, she got engaged in a discussion about “to whom the company is answerable to”, whether it was to the various shareholders who invest and have a stake in the company, the employees who work for the company, or perhaps the customers who buy products from the company?
The answer that she arrived at in her previous life was “the company belongs to the stakeholders”. In reality, whoever had the money, had the say. The more money the person has, the bigger say that person has on the company. That trend had taken off and became prevalent. Especially in the Western countries. The trend had even slowly morphed the structure of society to favor the ones who are well to do, and the ones with money.
Yet when she heard the question “to whom the company is answerable” in her previous life, her initial thought was “do we need to discuss this? What is the point of discussing it?” To her, it belonged to all three parties. Shareholders, employees, and customers all have their rights and obligations. A company should be formed by balancing those rights and obligations.