Chapter 28 Patent Stick
It is undeniable that the United States is not behind in some areas, but it is not a part of the world. The cutting-edge products are still in the hands of European countries. Always copying European products is very detrimental to the reputation of the United States.
As we all know, the Sheffield family is also patriotic and cannot tolerate the reputation of the United States being damaged, which will make the people of the United States unable to hold their heads up when going abroad. Although these people have been brainwashed and believe that the United States will be number one in the world, they will never go abroad.
Only a small part of the reason was for the development of the family. Sheffield could swear that he just wanted to make the United States better and eliminate some backward production capacity to make the industry of the United States more structured and orderly.
At present, the difficulty of being a factory owner is naturally higher than that of the Civil War, but not much higher. It is still at the stage where small workshops can be used to start up. Of course, this is inevitable for some primary industrial products.
Many coastal towns in the Republic of China in later generations were like this. When Japan and South Korea started, they also made their fortunes with small workshops as the unit of families. There is nothing wrong with this. It is nothing wrong with small workshops, not Sheffield.
Since the threshold is low, there will be many competitors and a variety of products flooding the market. The Sheffield family may be slightly inferior to the old northern companies, but it is undoubtedly a regular army in front of these miscellaneous brands. The best business is undoubtedly a monopoly, and both Dixie people and Yankees will reach a consensus on this.
Therefore, with too many competitors, it is inevitable that we will not be able to take care of so many opponents. It will not be a good thing if two of them slip through the net and rise up. What Sheffield pursues is stability. Freemen or the middle class are better off staying in their class and not dreaming of becoming the masters.
"If I can achieve results during this trip to Europe, I will wield the patent stick after I come back and sue all those small workshops and factories to reshape the domestic situation. I believe this is not difficult. Those who are not qualified should be eliminated by the times and should not expect to enter a class they should not enter."
Sheffield and Mr. Lafayette were the only two people in the room. Under the dim light, Sheffield's young face was serious as he took out his first plan as the heir. "This way, it will also be of great benefit to DuPont, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Andrew and others. I believe that they also hate the emergence of new competitors and the impact on the existing order. Everyone pursues the same thing, monopoly. Not only do we have to manufacture products, but we also have to set prices and deal with those who can impact pricing power. In this regard, we can cooperate with the Yankees, and it is not a disadvantage at the moment."
"You are going to obtain patent authorizations from various European countries?" Annabell half-closed her eyes and thought for a long time, then spoke softly, "After obtaining the authorizations, you will start to use these authorizations to wield the patent stick and get rid of small factory owners. Clear out the market and gain a foothold? Thinking about it this way, it is actually not bad. But things should not be so smooth. Will European countries agree?"
"If they don't agree, they won't be able to come in. We will still ignore patents that are not in the United States and copy them." Sheffield pointed his finger and said, "They still won't get a penny. As long as the price is right, it will be beneficial to both of us. Many European companies also want to enter the United States, even the Rothschild family."
In fact, if you want to apply for a patent in the current United States, it depends on how you apply. If you are a citizen of the United States, it is not difficult, but if you are a large foreign company, there will be a long review time and endless wrangling time. There are also many lawsuits waiting for them. There are too many patent disputes these days. Many patents are due to long lawsuits over who is the real inventor between Americans and foreigners.
Edison is a typical example in this regard. In 1854, American Goebbels used carbonized bamboo filaments to place in a vacuum glass bottle and powered on to emit light, which could maintain illumination for 400 hours. This was the earliest successful record of light bulb experiments. Unfortunately, Goebbels did not apply for a patent for the design in time. In 1874, two Canadian electricians invented the method of adding nitrogen to a glass bulb to emit light with powered carbon filaments. Unfortunately, they ran out of money to continue their research and sold the patent to Edison.
So in the United States, Edison did not obtain the patent for the light bulb at first, and he was involved in many years of litigation.
This is another story of starting from scratch, which is enough to attract young people to strive for it and look forward to becoming the second Edison who changed the United States. It is simply a typical representative of American dreaming. If we don’t consider that the major shareholder of Edison Company is a company called Morgan, it can be said to be inspiring enough.
With Morgan's support, Edison realized how important wealth is in life. He bought all the promising patents and hired talented technicians immediately. In this way, he became the inventor king known by people.
The Sheffield family is rich and has no shortage of factories, but they focus more on the agriculture and animal husbandry industry. There is no other way. Once the tariffs are lowered, the products of the United States will be affected even in the country. Apart from the few companies of Standard Oil, the only things that can be unimpeded in the United States are grains and meat products, which are closely related to agriculture and animal husbandry.
Only agricultural and animal husbandry products can be marketed in Europe, and the Sheffield family, with such an international perspective, naturally cannot give up the enterprise, so the factory is of secondary importance to the Sheffield family. Of course, it is also valued, but it is not regarded as the foundation.
"It seems that we need to prepare some legal talents and make arrangements with the Democratic Party. Grandmother hopes that your trip to Europe will not be too long, and that you should put all your ideas into practice before the election." Annabelle sorted out the logic and tacitly agreed to the operation of the heir, Xia Jibo, and then asked, "Which country are you going to first?"
"Both Britain and Germany are fine!" Sheffield looked a little hesitant. Although he seemed very happy to give advice on other matters, he had not really thought about this specific issue carefully.
"I can give you a list of my long-term European connections, which even includes the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. This is a network I have built up through my long-term involvement in international transportation and labor trade. But..." Annabell paused and said, "I suggest you go to France first. Although your father is a complete playboy, this matter will definitely help you. A good start is important."
"I'll listen to you!" Sheffield agreed obediently, automatically filtering out the term "international transport labor trade", which is actually a beautified name for the slave trade.
(End of this chapter)
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