CH39 : Patent Law

Near the Geumseong Textile Cafe.

Sam-bok was waiting for an acquaintance.

"Supervisor Gam, over here."

"Oh, senior! How long has it been since you left the company, and you only contact me now?"

Supervisor Gam Yeong-hwan was someone Sam-bok had worked with when he was at Geumseong Textile.

"I've been busy making a living. How have you been, Supervisor Gam?"

Even though it had been a while since the last call, Gam gladly came out to meet.

Sam-bok had been living so busily that he couldn't even make a single phone call, let alone have a drink with an acquaintance.

"How have I been? Ever since you left, Geumseong Textile has been struggling."

"What do you mean? Is there any place doing better business than here?"

"What are you talking about? The textile industry is completely down these days. Wool and synthetics are the top now. Because of that, the industry is in chaos."

"Chaos?"

"Yes. Hongyang Textile, Dongnam Fiber, and Hansung Textile have all gone bankrupt, and the streets are filled with unemployed people."

He had heard that the textile industry was having a hard time lately, but he didn't know three companies had gone bankrupt.

They were supposed to be solid medium-sized companies.

"Weren't they all solid companies?"

"Apparently, they fell out of favor with the government. Rumour has it they tried to take over a new nylon company and got choked. They say the company's president was close to the Blue House."

"What? A nylon company? The Blue House?"

Could it be... our company?

"That's the rumour. And it's probably true. All three companies had ordered a large amount of Karl Mayer equipment. The president boasted he would receive large orders for tricot from Southeast Asia, but they went bankrupt before they could even pay for the equipment."

"... Is that so."

Damn, it was definitely our company.

He remembered the incident from a couple of months ago vividly.

It started when Chansu kicked the prosecutor in the face.

"Because of that, the entire industry is unsettled. Only a few big companies like Samo are doing proper business."

"Never mind those companies, what about Geumseong Textile? It was doing well."

"Our president seems to be looking elsewhere. Lately, he's been talking about the cement business. Every day is like walking on thin ice."

A sigh followed the words.

"Supervisor Gam, how about coming to our company?"

He had wanted to bring Supervisor Gam over for a while now.

He was good at English and skilled in import and export, making him perfect to send down to the new branch in Busan.

Moreover, through Supervisor Gam, they could selectively hire experienced veterans who had become unemployed.

Supervisor Gam was well-connected and knew the skills and reputation of the experienced workers.

"Senior, didn't you go out to start a joint venture with a friend? Are you already hiring new employees? What's the company name?"

"Daese Industrial. I'm a manager there."

"What? Daese Industrial? So your friend is the president of Daese Industrial? The one who's known for generously compensating the employees?"

"Generously compensating? Not to that extent."

"They say if you work on Sundays, you get double pay, and if you work overtime, you get 1.5 times the pay."

"That's the proper way to compensate. It's not special to Daese."

"Please hire me. I will work very hard."

Supervisor Gam suddenly stood up and bowed 90 degrees.

He seemed very excited about the job offer.

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't received any holiday pay even when he worked on Sundays at Geumseong Textile.

If he got sick and couldn't come in on a holiday, his superiors would get angry.

Back then, he didn't even think it was strange.

"By the way, does Daese Industrial also handle military supplies?"

"Huh? Mi... Military supplies? Of course. The Vietnam War deployment is imminent."

Chansu had started military supply work, and they were planning to participate in the bidding soon.

"Senior, don't take this the wrong way. Since I'll be moving to Daese, can I ask you something to confirm?"

"Ask away. What is it?"

"I heard a rumor... that Daese Industrial is copying a patent to win the military supply contract. That's not true, right?"

"Copying a patent? Us?"

"They said it's something called Polytech..."

Sam-bok's eyes flared up.

Polytech? What nonsense!

That's our patent!

Something was seriously wrong.

The fact that Supervisor Gam knew about Polytech meant information had leaked from somewhere.

"Supervisor Gam, tell me. Where did you hear that?"

"From a colleague who works at Samo Textile. They said Samo developed Polytech together with Gabone after much struggle. They submitted the patent and started military supply, but Daese is blatantly copying it..."

Yeong-hwan's words made Sam-bok's head spin.

'Samo? Samo submitted the Polytech patent? Started military supply? Now that I think about it... Chansu praised me for handling the military supply well... I thought he was complimenting me in advance... Could it be that Samo really started military supply? Is that possible? Where did the goods come from? Did our subcontractors leak to Samo, disguising it as defective?'

Thoughts connected one after another.

"Senior Sam-bok..."

Supervisor Gam's words brought Sam-bok back to reality.

"Supervisor Gam, I'm sorry. I have something urgent. I'll contact you soon."

Leaving the surprised Gam Yeong-hwan behind, Sam-bok quickly got up and left.

Setting up a branch in Busan and hiring experienced employees were no longer the issues. This was an emergency.

***

In front of Shinshin Synthetics

"Hey, you bastard! What have we done to deserve this? You stole Polytech!"

Sam-bok grabbed the president by the collar and caused a scene. This president was also a traitor.

He had spent two days searching through the patent office and subcontractors nationwide, and the world looked different.

A dirty word with no loyalty!

"What are you talking about? What did we steal?"

It was a lie.

When they raided the warehouse, it was empty where the defective goods should have been.

Polytech had been stolen.

"You think I wouldn't know? You stole Polytech to Samo! You pretended they were defective and stole them! The warehouse doesn't have a single roll of defective goods! Not a single roll!"

"We burned them all, burned them to ashes. You told us to burn defective goods!"

"You people? I've said everything! We gave you orders, and technical support, and even lent you operating funds, and you repay us with betrayal!"

"Hey! I can't take this anymore."

The president of Shinshin Synthetics threw Sam-bok to the ground. Then as he was, Sam-bok couldn't resist and rolled away.

"What are you all doing? Throw him out!"

"P... President, how can we..."

Although the president of Shinshin Synthetics changed his face, the employees hesitated. Daese Industrial was practically their benefactor.

"Throw him out. Who said they can't do business without Daese? There are plenty of places wanting Polytech."

"Polytech is our patent. No one can produce it without our permission. You signed the confidentiality agreement!"

"Tch! Samo has the same patent. Samo's orders are much larger! Get lost!"

"You dog. It was true that you colluded with Samo."

"Pfft, you brought this on yourselves. Why pick a fight with Samo? What's the point of fighting such a big company? Jeez, you don't even know your place."

The president of Shinshin Synthetics even spat on Sam-bok.

"You bastard!"

Sam-bok lunged at him, but the employees quickly closed the factory door.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Open the door! Open the door, you bastard! Polytech is ours! It's ours!"

He banged on the door, but once it was closed, it didn't open again.

It was frustrating, but there was nothing more he could do. It was almost a relief that out of six subcontractors, only one betrayed them.

"I need to call Chansu. This isn't something I can solve alone."

Using the last of his strength, Sam-bok pushed himself off the ground.

He couldn't just lie on the street out of frustration.

It turned out the patent application was also a mess.

The application dates were manipulated so that Samo Textile had submitted the Polytech patent first, and the patent documents were completely copied from Daese Industrial's patent.

It was impossible without bribing the patent office officials.

***

Sam-bok trudged back to the office.

After searching all over the place for two days and with curfew approaching, the office was empty.

Tap, tap, tap.

He took a deep breath and started typing on the telex machine.

「To President Woo Chan-soo.

Urgent report. Polytech patent stolen. Samo Textile bribed subcontractors and the patent office. Urgent return needed. - Manager Lee Sam-bok -」

"Damn it, I never thought I'd have to send such a report..."

Sam-bok felt nauseated from the self-reproach as he wrote the telex message.

While someone was making a fortune on the battlefield, his so-called friend was just sitting in his room wasting money.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you think? Sending a telex... Ah! Chansu!"

"How have you been?"

"Damn it. When did you get here?

 When?"

When I leaned my face towards his shoulder, Sam-bok freaked out.

"Just now. When you were sniffling."

"Damn it... We're screwed. We lost the Polytech patent. The subcontractors betrayed us... Stole all the goods... We're screwed... It's all my fault, I'm sorry, Chansu."

Sam-bok, who was only momentarily surprised, quickly explained the situation.

"Did you just find out we lost the patent? How can you be in Korea and know less than me in Vietnam?"

"You knew? How did you know?"

"That's not important. Let's eat first."

This guy must have wandered around all day without eating.

"Eat? What about the patent office officials? They all took bribes. Even the patent application was manipulated."

"Don't worry. This brother will solve everything."

"Solve it? Can it be solved?"

"I have this."

I waved the special recruitment report written by Sergeant Mark in front of Sam-bok's eyes.

"What is that?"

"I'll explain later. Let's eat first. I brought soju and a whole chicken."

I figured he'd crawl back to the office by curfew after searching the lodgings and factory.

I even had the foresight to buy chicken for my friend.

"You really are Chansu. You're not a ghost."

"Ah, this is good."

With a sip of soju and a bite of chicken leg, the world felt like mine. The chicken in the 60s was as good as 21st-century fried chicken. The soju was stronger and much to my liking.

"How was Vietnam? Did bullets really rain down?"

This guy seemed to be coming back to his senses.

"Of course. You can't understand unless you experience it. While driving a truck, bullets would zip by here and there."

"Oh, wow..."

I exaggerated my gestures as I told my tales.

Bullets, yeah right. I didn't even see a trace of the Viet Cong.

Dollars were just falling here and there, and I was busy picking them up.

***

The next day,

I went to a bathhouse with an anxious Sam-bok, scrubbed down, and got polished. It had been a while since I had a proper bath.

I put on a suit and new shoes.

"Is this enough?"

"What, do you want to carry an iron pipe?"

I had already declared war on Samo through a telex at dawn. I told them to meet at the Bando Hotel for negotiations.

"Is it fun to tease me? I'm dying here. Isn't this the time to ask the Blue House for help?"

Sam-bok couldn't understand my actions.

He probably thought I would fight with the backing of the Blue House.

I couldn't ask for help when the Blue House had set up the fight.

"Why involve the Blue House? Then I wouldn't be able to take Samo's money as I please."

"Taking Samo's money?"

"Of course. If we're going to fight, we should aim for the place that hurts the most."

"The place that hurts the most?"

After talking all night with Sam-bok, I realized there were countless things to plunder around Samo.

I understood why detectives liked to talk about sweeping crackdowns.

"Manager Lee Sam-bok has suffered so much. We need to take everything. For someone who loves money, the best revenge is taking their money."

"!!!!"

Sam-bok's eyes sparkled at my words.

As we walked, Bando Hotel came into view.

"Let's go, Sam-bok."

"Yes, boss."

When I led the way, Sam-bok straightened his shoulders and stood beside me. It was time to teach the thief a lesson.

**

Bando Hotel.

It was the 60s, but the top floor was decorated like a sky lounge. The spacious area was empty except for us and the Samo group, fitting for the most expensive place in Seoul.

"Oh, you brought quite a crowd."

"Making the chairman wait, how dare you."

"If you're bored, you could have read the newspaper."

"This bastard."

The Samo chairman stayed silent, but the underlings made a fuss.

"Chairman Joo, shouldn't we talk?"

"Attorney Kang, you wait."

Attorney Kang? A lawyer?

I realized it was a familiar face.

It was the prosecutor whose face I had kicked.

He even had a former prosecutor turned lawyer by his side and a bodyguard behind him.

Having someone who knew the law made things easier.

"Wow, prosecutors have it good. Even when fired, they become lawyers instantly. Oh, did you quit just before getting fired? No matter what, running to Chairman Joo right after resigning? How disgraceful."

"You bastard, you dare..."

"Hey, calm down. Let's act like gentlemen."

I threw Sergeant Mark's report onto the table.

"What's this? AR670-1? The U.S. Army uniform regulation?"

"Chairman Joo, can't you read properly? U.S. Army uniform regulation? It says National Security Act. Can't you read?"

"What nonsense is this?"

Chairman Joo looked confused, but Attorney Kang's expression changed at the mention of the National Security Act.

The most feared law in this era was the National Security Act.

A terrifying law that could sentence innocent people to death without a proper trial.

"Why? Don't you call factory girls asking for a slight raise communists and recite the National Security Act?"

Bang!

"What does this have to do with the National Security Act, you bastard."

"How is it unrelated? Polytech has already started military supply to the U.S. troops in Vietnam! The report clearly states the date a month ago. See the photo?"

I opened the uniform regulation to the Polytech page.

"Gasp!"

"Why are you shocked? Attorney Kang! Why are you trembling?"

"U.S. patent law follows the first-to-invent rule. It prioritizes the actual inventor over the filing date..."

Attorney Kang, despite trembling, explained properly as a lawyer should.

As long as Mark's report existed, the U.S. patent for Polytech was 100% mine.

"The U.S. patent is definitely mine. What happens then? Would Polytech customers want to pay double or triple royalties? Wouldn't they want to know who the real patent owner is? One of those customers is the U.S. military."

"..."

"If the U.S. sides with me, would our patent office officials and subcontractors keep the secret? Do you think they have such loyalty?"

"This is Korea, not the U.S. Follow the law!"

Chairman Joo shouted.

"You think Korea is your domain? How delusional. Do you know about the Mutual Security Act (MSA) where the U.S. military is stationed? It's an agreement that strictly protects U.S. military information, investment, and technical assets."

"... What... does that... mean?"

Feeling an unknown fear, Chairman Joo got up and leaned his face towards mine.

"You've stolen the patent of U.S. military supplies protected by the Mutual Security Act. You're instigating disputes to damage U.S.-Korea relations and even involving Japanese companies to harm U.S.-Japan relations. Who's behind this? Is it just about money? Could it be those red folks up there who ordered this?"

I stood up and poked his forehead with my finger.

"You bastard!"

Whack!

Chairman Joo swung his arm at me, but I easily blocked it.

My body had been hardened by labour into a perfect shape.

"Choose. Korean law or American law?"

It's a big mistake if you think only rich capitalists can threaten.

After being through so much crap in a past life, I knew how to threaten just as well.

"You..."

"Under U.S. law, it's a patent violation, but under Korean law, it's treason. Which do you prefer?"

"Kang! Are you going to keep listening to this nonsense? Say something!"

"Please, save me. I have nothing to do with this."

Ignoring Chairman Joo's roar, Attorney Kang suddenly knelt.

"I didn't even plan to attend this meeting. I swear, believe me..."