147: Chapter 143: The Patent is Stolen 147: Chapter 143: The Patent is Stolen After calling Zhao Tianya, Ye Fan left the Amari Group, drove around to inspect the sites for the martial arts gym based on the information provided online and by the agents.
This time luck was on his side, and Ye Fan finally found an ideal location for the martial arts gym, promptly renting it.
The site for the martial arts gym was in Liu Jia Hui, the busiest area in Hua Hai City, with the specifics obviously not being on the bustling and busiest streets.
The gym was located on Xian Xing East Road in Liu Jia Hui, relatively quiet, but the location had the advantage of convenient transportation, being not far from a subway station entrance.
Ye Fan rented the whole third floor of the commercial building, with over a thousand square meters of space, and the building had a shared underground parking lot.
The lease was signed for five years with the first rental payment for one year upfront and an additional deposit of three hundred thousand yuan.
From the next year onwards, the rent would be paid quarterly.
Having rented the space, Ye Fan felt much more at ease.
The following work like renovations, equipment purchasing, and recruitment of coaches and full-time doctors could all proceed step by step.
In the afternoon, Ye Fan returned to the company on time for work.
As soon as he entered the office, he noticed Fang Yueyun and Ma Zhengyou sitting together discussing something.
Upon his arrival, Fang Yueyun and Ma Zhengyou immediately stopped talking and turned their heads to look at him.
“Please, continue your chat, don’t mind me,” Ye Fan said, spreading his hands.
Fang Yueyun asked, “Manager Ye, have you heard?”
“Heard what?” Ye Fan replied, clearly confused.
Ma Zhengyou said with a heavy heart, “I heard that the patent we were buying from Hua Hai University’s Biomedical Research Institute was snatched away by another company.”
Impossible, right?” Ye Fan exclaimed in surprise.
The “Ji Fei Qing Hua Pill” patent from the Hua Hai University Biomedical Research Institute was critical for the survival of the Amari Biomedical Technology Company.
Without the patent for “Ji Fei Qing Hua Pill,” Amari Biomedical Technology Company would be done for.
Besides, to his knowledge, Li Zhaojun had already signed the patent transfer agreement with the Hua Hai University Biomedical Research Institute and paid a ten-million-yuan deposit.
They were only a couple of months away from making the final payment and acquiring the patent in full.
Fang Yueyun said, “Now, the rumors are spreading throughout the company, and everyone is panicked.
They say that without the patent from the Hua Hai University Biomedical Research Institute, our company simply cannot continue.
Alas—what are we going to do?”
Ye Fan replied seriously, “Are you sure this is true?
If it isn’t, please don’t spread rumors and cause panic.
The company might even hold someone accountable.”
Fang Yueyun and Ma Zhengyou tensed up, looked down, and said, “We’re not sure.
We won’t talk about this with anyone else.”
If the sky falls, there will be taller people to hold it up, so you don’t have to worry,” Ye Fan nodded.
“Yes,” Ma Zhengyou and Fang Yueyun each returned to their desks to work, and Ye Fan also sat down at his.
He turned on the phone to check the Amari Group’s stock online; the stock price was still rising, and his shares in the Amari Group had appreciated to nearly six hundred million yuan.
If the stock was still hot, it meant that either the news was false, or even if true, it hadn’t really spread yet.
If the “Ji Fei Qing Hua Pill” patent was truly snatched by another company, it would be a disaster for the Amari Group.
Ye Fan couldn’t just sit still; after some thought, he got up, left his office, and knocked on the door of Hu Jing’s office.
Seeing Hu Jing, he noticed the usually seductive and charming woman had a gloomy face, clearly troubled by some unhappy matters.
An uneasy feeling “clunked” in Ye Fan’s heart—the news about the patent being snatched seemed to be true.
“Manager Hu, good morning,” Ye Fan greeted as he approached the desk.
Hu Jing glanced up at Ye Fan and then lowered her eyes again, asking with little strength, “What is it?”
“Is it true that the patent was snatched away?” Ye Fan inquired.
Hu Jing looked up again and confirmed, “Yes, it’s true.
It was snatched by Tong Yi Group.”
“As far as I know, didn’t our company sign a patent transfer agreement with the Hua Hai University Biomedical Research Institute, and we even paid a deposit of ten million yuan?” Ye Fan frowned and asked, “How could Tong Yi Group snatch it away?
By the way, what’s with Tong Yi Group?”
“Heh,” Hu Jing let out an emotionless and cold laugh, “We thought so too, but in fact, it was snatched by Tong Yi Group.
Tong Yi Group is also a local enterprise in Hua Hai City, a publicly-listed company, but they are ten times stronger than our Amari Group.
They were willing to pay an extra ten million yuan, even more, just to snatch away the ‘Ji Fei Qing Hua Pill’ patent.”
Ye Fan knew a bit about contract law.
If the seller breached a deposit agreement, they were to return twice the deposit to the buyer.
Moreover, if the seller’s breach caused greater loss to the buyer than the deposit received, the buyer had the right to demand the seller compensate for the additional loss in court.
This meant that in addition to returning twice the deposit of twenty million yuan to Amari Group, the Hua Hai University Biomedical Research Institute would have to further compensate Amari Group.
As for how much more they would have to compensate, that depended on the court battle.
Of course, the money for compensating Amari Group would ultimately be paid for by Tong Yi Group.
Ye Fan silently contemplated his strategy.
No amount of compensation from Hua Hai University Biomedical Research Institute could make up for Amari Group’s losses, as this touched upon the core strategic issue of Amari Group’s life-and-death struggle.
Hu Jing continued, “Right now, the Chairman is negotiating with Hua Hai University’s Biomedical Research Institute and Tong Yi Group, hoping for a chance to salvage the situation.
Thankfully, neither Hua Hai University Biomedical Research Institute nor Tong Yi Group has announced this news publicly.
Otherwise, our group would be in serious trouble.”
I’m sure the Chairman’s capabilities will ensure we get the patent back,” Ye Fan said.
If Li Zhaojun couldn’t get it back, he would make his own moves behind the scenes to retrieve it!
“Let’s hope so,” Hu Jing replied.
She had just been full of drive, ready to go big, but suddenly receiving such news had made her mood indescribably awful and irate.
Having learned the information he wanted, Ye Fan no longer stayed and returned to his own office.
Seated at his desk, Ye Fan searched the internet for information about Tong Yi Group.
According to the information available online, what Hu Jing said was true; Tong Yi Group indeed had more than tenfold the strength of Amari Group, was financially powerful, and held tremendous influence.
Setting aside extraneous factors, Amari Group simply couldn’t compete with Tong Yi Group.
Ye Fan stared at the computer screen, fingers tapping on the desk, pondering how he should deal with Tong Yi Group if Li Zhaojun was unable to retrieve the stolen patent.
With a market value of several tens of billions, Tong Yi Group was a vast business empire with undoubtedly many influential backers and backgrounds—a heavyweight opponent.