stjorthotic Chapter 83 Four Types of Authorization
Chapter 83 Four Types of Authorization
At 9:00 AM on October 18th, the Fifth Trial Chamber of the Qianhai Court.
Nearly a hundred reporters gathered outside the courthouse. The $42 million claim has been circulating in industry media for ten days. Some reporters arrived at the courthouse entrance as early as 5:30 a.m. to secure a spot.
Su Chen entered the courtroom at 9:08 AM. He was accompanied by Fang Xu and Wu Zheng. On the plaintiff's side, Xia Kanghao, along with Haotai's chief legal counsel and two external lawyers, were already seated. The difference was—Lu Weimin was also there. Tianying Technology's CEO sat at the far end of the plaintiff's seat, his expression not relaxed.
After the court session began, the presiding judge proceeded with the proceedings, allowing the plaintiff and defendant to make their statements. The plaintiff's statement was prepared by Haotai's chief legal counsel, and the thirty-minute summary didn't reveal anything new.
When it was the defendant's turn, Fang Xu stood up.
"Your Honor, before formally presenting our defense, we have a supplementary document to submit to the court."
The presiding judge nodded. Fang Xu handed a sealed document bag to the court clerk. The clerk opened the bag, checked the contents, and handed it back to the presiding judge. The presiding judge opened it.
The presiding judge looked at the document for two minutes. His expression remained unchanged, but he handed the document to the judge on his right. The judge on the right read it and then passed it to the judge on his left.
The atmosphere on the plaintiff's side began to tense up. Xia Kanghao whispered a question to the chief legal counsel on his left. The chief legal counsel shook his head, indicating that he didn't know what the defendant had handed in.
The presiding judge looked up.
"This court will briefly read aloud the newly submitted materials by the defendant. On October 16, 2019, at midnight, the defendant signed a 'Strategic Cooperation Memorandum' with Lianchuang Group. The memorandum contains three provisions: First, Hongyuan Intelligent will exclusively supply flight control modules for Lianchuang Group's industrial-grade drone products for three years. Second, Hongyuan Intelligent will grant Lianchuang Group a non-exclusive license for the early commercial promotion layer of its agricultural-grade SDK. Third, the two parties will jointly purchase sensor devices, stipulating that the joint purchase volume in the first year will not be less than four times the volume purchased by Hongyuan alone."
The reporters in the gallery began to whisper among themselves.
The presiding judge struck the gavel, a symbol of authority. A pause. The vast courtroom fell silent.
"This Strategic Cooperation Memorandum has two direct impacts on this case. First, the plaintiff's claim that 'Hongyuan Intelligent violated fair market competition through unfair means, thus causing Tianying Technology's technological predicament' is unfounded given that the SDK has been commercially licensed to a large third-party group. The SDK's commercial licensing channels have been proven to be open, and there is no 'targeted exclusionary restriction' imposed by Hongyuan on Tianying."
The presiding judge paused for a moment.
"The second point—the plaintiff's claim that Wu Zheng used trade secrets from Tianying at Hongyuan Intelligent—is dismissed by this court. The reason is that Hongyuan Intelligent's flight control code library timeline is publicly traceable, and Lianchuang Group has agreed to provide the court with a third-party technical audit—this further proves that Hongyuan's flight control assets have independent source materiality."
The whispers in the courtroom turned into a quiet uproar.
"This court declares that both of the plaintiff's charges are unfounded. The plaintiff is advised to withdraw the case."
Xia Kanghao tapped his fingers on the table three times. It was no longer a habitual light tap—it was a firm tap.
He paused for two seconds, then stood up.
"Your Honor, we request to withdraw the lawsuit."
The uproar grew louder. Reporters began making phone calls, disregarding the occasion.
The judge struck the gavel.
"Withdrawal of the lawsuit is permitted. This case is now closed. The plaintiff shall bear all litigation costs."
The entire process, from Fang Xu submitting the document bag to announcing the case closed, took a total of seventeen minutes.
By noon, the news was all over the screen.
Lianchuang and Hongyuan signed an agreement the day before their court appearance: How was Haotai's 42 million yuan debt resolved?
A strategic memorandum disrupts the capital game.
Su Chen's move was far-sighted.
This time, the comments section was no longer divided. Most media perspectives pointed to one point—Hongyuan brought in a partner of Lianchuang's size within ten days of the lawsuit being announced. This exceeded the expectations of most industry observers.
At 3 PM, Haotai Capital released a brief statement. The statement said the withdrawal of the lawsuit was based on a reassessment following the emergence of new facts and would not affect Haotai's long-term support for Tianying Technology. The statement was issued at 1:43 PM—in business public relations terms, this is considered a "rush to back down."
Su Chen didn't read the statement. He held a private meeting at 5 PM with Xu Lang, Wu Zheng, Zhou Ming, and Fang Xu in a small conference room on the 17th floor of the headquarters.
The meeting discussed the detailed licensing hierarchy of the SDK.
Wu Zheng stood in front, holding a whiteboard marker. Having worked at Tianying for nineteen years, he was more familiar with the flight control SDK's licensing structure than anyone in Su Chen's current team.
"The Open Alliance's SDK licensing can be divided into four levels," Wu Zheng drew four horizontal lines on the whiteboard. "The first level is the interface level. It only authorizes the external API for third-party applications to call the flight controller. This is the lowest starting price. The second level is the parameter level. It authorizes external partners to adjust performance parameters and scenario configurations without modifying the core flight controller. This is used for industry customization. This is a medium-level price. The third level is the source code level. It authorizes viewing and limited modification of the source code. The fourth level is the architecture level. This not only grants access to the source code but also allows access to the flight controller's architectural design and free development on top of it. This is the most expensive level, but it also carries the risk of data leakage."
Su Chen listened from the side. He didn't interrupt.
"What's the strange part?" Wu Zheng put down his pen. "Most companies in the industry are discussing SDK licensing indiscriminately. There's no uniform pricing standard either. Lianchuang got the second tier. Haotai wants the fourth tier today. He's offering 100 million, but he wants the fourth tier of permissions. If we hadn't had a tiered licensing system back then, this deal with Haotai would have only resulted in a longer and more troublesome lawsuit."
Su Chen nodded.
"I understand. Mr. Wu, let's draft the Hongyuan SDK four-tier licensing standard next week. Hongyuan is the first in the industry to implement a tiered licensing system for its SDKs. Once the standard is set, all fifty-plus clients in the alliance will migrate to the new standard."
He turned to Xu Lang.
"Mr. Xu, could you please take a look at the ripple effects of this standard?"
Xu Lang nodded. He wrote a line in his notebook.
That night, the office lights stayed on until 11 p.m. At the end of September, Su Chen felt the air in Shenzhen already carried a hint of autumn. On the night of October 18th, he discovered—autumn had even changed the hue of the horizon. Closer up, it was yellow; further away, it was grayish-blue.