"What conflicts did you have with Magnavox when you worked there?"
Ethan didn't even need to think before answering.
"Barbara, you know this. All I ever did was write an invitation letter, as instructed by my supervisor—an invitation to Nolan Bushnell. I didn't decide the guest list, nor could I control who received which invitation."
He paused, then continued. "Beyond that, there was only one real conflict—when I was fired. They tried to deny my severance, and I used some strong words to defend my rights."
"What words?" Barbara leaned forward, intrigued.
"Uh… racial discrimination." Ethan drew in a breath. "The HR officer who spoke to me belittled Dr. King in his own words. I called him out, and I threatened to report the matter to the San Francisco Equal Rights Organization and ask for their help."
"Dr. King? Martin Luther King?" Barbara repeated, jotting it down. "If someone from Magnavox really insulted him, then filing that report was a smart move."
"Oh, thank you." Ethan gave a small nod. "I also said their refusal to pay compensation was illegal, and that I'd seek help from the American Legal Services Corporation."
Barbara smiled at that and even clapped her hands lightly.
"Good. Knowing how to use the law to protect yourself is the right approach."
Ethan hesitated, then added, "And… I also said their dismissal was part of Philips's foreign-capital takeover."
Barbara's pen froze mid-sentence. She slowly lifted her head and fixed Ethan with a sharp look. Her bright eyes glimmered with doubt.
"You mean your dismissal happened after Philips acquired Magnavox?"
"That's right."
"Okay," Barbara underlined the point as she spoke. "So… you were the scapegoat your boss chose?"
"I think so too." Ethan's voice was blunt. "Honestly, I've always felt they kept me around just to fire me when accountability rolled in—so they could cover up their own incompetence."
"Great, baby." Barbara chuckled. "If you're sure you had no other conflicts with Magnavox, then I suspect that in a company so thick with bureaucracy, suing you now is nothing but a smokescreen to cover their own failings."
Of course, this was only a suspicion. Ethan narrowed his eyes. Barbara's words did make a certain sense.
After all, there's a saying: if the upper beam is not straight, the lower manager will be crooked. If the leaders of branch companies are scrambling to protect their own positions, how could the top executives of the parent company be willing to shoulder responsibility themselves?
And Snake Game—created by him, a former Magnavox employee—could indeed cause Magnavox to lose face.
While Ethan mulled this over, Barbara jotted down her guesses on the paper, then asked: "Now, please evaluate Nolan Bushnell and Don Valentine separately. What kind of people do you think they are? And before Magnavox sued, did you have any conflicts with Atari?"
Ethan didn't quite understand why Barbara felt Atari was targeting him, but he still recalled the past few months carefully and answered.
About Nolan Bushnell, he said: "He's a successful and outstanding businessman. Successful, because he saw the value of Snake Game and wanted to secure long-term control over it from the very beginning. Outstanding, because even when Atari was in a desperate situation, he didn't give up—he still tried to win Ralph Bear sympathy and reach a settlement with Magnavox, even if the lawsuit couldn't be won."
About Don Valentine, he said: "He's an extreme egoist who will do whatever it takes to gain profit. Both the earlier Snake Game negotiations and his questioning last night were examples of him venting his dissatisfaction in Atari's name."
After recording Ethan's words, Barbara nodded with a faint smile.
"Sure enough, there's a problem," she murmured. She then held up the paper, pointed at Ethan's evaluation, and said:
"Ethan, you just called Don Valentine an extreme egoist, right?"
"Yes." Ethan nodded. Then, frowning, he asked, "Is that a problem, Barbara?"
"Of course it is." Barbara tilted her head, her expression full of confidence. "Before I explain, let me ask you something. Didn't you just tell me that Don Valentine shouted he was going to sue you?"
"Right."
"And didn't you also say that last night Don Valentine declared Atari would reach a settlement with Magnavox—agree to all their demands, stop selling Snake Game, compensate them with millions, and even recall all the arcade cabinets and circuit boards already on the market?"
"Yeah." Ethan confirmed his memory was correct.
"Then there's the problem."
Barbara put the paper down, tapped the table with her knuckles, and said, "Ethan, maybe you don't know our country's patent protection laws in detail, so you thought Don Valentine's behavior was normal. But I'm telling you—it isn't normal at all."
She leaned forward. "Even though U.S. patent law does state that when a plaintiff sues for infringement, the plaintiff may demand the defendant recall and destroy infringing products, in practice that's extremely difficult to enforce."
Her voice stretched out, deliberate. "In fact… it's basically impossible."
Placing her elbows on the table, Barbara continued seriously:
"As for the issue of patent protection, the U.S. Code is very clear. If a plaintiff sues a defendant for infringement and asks the court to order a product recall, the court will only issue such an injunction if four strict conditions are met."
"The first condition is whether the plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm from the defendant's infringement.
This is almost impossible to prove, because the plaintiff would essentially have to be driven to bankruptcy for it to count as irreparable harm. And by the time that happens, the infringing company has usually already become an important player in the market. For the sake of market stability and economic development, in such cases the rights of the original company are often sacrificed."
The second condition is whether monetary compensation would be sufficient to cover the plaintiff's losses.
This condition is always met once the plaintiff files for damages directly.
The third condition is whether granting the injunction would serve the public interest.
And the fourth is whether the injunction would cause undue harm to either party—or to third parties."
Barbara tapped the table for emphasis. "In practice, the last two points leave a lot of room for interpretation. Take Snake Game as an example: if such a phenomenal game were suddenly recalled and destroyed, it would not only damage the public's entertainment life but also cause massive economic losses to arcade operators who had purchased the machines.
Under those circumstances, as long as Magnavox isn't facing bankruptcy because of Snake Game, how could a recall possibly be justified? The court would never support Magnavox's demand that Atari pull Snake Game from the market.
So why would Don Valentine—the man you just described as an extreme egoist—turn around and declare that Atari would bow to Magnavox and recall everything?"
Barbara turned her head toward Ethan, her bright eyes glittering with sharp insight. She leaned back in her chair and sneered.
"When Don Valentine said Atari would recall Snake Game, that alone was suspicious. Because Pong was never recalled! If we compare the extent of infringement, Pong was obviously far worse than Snake Game. Right?
He already went through the Pong lawsuit. He knows full well that courts don't order recalls of infringing video games. So why would he stand in front of you, claiming Atari would cooperate with Magnavox, absorb all the losses, and dump them on you?"
Her gaze sharpened. "Isn't that abnormal?
And more than that—you said he threatened to sue you for concealing the truth? For commercial fraud? Isn't that just pointless pressure?
Think about it. If he really were the egoist you described, wouldn't he be urging you to fix the problem quickly so Atari could keep selling Snake Game and making money? Or…"
Barbara let the word linger. "Maybe his real interest isn't the game at all."
Ethan froze in place at her barrage of questions.
Yes. There was something seriously wrong here.
Last night, when Don Valentine had been shouting at him, Ethan hadn't noticed these details. First of all, because Barbara had confirmed that Snake Game was infringing. With that fact established, entrusting Atari with its production and sales did look like dragging them into the mud with him.
Secondly, it was because Ethan felt that a demand to recall infringing products was reasonable. If his own products had been infringed, he would certainly make the same claims in a lawsuit—or rather, he would strangle the infringers to death in his fury.
But now Barbara was saying recalls were impossible? That the law didn't support them?
There was definitely something wrong with Don Valentine's rage!
Thinking, Ethan blurted out, "Barbara, are you sure? About the recall?"
Barbara rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm sure. When I was studying with my professor, he once handled a case against Playboy. The plaintiff demanded that Playboy recall the violating magazine. My professor pulled out the U.S. Code in front of the judge, scolded both the plaintiff and their lawyer, and told the lawyer to go back to school and start over."
She chuckled, recalling the moment. "I still remember his words: 'Can your personal interests outweigh the public interest? If so, I'll petition the GF Ministry to station the army outside your house!'
The Manhattan judge agreed and told the plaintiffs not to make such unreasonable demands."
A judge had told the victim not to make trouble? What kind of defense was that?
The fact left him speechless. He suddenly felt as though he was working through a math problem he couldn't solve.
Because he still couldn't understand why Atari was putting so much pressure on him.
Could it be… this lawsuit was interfering with Nolan Bushnell and Don Valentine's plans to cash out? After all, Snake Game's infringement could indeed cause Atari's valuation to plummet.
"Barbara," Ethan said quickly, "is there a chance that Don Valentine and Nolan Bushnell's real interest is selling Atari? Because as far as I know… Nolan is selling Atari."
He felt as though he'd finally touched the truth. But his words made Barbara sit bolt upright, her face full of shock.
"What did you say?" Her voice rose. "Nolan Bushnell is selling Atari? To outsiders? When did this happen? Where did you hear it?"
Ethan wasn't surprised at her reaction—he'd been just as confused when he first heard it.
"Yes, Nolan is selling Atari." He nodded. "From what I know, this was happening a long time ago—at least before our cooperation. And the source of the news… uh… a friend told me."
"You should have met Steve Jobs—Woz's friend—at the last party…"
"Find him!" Barbara cut him off sharply. "Quickly! Bring him to me right away!"
"What's wrong?" Ethan asked, still confused. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Of course there's something wrong!" Barbara practically shouted. "Nolan Bushnell wants to sell Atari? But why would anyone buy Atari? What's valuable about it? Their games are infringing! Their machines are infringing! They won't be able to release any new games for at least a year.
Under those conditions, why would anyone be willing to buy Atari?
That's the biggest problem! Because land and labor aren't valuable! Think about it—if you're a capital giant and you see that Atari's only assets are some replaceable products, why wouldn't you just recruit people directly? Why acquire the whole company? Isn't that insanity?"
Her eyes blazed. "No. This isn't what Nolan Bushnell is really selling. They're hiding something. And whatever they're hiding is the true value of Atari.
We have to figure out what that is. Only if we understand the real value of Atari can we deduce why they're so furious—and why they've dumped all the responsibility onto you instead of solving the problem themselves!"
Barbara glanced at her watch, then stared hard at Ethan.
"Baby, can I see Steve before two o'clock this afternoon?"
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