Chapter 194 Patent Revocation

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Patent Revocation

"Mr. Sterling, should we find another time to discuss the buyout contract?" Mr. Thorne asked. He maintained an excellent attitude, adhering to his philosophy that even after a change in leadership, he must never offend Julian Sterling.

He simply couldn’t bring himself to adopt Sophie Winslow’s rude attitude toward Mr. Sterling. It wasn’t as if he had a death wish for his career in the industry.

Julian retracted his gaze from the doorway. "Yes, I will contact her when the time comes."

Finn Lockwood walked over. "Sophie’s vision is too narrow. Although she demanded an exorbitant price for Stella’s project, she doesn’t understand the conversion rate once this project launches. The future profits will be incomparable to what it’s worth now. She really isn’t cut out for this."

The reason he had come today was that he had also invested in Stella Sutton’s project. He wanted Stella to have better prospects. At the very least, if she wasn’t being manipulated by Sophie, her path forward would be much smoother.

"It’s precisely because of her short-sightedness that I could successfully leave with my team and my project. There’s nothing wrong with that," Stella said, having calmed down after her initial flash of anger.

Even if she had been mocked by Sophie, she had at least gotten what she wanted. The one who truly suffered a loss was Sophie. Yet, she seemed completely oblivious to it.

"I need to take a call," Julian said, standing up without joining their discussion.

As he was leaving, he happened to see Mr. Thorne instruct someone to come in and remove the chair Sophie had been using. It was the chair Stella had touched, and now it was being thrown out like trash. Just because she had sat in it, the chair was handed an absolute death sentence.

His gaze lingered on the chair for a few seconds before he slowly looked away.

Sophie was quite busy today. After handling matters here, she still had to make a trip back to Helios. When she reached the elevators, she saw Stella, who was just about to leave.

Stella’s mood seemed to have brightened again. She glanced at Sophie and said, "Sophie, I hope you sign the contract as soon as possible. Don’t delay my subsequent promotional activities. Once this is done, my project will no longer carry the Longview label."

She had originally wanted to develop her career steadily at Longview. However, since Sophie had blackmailed her way into acquiring the company, Stella refused to be oppressed under her thumb. Leaving was her best option. At the very least, it ensured that Sophie wouldn’t reap any benefits. Sophie could do nothing but watch helplessly as Stella’s project succeeded.

Sophie watched the changing numbers on the elevator display. "Oh, congratulations."

Finn walked over and teased, "Don’t worry. You’ll have the chance to establish a team and project like this in the future too."

It was a half-hearted remark that sounded more like mockery. Sophie thought they were both out of their minds. If she were still a doctor, she would definitely go to the pharmacy and prescribe them some psychiatric medication for paranoia.

Stella agreed with Finn’s words, and her mood improved even more. Just then, her phone rang.

Stella answered it. The person on the other end said, "Is this Ms. Stella Sutton? The results of your patent re-examination are out. After a unanimous review and assessment, your patent rights will be revoked. Ms. Faye has provided a complete chain of evidence for the copyright."

This notice made Stella’s face turn instantly cold. Faye actually had evidence to prove the origin of the patent? But the other party clearly hadn’t registered it. Or did Faye use an alias?

Stella’s expression was unsightly. Her plan all along had been that if Faye couldn’t produce concrete evidence, the patent dispute would drag on. Ultimately, if the invention rights couldn’t be proven otherwise, they would still fall to her and be used by her, and the brief initial wave of negative public opinion would dissipate.

Now... Faye actually had a backup plan.

She probed, "Excuse me, did Faye register it under a different name? Could you tell me what it is?"

At the very least, she wanted to figure out exactly who Faye was—her nationality and other personal details.

Hearing her own English name, Sophie’s eyebrows twitched slightly. For a moment, she was genuinely worried that the patent office might let it slip.

However, she had overthought it. Stella soon frowned and said, "The other party doesn’t want to disclose it? I see. Understood."

Sophie calmly lowered her eyelids.

"What’s wrong?" Finn asked.

Stella glanced at Sophie, not bothering to hide anything since Sophie already knew the whole story anyway. "My patent has been revoked. Faye’s side stated she also has the formula data. After all, she is a highly respected senior figure in the field, so mine had to be withdrawn." She felt quite bitter about it and shook her head helplessly.

She actually couldn’t understand it. Faye had remained completely unfazed, never showing her face after all this time. Even when it came to patent-related matters, she refused to appear. Stella knew that top-tier experts were proud and had plenty of people to handle their affairs for them. This was especially true for someone like Faye, whose senior colleague was Philip Preston and whose mentor was Hector Caldwell. She had more than enough capital to throw her weight around.

Finn glanced at Sophie beside them. "Just focus on your project with peace of mind. You’ll have other opportunities to apply for patents in the future, but a project as good as yours isn’t something you can just get on a whim. Wouldn’t you agree, Sophie?"

Sophie could tell that Finn was trying to flatter Stella and give her a graceful way out. At the same time, he was implying that Sophie had nothing and couldn’t compare to Stella.

She couldn’t help but let out a soft scoff. The elevator doors opened, and Sophie stepped inside, looking back at them. "Then I wish you success."

Just then, Julian walked over after finishing his phone call. Sophie pressed the "close door" button on the elevator even faster.

Julian didn’t seem to notice her action. His gaze swept past Sophie’s figure as he led Stella into another elevator.

Sophie had also received the results regarding the patent. It was only natural that Stella and the others were utterly baffled. Her applicant name wasn’t her English name; it was her real name. And given the arrogance and prejudice of Stella’s group, they would never associate these things with her.

Some people were destined to live within their own narrow perceptions, never able to see the vastness of the world.

That evening, Ivy Hawthorne came to find Sophie for dinner. Halfway through their meal, Ivy finally asked, "Stella left Longview?"

"You found out that fast?" Sophie was surprised.

Ivy patted the table. "How could I not know? Word has already gotten out in our circles. They say Stella threw a cocktail party, and a very grand one at that. Because Julian Sterling was attending, a lot of well-connected people went to show their support just for him. Stella is celebrating her team’s independence and is already popping champagne."

Her product hadn’t even launched in major hospitals and medical institutions yet, but she was already making a massive spectacle of it.

"Many people in the industry already know she isn’t his official girlfriend, but in order to curry favor with Julian, they’re still very willing to give Stella face." Speaking of this, Ivy grew furious. "They’re becoming even more brazen! Did Julian ever consider how outsiders would view you?"

In the past, people fawned over Stella because they didn’t know Julian had a wife. But now that they knew Sophie was Mrs. Sterling, Julian was still parading Stella around. What would the people who knew the truth think of Sophie? They would only compare her to Stella. They would mock Sophie and treat her like a joke!

After all, Stella was widely known as a "talented woman." Who was Sophie?

There was no way that man didn’t know this!

Sophie took a bite of her blueberry yam and said, "They’re attending public events under the guise of project work now, so no one can point fingers at them."

But it was undeniably true that Julian was securing connections for Stella. His arms were broad enough to shelter others from the wind and rain, yet so narrow that they left his own wife exposed to the storm.

Fortunately, Sophie had long since come to terms with it. She could easily turn the page on such trivial matters. After all, the ninety million would soon be transferred to her account once the contract was signed. As long as she got her money, she was happy.

The next day, Sophie received a phone call from Philip Preston. "It’s the Kingsford University anniversary celebration. Since you’ll be taking up the post of associate professor soon, you need to attend tomorrow as a special guest."