From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

141: Chapter 141 The Wall of PatentsThe cultural phenomenon triggered by the ”Spirit of the Wasteland” was still fermenting, but Alex Su’s attention was pulled back by a legal brief marked ”Urgent.” The brief came from Lauren, with a striking title: ”Urgent Risk Assessment and Recommendations Regarding Intellectual Property Protection for the ’phantom singer’ Model.”

”We’ve encountered potential model copycats, which was expected.” During the video conference, Lauren’s face was more serious than usual. ”But the problem is, our imitators might not be satisfied with simple ’borrowing.’”

She pulled up the data: ”We’ve monitored ’Soundwave,’ a domestic music streaming platform with whom we’ve had copyright disputes before. Its affiliated production company is preparing for a show called ’The Masked Singer’ and is intensively registering a series of trademarks and copyrights. The registration materials include descriptive documents such as ’Double-Layer Clue Release System,’ ’Mask Codename and Voice Image Binding,’ and ’Cross-Platform Real-Time Guessing Interaction.’ Although the specific wording differs from our internal documents, the core logic is highly similar.”

Marcus added from the side: ”More importantly, the scope of their registration includes not only the program name and logo but also attempts to register some of our interactive processes and rule descriptions as ’literary works’ for copyright. Although the legal definition of originality protection for variety show ’models’ is vague, this preemptive registration behavior is very aggressive. It’s intended to create obstacles in future potential disputes or even turn around and accuse us of infringement.”

Alex’s eyes were calm. Business competition had finally spread from content, traffic, and talent to the underlying level of rules and intellectual property. The opponent was trying to use legal documents to build a counterfeit wall around the game rules he had meticulously designed.

”What stage are our patent and copyright applications at?” Alex asked. Early on, when the phantom singer model was first finalized, he had Lauren begin a comprehensive intellectual property layout.

”Trademark registrations for the program name, logo, and core visual designs are proceeding normally; there’s not much of an issue there.” Lauren switched screens to show a more complex list. ”The difficulty lies in the ’program model.’ Pure ideas aren’t protected, but our specific expression of the model—including the two-hundred-page ’Production Bible,’ which details everything from contestant selection and isolation processes, clue design and release rhythm, judge interaction rules, to the complete technical solution and business logic for online-offline linkage and traffic diversion—has already been filed for copyright registration as a ’literary work’ and for trade secret protection. Specifically, the detailed architectural diagrams and algorithmic logic for our unique ’Three-Layer Clue Release and Cross-Platform Interaction System’ constitute an original expression.”

She paused and pointed to a key point: ”According to the Copyright Law, original scripts, program flow designs, and specific stage settings within a variety show model are explicitly protected. If the descriptions ’Soundwave’ is preemptively registering are just generalities, it will be hard for them to form a strong right. However, if they have obtained our more detailed internal documents, or if their descriptions are substantially similar to our original expressions, it will be very troublesome.”

”It’s impossible for them to get our core ’Production Bible’,” Alex said with certainty. The confidentiality level of that document was the highest. ”But they can reverse-engineer and describe similar processes by watching our show. Legally, can that form an effective barrier?”

”It’s hard to ban directly, but it’s enough to create a litigation quagmire, slowing our pace and affecting the confidence of investors and partners,” Lauren said bluntly. ”This is a common business interference strategy.”

The conference room was quiet for a moment. This move by the opponent wasn’t brilliant, but it was disgusting and effective enough.

”In that case, we must not only defend but also attack.” After some thought, Alex issued his orders. ”Lauren, do three things.”

”First, speed up the copyright registration of all our core documents, design drawings, and flowcharts, as well as patent applications in necessary fields (such as the specific audio processing technology we developed with Organization D for contestant voice-changing and mask interaction). Build a more solid legal firewall.”

”Second, in the name of ’Echo Vision,’ release an official white paper (simplified version) on the innovative points of the phantom singer model, actively and publicly defining the standards for the ’Immersive Music Reasoning Interactive Variety Show’ that we advocate. We must be the first to define this category and establish ourselves as the original creators and standard-setters in public opinion and industry perception.”

”Third, prepare a lawyer’s letter. Don’t target ’Soundwave’ or The Masked Singer directly. Instead, send it to several large advertisers and broadcasting platforms that might cooperate with them. The content shouldn’t be an accusation of infringement, but a ’friendly reminder’—listing the core innovative points of phantom singer that have already undergone intellectual property layout, and reminding partners to be discerning about potential intellectual property risks in cooperative projects to avoid unnecessary legal disputes.”

Marcus caught on immediately: ”This is attacking the heart first. Exerting influence at the level of business cooperation is more effective than direct legal litigation. Advertisers and platforms fear nothing more than a project getting bogged down in intellectual property disputes, causing their investments to go down the drain or cooperation to be suspended.”

”Exactly.” Alex nodded. ”At the same time, our own content rhythm cannot be disrupted. The recording of the second episode will proceed as scheduled, and we must increase the promotional efforts binding the ’phantom singer’ brand with ’Flashpoint’ and ’Voice of Truth.’ We will use market success and user recognition to solidify our status as the ’de facto standard.’”

The law is the shield, but the market and users are the ultimate judges. He wanted to ensure that even if imitators could draw a similar wall, they could never steal the vibrant garden within it.

A few days later, the industry white paper officially released by phantom singer caused quite a stir in the industry, and the concept of ”Immersive Music Reasoning Interactive Variety Show” was widely cited. Meanwhile, rumors about the ”model dispute risks” of The Masked Singer project began to quietly circulate among advertising agencies and platform procurement departments. Although ”Soundwave” quickly issued a statement claiming their program was ”independently developed,” the negotiation progress with several rumored large sponsors noticeably slowed down.

Alex did not let down his guard. He knew this was only the first round of the confrontation. He had Rex strengthen the monitoring of ”Soundwave” and its affiliates, especially their recruitment trends for technical and content teams. Any attempt to poach talent or obtain core information had to be discovered in time.

At the same time, the popularity of the ”Spirit of the Wasteland” continued to be skillfully guided and deepened on ”Voice of Truth.” The ”Mask Design” activity yielded many amazing works. Alex even had the team contact several of the most creative designers to discuss the possibility of actually applying their design elements to program merchandise or future stages, pushing user engagement to a new high.

The system interface updated quietly:

[Cumulative Historical popularity] 121,300,000 points (continuously growing)

[Available popularity] 38,530,030 points

[New Notification: Successfully utilized intellectual property strategies and market definition rights for commercial defense and counter-measures. Reward: Derivative effects of [Legal Boundary Insight (Advanced)] slightly increased—intuitive early warning capability for potential commercial legal risks has been enhanced.]

[Attention for the cultural symbol ’Spirit of the Wasteland’ is continuing to coalesce...]

The rewards were as precise and practical as ever. A legal risk warning was more valuable than any combat ability at this stage.

Having handled these matters, Alex stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of his office. Outside were the endless lights of Los Angeles. Under every light, someone might be watching his show, discussing his model, or plotting how to copy or even surpass him.

What he was building was not just a variety show, but a complete ecosystem ranging from creativity, production, broadcasting, and interaction to commercial derivatives and intellectual property protection. Patents and copyrights were the legal armor of this ecosystem, while user love and market success were its lifeblood.

Keep your feet on the ground, build the wall, and solidify the foundation.

Competition would never stop, but he had learned not only how to plant trees but also how to fence off the land and let everyone know that the rules growing on this land were defined by him. Imitators might be able to sketch the branches and leaves, but they could never replicate the intricate laws of survival rooted deep beneath the soil.