Chapter 487: A Bold Move

At 3 PM, in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, at 2-5 Ichi Bridge & Kanda Sakumacho, the headquarters of Shueisha.

At this moment, a large number of media reporters gathered at the designated venue, armed with cameras and equipment, attending a press conference held by Ichi Bridge Group.

Although the press conference was hosted by Shueisha, Kohei Sakurai, the president of Ichi Bridge Group and also the president of Shogakukan, was seated at the podium.

In his home turf, Kohei Sakurai first stood up, bowed slightly to the media, and then took the microphone, speaking with a serious expression.

"Thank you, media friends, for your righteous support!"

"In recent days, Shueisha has been caught in a whirlpool of public opinion. I feel baffled and also have a sense of grievance that has no place to vent…"

"We are Shueisha. 'Weekly Shōnen Jump' is a nationwide bestseller, and we have one of the top creative teams in the national manga industry. Do we need to plagiarize? Do we have any reason to plagiarize? Or to plagiarize from a foreign company that is worse than us, a newcomer in the industry? Or from a company managed by someone with poor conduct who left our company?"

"Hehehe…"

Kohei Sakurai's serious rant drew a burst of laughter from the media reporters below. Some inexperienced reporters unknowingly followed Kohei Sakurai's direction, not realizing when their stance had changed.

"'Dragon Ball,' 'One Piece,' 'Douluo Continent,' and 'Pokémon' were originally Shueisha's ideas. However, they were stolen in the early stages of creation. We did not notice it at the time, and by the time we did, it was too late. These four manga had already been released by shameless thieves after modifications!"

"And our patent application is still in process. Unfortunately, it's too late. These four manga have already been published, and all our previous efforts are in vain."

"It's a done deal. We can only abandon the original plan, create new manga, and have the group allocate the planning of these four manga to Shogakukan and Hakusensha. After a period of re-planning and creation, the current manga emerged, which is now being shamelessly accused of plagiarism."

"But we didn't expect that the shameless thieves would be so arrogant, taking our forbearance as a sign of weakness, maliciously slandering us for plagiarism. This time, we have decided not to back down and fight against the evil forces to the end!"

"I know many people think I'm speaking falsely, that this is my one-sided view and not credible. So, to prove that what I'm saying is true, today I will provide strong evidence!"

As Kohei Sakurai spoke, his indignation became apparent, and his expression was very convincing. He pointed to a bald man sitting beside him and introduced him to the media, saying, "Everyone should have noticed this person beside me; he is the Director of the Patent Office, Mr. Nakamura!"

"Wow!"

"Click! Click!"

As Kohei Sakurai made the introduction, the scene became lively. Reporters immediately pressed their shutters, quickly taking pictures, eagerly anticipating the upcoming revelation.

Sure enough, there was explosive news. It was unexpected that the Japanese Patent Office was involved.

Mr. Nakamura, the bald man, stood up, bowed slightly to the crowd, and introduced himself, "Hello, everyone. I am Nakamura Satoshi…"

Afterwards, Nakamura Satoshi directly testified for Kohei Sakurai, confirming that Shueisha had indeed submitted a patent registration application a long time ago. However, when the patent was halfway through the process, similar manga appeared on the market. Therefore, the Patent Office, adhering to the principle of fairness, suspended the patent approval. But he could confirm that Shueisha's patent application was submitted before the manga appeared.

Nakamura Satoshi also presented Shueisha's previous "patent registration application" and approval process materials. Each process had corresponding dates and signatures from responsible parties.

"Director Nakamura, may we take photos of the materials?"

"Of course!"

"Thank you!"

With the official backing of Nakamura Satoshi and the presented "solid evidence," the reporters present were almost convinced. Many reporters, like they had been injected with adrenaline, enthusiastically captured this major news.

Seeing this situation, Kohei Sakurai's lips curled into a faint smile, which then quickly disappeared.

He had specifically checked that manga like 'Dragon Ball' had not been patented in Japan, leaving a big loophole. He then used his connections to forge a half-completed patent registration application and enlisted Nakamura Satoshi to provide false testimony.

He didn't want to resort to this step, as it involved risk.

But could he say he was also forced into it?

Originally, Ichi Bridge Group only wanted to create manga inspired by the four successful manga from 'Zhiyin Manke' to capture the market.

Previously, in the Japanese manga industry, mutual borrowing and improvement were common. However, this time Ichi Bridge Group borrowed more extensively, which was not considered a major issue.

Who would have thought that Nine Dragons Animation Co., Ltd. would act recklessly and directly challenge Ichi Bridge Group, and without saying a word, spread rumors of plagiarism, escalating the situation!

Ichi Bridge Group could not admit it, nor could they cancel these manga, so they were forced to retaliate.

Unexpectedly, Nine Dragons Animation Co., Ltd. was too aggressive, which led to the current situation, causing Shueisha and Ichi Bridge Group to be locked in a bitter struggle.

Of course, the outcome was partly due to Ichi Bridge Group being used to being the leader. Kohei Sakurai and his colleagues were very proud and could not tolerate provocation, especially from Nine Dragons Animation Co., Ltd. from Hong Kong.

Japan was their home turf, and their influence allowed them to push Nine Dragons Animation Co., Ltd. back, making Kohei Sakurai and his team more confident, especially after discovering that no patents were registered in Japan. Their confidence grew even stronger.

Unfortunately, due to the heavy workload of the international patent registration department in Washington, USA, each patent had to be exchanged with dozens of member countries. Since this was not the Internet era, information was still on paper, and the exchange was very cumbersome, concentrated in a specific time period.

This caused the international patent department to not exchange information in time with the Patent Cooperation Treaty member countries, so the Japanese Patent Office did not know that 'Dragon Ball,' 'One Piece,' and other manga had already been registered with all international patents.

Kohei Sakurai's attempt to exploit this "loophole," which had already been blocked, was destined to hit a dead end!

As for Nine Dragons Animation Co., Ltd.'s sister company, Nine Dragons Media Co., Ltd., although a media giant, had limited influence outside Japan. Therefore, they did not care much about it.

Other companies in the Nine Dragons system had little to do with the publishing industry and were also outside Japan. They had no direct experience of the specific impact, so they naturally did not care.

Afterwards, Kohei Sakurai again presented Shueisha's secret creative "drafts," attempting to prove his innocence and restore the "truth"!

---

While Shueisha was holding the press conference, at Nine Dragons Animation Co., Ltd. branch in Chiyoda Ward, not far from Shueisha, preparations for their own press conference were also underway.

Scheduled for 4 PM, an hour later than Ichi Bridge Group's, Ma Tengdong planned to respond based on Shueisha's press conference situation.

At the Shueisha press conference site, there were some employees of Nine Dragons Animation Co., Ltd. present.

Every so often, an employee would leave and return to the company to report the actual situation of the press conference to Ma Tengdong.

After listening to the employee's report in his office, Ma Tengdong encouraged him and then sent him on his way.

Thinking about the Japanese Patent Office coming out to provide "false testimony," Ma Tengdong couldn't help but smile.

"So they think we don't have patents in Japan? Hehe! Do we need them?"

Ma Tengdong was suddenly glad that the international patent department had not yet shared information with various countries, allowing the Sakurai family to mistakenly believe they had no patents.

This is the advantage of information asymmetry!

"Hehe, I wonder what their reaction will be when they find out we have the highest international patents?"

"This battle is almost won. We need to change the original plan and delay it for now, to gain more benefits. The more Ichi Bridge Group jumps around, the harder they will fall!"

"But to gain more benefits, we first need to clear the obstacles in the sales channel, eliminate those protests and disruptions!"

With this thought, a trace of anger flashed in Ma Tengdong's eyes. He was infuriated.

A plea for mercy would definitely not stop these things from happening, so he could only use the situation to make them not dare to do it again, or at least make others stop these malicious actors.

"Let's go all out then, launch a broadside attack!"

"Since they say I, Ma Tengdong, am a shameless villain, let everyone get to know me and remember my name!"

After thinking for a while, Ma Tengdong's eyes revealed a frenzied look, and his blood began to surge.

Looking at the time, it was almost 4 PM. The venue was ready, and it was time to make an appearance!

Standing up, Ma Tengdong adjusted his attire in front of the mirror and walked out with firm steps!