Chapter 80: Penguins Are Powerful, but I Study Penguins Even More Thoroughly!

At the presiding judge’s seat, Cao Liqiang looked expressionlessly at the litigation materials in his hands and frowned slightly.

He then looked toward the defendant’s side.

“The plaintiff has completed the statement; next, the defendant shall present the litigation application statement.”

Chen Chao arranged the litigation materials and composed his emotions, then spoke.

“With respect to the plaintiff’s claims, our side raises objections.”

“First, regarding the plaintiff’s allegation that our side committed plagiarism, we deny this and raise a question: how does the opposing party determine that our side engaged in plagiarism?”

“Second, the plaintiff alleges that because our side rejected cooperation with the plaintiff, we relied on our large scale and platform advantages to form a monopoly and promote unfair competition methods; this is also untrue.”

“Our side has never engaged in such conduct; the removal from the platform was handled in accordance with internal platform regulations.”

“Therefore, regarding the plaintiff’s claim that our side infringed upon the plaintiff’s rights and interests, this is entirely the plaintiff’s own assumption.”

“And such an assumption has no factual basis; therefore, with respect to the opposing party’s request for reinstatement, our side believes it should be rejected.”

After finishing the second point, Chen Chao raised his head to glance at the plaintiff’s seat, then lowered his head again to look at the litigation materials and continued speaking.

“Third, based on the first point, our side did not commit plagiarism; the plaintiff’s alleged loss of interests was entirely caused by the plaintiff’s own factors, and our side did not guide public opinion and therefore does not bear responsibility, so we request that the plaintiff’s claims be rejected.”

“Fourth, our side requests that the litigation related expenses be borne by the losing party.”

“Presiding judge, our side has completed the statement.”

After completing his statement, Chen Chao looked toward the presiding judge’s seat.

Chen Chao’s rebuttal arguments were very simple.

First, our side did not commit plagiarism; second, our side did not commit plagiarism; third, still no plagiarism.

In summary, there was only one meaning, namely that our side did not commit plagiarism.

Moreover, our side did not commit any violations; the removal occurred because you violated regulations, not because we engaged in monopoly conduct.

Indeed.

Who would believe such statements?

Since the matter has already reached trial, the arguments presented must certainly have some basis.

However, the defendant’s statement was very deliberate.

They even requested that the plaintiff bear the attorney’s fees in order to increase the plaintiff’s litigation costs.

It must be said that the defendant’s legal department was quite skillful in this approach.

At the plaintiff’s seat, after noticing Chen Chao’s gaze, Su Bai and Chen Chao looked at each other briefly.

Li Xuezhen spoke softly.

“Lawyer Su, please focus on handling the case well.”

“I will keep an eye on this person.”

“Lawyer Su, I have already cultivated the kind of fortune in court where whoever I stare at ends up losing.”

Su Bai was startled.

As a lawyer who had received higher education, she was telling him that she believed in fortune?

He coughed lightly.

“Do not stare for now.”

“Oh.”

Li Xuezhen’s tone became somewhat disappointed, but then she seemed to think of something and happily said, “Then I will stare later.”

Su Bai was speechless.

This innocent yet foolish female university student had now completely gone astray.

Su Bai took a deep breath and did not say anything further, but silently thought to himself that this probably was not because of him.

Yes.

Absolutely not.

As such an upright lawyer, how could he possibly have led an innocent female university student astray?

Su Bai comforted himself internally.

At the presiding judge’s seat, Presiding Judge Cao Liqiang lowered his head to look at the litigation materials.

After making a brief internal summary of the litigation applications from both sides, he then looked up at Su Bai at the plaintiff’s seat and slowly spoke.

“The defendant has completed the statement; next, the plaintiff shall present arguments based on the submitted evidence or present new evidence, factual bases, or legal provisions in court.”

Bang bang bang.

The gavel sounded.

Presiding Judge Cao Liqiang’s gaze fell upon Su Bai.

Su Bai realized that the first key point had arrived.

The most critical issue in this case lay in one aspect, namely whether the defendant constituted plagiarism.

However, the difficulty lay in the fact that this point of plagiarism was difficult to define.

In particular, judicial determinations regarding copyright and similar infringement cases remained relatively conservative.

Moreover, the defendant was highly skilled at employing a strategy of ambiguity.

This strategy generally meant adopting a vague approach toward issues concerning the determination of infringement.

In this way, the presiding judge’s decision would remain conservative, thereby securing victory in the litigation.

Su Bai had studied this approach thoroughly, and their handling of infringement cases through such methods was extremely skillful.

However, he could also employ the same approach.

Su Bai took a deep breath and then spoke.

“Presiding judge.”

“With respect to the defendant’s statement that they did not commit plagiarism, I would like to request permission to ask several related questions of the opposing party’s client.”

Questions?

This was not following the usual pattern.

Chen Chao and Kong Hao frowned slightly; when opposing counsel asked questions, it was generally either to set a trap or to disturb the opponent’s state of mind.

Faced with Su Bai’s request, both Chen Chao and Kong Hao prepared themselves to respond seriously.

At the presiding judge’s seat on the bench, Cao Liqiang struck the gavel and said, “Application approved.”

After hearing that Cao Liqiang had approved his request, Su Bai directed his gaze toward Chen Chao at the defendant’s seat and asked.

“I would like to ask Lawyer Chen how copyright plagiarism is defined.”

Chen Chao frowned slightly, thought for a moment, confirmed that there was no apparent trap, and then spoke.

“According to our country’s judicial provisions, the standards for determining copyright plagiarism include four aspects.”

“First, the sequence of publication time of the works.”

“Second, whether the works possess originality.”

“Third, whether the objective conditions for plagiarism exist.”

“Fourth, comparison of the characteristics of the works, including whether the characters, plot, and gameplay are the same.”

“With respect to the determination of game plagiarism, this includes elements such as code, text, and artwork.”

“This also includes whether the names contained in the game or the internal names of the game are copied, and finally whether the gameplay itself constitutes copying and whether originality exists.”

After hearing Chen Chao’s answer, Su Bai nodded slightly and continued with a second question.

“I would like to ask Lawyer Chen what constitutes unfair competition.”

Chen Chao frowned slightly; although he did not know what Su Bai intended, he still answered.

“Our country recognizes seven conditions constituting unfair competition.”

“First, fraudulent transactions; second, improper commercial conduct; third, false advertising; fourth, infringement of trade secrets; fifth, predatory pricing; sixth, deceptive prize sales and large prize sales; seventh, defamation of the opposing party’s commercial reputation.”

After completing his answer, Chen Chao slightly raised his head and raised his hand toward the presiding judge.

“Presiding judge, I have answered the plaintiff’s questions.”

“However, my answers do not appear to have much relevance to this case, so I request that the plaintiff’s counsel cease questioning me.”

The previous questions were relatively simple legal questions, and answering them did not have much impact.

However, if the questioning continued step by step in this manner, it was possible that he might be led into a trap.

Therefore, Chen Chao decisively seized the opportunity to request the suspension of Su Bai’s questioning.

Bang bang bang.

At the presiding judge’s seat, Cao Liqiang struck the gavel.

“The defendant’s application is approved; the plaintiff shall cease questioning and continue the statement.”

“Understood, presiding judge.”

Su Bai exhaled slowly and nodded slightly.

It must be said that Penguin’s legal department possessed considerable experience.

Setting traps was no longer possible, so the only option was to rely on substantive legal argument to break the Little Penguin’s wings.

At this moment, Chen Chao noticed that Li Xuezhen had been staring at him without blinking.

However, he did not think much of it and instead focused his attention on Su Bai, intending to hear Su Bai’s statement.

At the plaintiff’s seat.

Su Bai spoke slowly.

“The legal provisions mentioned by Lawyer Chen just now are all correct.”

“According to the definition and determination of game plagiarism, code, text, artwork, and internal character names are all key factors, but.”

“For a game, the most critical point lies in one aspect.”

“The core of a game lies in its gameplay, and copying gameplay is the key element of game plagiarism.”

“First.”

“The gameplay of Crazy Match Match Match was originally created by our client Nanyou Studio.”

“Can the defendant explain why in our client’s mini game Crazy Match Match Match three animals are connected together and then eliminated, while in your game Happy Match It three animals are likewise connected together and then eliminated?”

“Why are they not four animals connected together and then eliminated, or five animals connected together and then eliminated?”

“Instead, just like our client Nanyou Studio, they involve three animals connected together and then eliminated?”

“This clearly demonstrates that Penguin Holdings Co., Ltd. copied the core gameplay originally created by Nanyou Studio in Crazy Match Match Match.”

“Similarly.”

“Regarding naming, our side uses Match Match Match, so why does your side use Match It? In the public’s understanding, Match Match Match means elimination, and Match It also means elimination. We believe the other party is stealing the core naming elements of our product!”

“Furthermore, in terms of overall framework, the game Happy Match It produced by Penguin Holdings Co., Ltd. is largely similar to the overall framework of our Crazy Match Match Match. Isn’t this plagiarism?”

“There is also another point, namely that with respect to the overall framework, the game Happy Match It produced by Penguin Holdings Co., Ltd. and the game Crazy Match Match Match produced by our side have broadly similar overall frameworks; is this not plagiarism?”

“According to the evidence already submitted, Crazy Match Match Match and Happy Match It exhibit a very high degree of similarity in gameplay.”

“Although Penguin’s Happy Match It has made certain modifications in code, text, artwork, and some detailed aspects.”

“The essential copying in gameplay constitutes copying of the core element of the game and therefore falls within game plagiarism.”

“Therefore, our side requests a determination that the mini game Happy Match It produced by Penguin Holdings Co., Ltd. plagiarized the mini game Crazy Match Match Match produced by our client Nanyou Studio.”

“Presiding judge, our side has completed the statement.”

Bang bang bang.

At the presiding judge’s seat, after carefully listening to Su Bai’s statement, Cao Liqiang struck the gavel.

“The plaintiff has completed the statement.”

“Now the defendant shall present its statement.”

After hearing Su Bai’s statement, Chen Chao smiled slightly.

What Su Bai had presented was very similar to previous accusations brought against Penguin; it could be said that the similarity reached eighty percent.

In summary, he had encountered such arguments many times before and could respond even with his eyes closed.

After arranging the materials he had already prepared, Chen Chao slowly spoke.

“With respect to the plaintiff’s questions, our side provides the following responses.”

“First, regarding the core gameplay raised by the plaintiff.”

“First, the core gameplay referred to by the plaintiff concerns three animals being connected together for elimination, and Penguin’s Happy Match It likewise involves three animals being connected together for elimination.”

“With respect to this point, our side raises an objection.”

“The objection is based on the following points.”

“First, why three animals rather than four, five, six, seven, or eight animals; this is because our side believes that three animals better reflects the enjoyment of the game.”

“Moreover, regarding why the number is three rather than four, five, six, seven, or eight, the number three is a common concept and does not possess originality.”

“According to legal provisions, originality refers to novelty, but three is merely a number and does not possess originality; Nanyou Studio cannot claim that the number three among three animals belongs to them.”

“With respect to animals being connected together for elimination, our side likewise possesses originality, because when comparing the two games.”

“First, the animals contained in Crazy Match Match Match include animals such as bears and small tigers.”

“However, the animals contained in Happy Match It include animals such as small lions and penguins, which are completely different from the animal elements in Crazy Match Match Match.”

“Second, regarding the naming issue raised by the plaintiff, our side believes that the plaintiff’s focus is somewhat misplaced, because Crazy Match Match Match and Happy Match It are each complete names as a whole.”

“Although eliminate eliminate eliminate and eliminate once have similar meanings, removing the first two characters means that they no longer constitute a complete name.”

“Therefore, with respect to the naming issue raised by the plaintiff, our side believes that there is no appropriation of the plaintiff’s game name.”

“Third, regarding the overall framework, based on the style of the two games, the overall framework possesses general applicability and does not contain original elements, so our side believes that the plaintiff’s application should be rejected.”

Chen Chao completed his statement slowly.

At the same time, he let out a long breath; from the current situation, the opposing counsel’s level appeared similar to that of previous lawyers who had brought such lawsuits, and there was a high probability that this litigation could be won.

After Chen Chao completed his statement, Su Bai’s lips curved slightly upward.

From Chen Chao’s statement, it could be seen that Penguin had conducted very thorough research on such infringement cases.

However.

He had also conducted very thorough research on Penguin.

With respect to Penguin’s response strategies in infringement cases, Su Bai had studied them in great detail.

Penguin?

Come, let us confront each other properly.