College Chastity Choice Game 2

I had an incredible day at work. Being a patent attorney isn't easy. Working for his parents is even worse.

But today, I had a major victory.

Most people do not understand what a patent is, and yet, it's so simple!

My client is an inventor. They invented a new way to regulate the torque in an electric motor. His invention isn't revolutionary. It's not even better than what currently exists.

In short, what his invention and others like his do, is that they assist an electric motor is ensuring it is functioning at peak efficiency.

Unlike a gas engine, you can simply mount an electric motor directly to the load. For example, the wheels of an electric car, the turbine of a pump or the driving shaft of a centrifuge.

A gas engine has a peak efficiency range and while you can spin it faster or slower, it has a perfect speed where it minimizes fuel and maximizes torque.

An electric motor adapts easier, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be assisted. If it forces too much, it will overheat and its wires might melt. It's casing might deform.

So, people have applied the same transmission tricks used on gas engines to electric motors in some cases, but my client found another way.

A method more suited to electric motors, that is focuses on the strengths of electrical motors instead of gas powered ones.

It is always better than coupling directly to the engine? Usually not. For an electric car for example, it wouldn't help. For a truck, maybe, especially a semi. But for factories, cranes? It could help a lot.

Now, here is the part that I had to prepare for. To help his client, sign a licensing deal with crane company.

A traditional gear box would have worked. In fact, it probably would have been more adequate for their purpose, but my client's solution had three distinct advantages.

First, it requires no lubrication and almost no maintenance. Only a monthly inspection for wear and tear done in only a few minutes. You power down the motor using a lock box, open a hatch, and take a picture with the iOS and Android app. Turn the inspection crank and take another picture. You keep going until the app tells you that you passed, or failed.

Yeah, an inspection via an app! Welcome to the 21st century.

It's simple, all the moving parts are painted with different layers of paint so that the app can scan and use the color of the parts to check for damage.

It's genius.

But negotiations were hard. The device doesn't save electricity. It doesn't cost more, but it doesn't save any.

It doesn't work faster or slower than any other external

So, the first argument is that it reduces maintenance and thus, total cost of ownership. For a crane company, this means they can sell their crane with a lower total cost of ownership.

The second argument is the size and weight. The box housing the device take less space and thus, allows for a small footprint for the engine part. This allows to build a smaller crane mechanical section, reducing the footprint of the crane.

Now, it weights less, but what saves the most weight is that smaller footprint. A lot of cranes are movable, so that if they weight less, they cost less to move. That is a save of gas or electricity right there.

But it's the third argument that felt the most powerful to me, but was also the weakest because so far, it was just speculation.

My client installed his prototype in a factory, six years ago. It's not as efficient as it is today. It doesn't have the inspection paint. It doesn't have the new casing.

What it does have, is six years of almost uninterrupted operation with only minor adjustments.

The system is based on an easy to replace drum in the middle of the device. In fact, he delivered each device with two replacement drums (at my suggestion) which typically each last from 10 to 30 months and take about 5 minutes to swap.

He can even recondition used drums for a relatively low fee. In fact, he sees half of his profit margin to come from drum reconditioning fees and half from licensing his patent to companies like the crane company who would make the device itself, but use the drums he builds.

Sure, the patent will last only 17 years after being granted, probably next year, but he is 49 and plans to retire before his patent expires. Perfect plan!

Meanwhile, I will negotiate for him every patent licensing requests and make a nice hourly fee.

As soon as they left with their signed contract, I called my wife to celebrate, but she didn't pick up. She might have been in the bathtub or napping.

So, I called my boss, the CEO of the company I work for, my father Conrad, but his secretary told me he was in a meeting.

Damn it. Is there no one I can call? Julie, my little sister is probably in class, so is her boyfriend, Allan, who was my intern last summer on this very project, so I decide to call the president of the board, my mother.

Well, she is in a meeting too, so the only person I can talk to is my secretary, for all the good it can do. He is good, not doubt it about, but he is here for a paycheck and nothing else.

What I need, is to celebrate. Things are moving up.

I check my calendar, and it's empty. It's still early and traffic shouldn't be so bad. People call me an idiot for driving in Manhattan, but my office has a parking garage, my condo has a parking garage, and they are only a mile apart!

Fine, usually I walk to the office. It's why I bought that condo. But I had a meeting out of town this morning.

Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't just park home, and walk to work, but the problem was that I came back late and almost missed this meeting. Traffic...

But the drive home was eventless and once parked underground, I went to the store to get a nice bottle of wine. Luna likes this one, assuming she can drink it tonight. If not, I'll keep it for another day. Like so many other bottles filling their condo.

Almost whistling from happiness, I ride up the elevator to the penthouse, but my smile fades and my worry returns as soon as the elevator stops.