Invention

Immediately after, Felina introduced Lizer to the laws and regulations regarding the protection of intellectual property rights in the Crimson Soul Duchy...

The protection of intellectual property in the Crimson Soul Duchy came from two aspects.

The Duchy's own National Law explicitly stated:

All wealth born from the crystallization of wisdom shall be properly protected to encourage citizens to actively create.

The Intellectual Property Protection Act derived from this stipulated:

Intellectual property rights were divided into four tiers: Practical Improvement, General Invention, Major Breakthrough, and Civilizational Innovation.

Different tiers offered different levels of protection:

Practical Improvements had a protection period of only 5 years, while General Inventions had 10 to 20 years. The scope of protection for both was limited to the Duchy's territory.

Major Breakthroughs enjoyed a protection period of 20 to 50 years, and Civilizational Innovations were protected permanently. Their scope covered the entire Wizarding World.

Pricing rights for the knowledge were proposed by the creator and approved by the Duchy. For inventions involving Major Breakthroughs and Civilizational Innovations, the Duchy would apply to the Wizard Council, which would then verify and approve them.

This was the protection at the Duchy level. As could be seen from the Act, above the Duchy stood the legendary Wizard Council, which protected Major Breakthroughs and Civilizational Innovations.

What constituted a Major Breakthrough and a Civilizational Innovation?

Something that could affect the entire Wizarding World was called a Major Breakthrough.

Something that could allow the civilization of the entire Wizarding World to achieve a massive leap forward was a Civilizational Innovation.

The Wizard Council stationed observers in the Duchy. Their main responsibility was to supervise the Duchy's development, ensuring it aligned with the civilizational direction stipulated by the Council.

This included the protection of intellectual property rights and the prevention of infiltration from the Divine World. Their contact information was widely publicized, and anyone could file complaints regarding these matters. The Council would handle them after verification.

Other than that, they were forbidden from interfering with the development of any nation. The Wizard Council operated on its own independent set of rules, remaining aloof from worldly affairs.

This was somewhat similar to the United Nations from his previous life, except the UN wanted to manage everything but could actually manage nothing.

The Wizard Council of this world, however, did not want to manage anything, yet in terms of power, they could manage absolutely everything. They were the undisputed overlords of the world.

These laws were already very comprehensive. Lizer's so-called inventions were actually quite simple; they were just the electric scooters and three-wheelers from his previous life.

This world already had bicycles. It was just that wizards focused on higher technologies, so no one bothered researching such a niche sub-category.

Without such comprehensive intellectual property protection, Lizer's inventions would probably be plagiarized by others in a matter of minutes.

The cost of a bicycle in this world was about 3 to 4 silver coins, and it sold for around 5 silver coins. It was considered very popular among the middle class.

If Lizer produced electric scooters and three-wheelers, based on his market analysis, selling them for 25 and 30 silver coins respectively would be no problem at all.

Their performance and applicability far exceeded that of bicycles. Meanwhile, the price of a Witch Box started in gold coins, and its maintenance costs were exorbitant. The products Lizer brought would fill the massive gap between bicycles and Witch Boxes.

The profit margins would definitely be extremely high. A protection period of 5 to 10 years would be more than enough for him to earn the funds needed for his early-stage pay-to-win development.

After Lizer figured out the Duchy's intellectual property protections, he took out two sets of blueprints he had compiled based on his past-life memories combined with this world's bicycle structure. He handed them to Felina, naming them the Little Witch Scooter and the Three-Wheeler.

Felina first opened the blueprint for the Little Witch Scooter. The overall design was similar to a bicycle, but it had an extra iron box and some connecting parts. She asked in confusion:

Other than this iron box, it seems no different from a bicycle.

Lizer nodded:

The concept is very simple, but the core lies in this iron box. I am not a wizard apprentice, so I still need your help to complete its design. Let me explain the principles to you...

In Lizer's vision, this iron box was similar to a combination of a battery and an electric motor from his previous life, capable of storing a small amount of wind element.

Then, through connecting parts, the transmission of the wind element would be controlled. After the wind element passed through small holes into the fully enclosed wind motor chamber...

The wind element would push completely isolated metal blades, thereby driving the bearings to rotate, which would in turn rotate the bicycle's tires.

Hearing this, Felina became extremely excited:

Then the rider wouldn't need to exert any effort; it could move on its own. Isn't this almost the same as a Witch Box?

Lizer continued to explain to Felina that there was still a huge gap between this and a Witch Box. Its speed, weight, and structural complexity were far inferior to a Witch Box, and their applicable scenarios were vastly different.

A Witch Box was suitable for regional transport over distances of 50 or even 100 kilometers, and it required relatively high-quality transportation infrastructure. The energy storage and structure of the Little Witch Scooter, however, were only suitable for mid-range transport of 10 to 30 kilometers, and its speed certainly couldn't compare.

Of course, they could definitely expand its energy storage and increase its speed, but that wasn't a product Lizer wanted to develop at this stage. That would be for the next phase, targeting a higher-end market, the Witchcraft Motorcycle.

Seeing that Felina understood, Lizer then asked:

How much would it cost to add an iron box and connecting parts like these?

Felina pondered for a moment before slowly explaining:

The cost isn't high. The main increase in cost for the Little Witch Scooter lies in the wind element energy storage pool.

Because your requirements for energy storage and output aren't high, calculations show that an output of 0.003 to 0.005 mana per hour and a storage capacity of 0.05 to 0.1 mana will meet the demands.

Hmm, that would be around 10 silver coins, so the total cost of the Little Witch Scooter would be 15 silver coins.

Mana was one of the standard units of measurement promoted by the Wizard Council. It was defined as the energy released by the complete combustion of one ton of charcoal. In Lizer's memory, this was roughly equivalent to 9,000 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy.

One standard magic stone contained 100 mana, and the value of one magic stone converted to silver coins was 10,000 silver coins. However, this was for natural energy crystals, which were even more expensive.

In reality, the market price for rechargeable artificial witchcraft items containing more than 1 mana of energy was only about 50 silver coins, such as the energy detector Gloria had once lent him.

Felina's estimate of 10 silver coins was due to the unique customization required in the early stages. If mass-produced, the cost could be lowered even further.

Based on Lizer's economic estimation model of Grey Mist Mountain Town from his memory:

A town of 200,000 people had about 10,000 bicycles. The number of people with both the demand and purchasing power for the Little Witch Scooter or the Three-Wheeler was roughly 4,000 to 5,000. The potential market was about 1,000 gold coins. And this was just one of the Crimson Soul Duchy's three hundred thousand towns! The profit margin would be as high as 40 percent.

Hearing this, Felina's eyes seemed to sparkle with flashing gold coins. If this business was managed well, Lizer could become one of the top tycoons in the Duchy!

She looked around and carefully put away the blueprints:

Lizer, do you know how much wealth this represents? Aren't you afraid I might keep them for myself?

Lizer chuckled and said:

"What's mine is yours, Mentor, so what's the difference? Besides, as you can see, I'm not even a wizard apprentice yet. I can't design the core module for the 'Little Wizard Donkey' all on my own, and you are the only wizard apprentice I can trust, Mentor."