Chapter 330 Not a Big Problem

Silicon Valley, Sarot Institute.

Lying on the table are five resignation letters.

Professor Sarot didn't touch those resignation letters, but Lu Zhou picked them up with interest and glanced at them roughly.

Then, he soon understood why Sarot was so furious.

Obviously, this little boss is not particularly popular in the research institute, at least not so popular in the hearts of some people. Even if the person is about to leave, he did not forget to slander his old employer in his resignation letter.

But think about it, before Lu Zhou bought the research institute, this fellow owed the salaries of these researchers for several months. If Lu Zhou didn't show up in time, many people might not even pay for their credit cards.

"This group of damn white-eyed wolves!"

Sitting next to the desk, Sarot was trembling with anger, and clenched his fists on the desk tightly.

At this moment, the door of the office opened, and his research assistant walked in with a stack of documents.

Looking at the little boss who was getting angry, the assistant whispered nervously.

"Mr. Sarot, the information you want..."

Although this was said to Sarot, the research assistant's eyes were looking at another big boss in the office.

Smiling and shaking his head, Lu Zhou stretched out his hand.

"give it to me."

"Okay, Professor..."

After handing over the document to Lu Zhou, the assistant heaved a sigh of relief and quickly fled the office.

When leaving, he very self-consciously took the door behind him.

Sitting down on the sofa, Lu Zhou picked up the file and simply rolled his eyes.

This document is divided into two parts, one part is the original contract of the former employee, and the other part is the damage assessment report.

It has to be said that Mobil Chemical moved very quickly, and Professor Stanley acted decisively.

The battle had just started, and the two joined forces to give him a maverick, and poached five researchers from him.

Although in a place like San Francisco where there are many colleges and universities and the talent market is oversupplied, digging this corner is not a big deal, but the work that should be in charge of them has been left behind.

For a while, the research progress of Sarot's laboratory fell into a short stagnation because of these five resignation letters.

If that's all it is, it's fine.

Poaching depends on who is being poached. In a mid-level research unit with a sound management system, even researchers in charge of the same project cannot have access to all experimental data.

But here lies the problem.

One of them, a research assistant named Ricardo, may be suspected of leaking secrets.

As mentioned in this loss assessment report, the data that this research assistant came into contact with in his work happened to include the spatial structure of caged carbon molecules provided by Lu Zhou, as well as some unfinished mathematical models...

Although there is no direct evidence to prove that he will leak secrets, some things do not need evidence to prove.

However, when he saw this, Lu Zhou was relieved.

Seeing that Lu Zhou was not angry at all, Sarot couldn't help asking: "Are you not in a hurry?

"It's just five assistants," Lu Zhou said in a relaxed tone after throwing the assessment report on the coffee table, "It's not a big problem."

"You actually said it's not a big problem?" Sarot looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief, and said excitedly, "Now, they not only know our research progress, but also know exactly what we are studying! "

"Don't be so alarmed, my dear Professor Sarot," looking at the excited professor, Lu Zhou said comforting words, "This is San Francisco, since you like this place, you should be able to understand that poaching and job-hopping are here It’s a perfectly normal means of competition.”

Professor Stanley Whittingham is also a big cow in the field of lithium batteries, and he is also the director of the Institute of Materials Research at Binghamton University in the State University of New York system.

As early as 30 years ago, he was a leader in the field of lithium batteries. With the support of ExxonMobil Chemical, he developed the TiS2/Li lithium battery system. If it hadn't been stuck in the neck by lithium dendrites and failed to be commercialized, with that terrifying theoretical energy density, it would have been a proper black technology at that time.

Compared with this boss, Lu Zhou, who is an "upstart" in the field of materials science, does not have a great advantage in his reputation in the field of materials science.

In particular, Stanley is not fighting alone. The shareholder behind his laboratory is the well-known ExxonMobil—a real industry giant that even Umicore can’t panic.

It happened anyway, and there's no point in dwelling on what's right or wrong.

For such behavior, Lu Zhou made his decision after thinking for a while.

"According to the non-competition agreement and the non-disclosure agreement, the accountability should be pursued, and the prosecution should be sued. If ExxonMobil intends to pay for them, let them pay for it."

"It's not painful to Exxon Mobil at all, and we have to spend a lot of legal fees." Sarot complained, and couldn't help cursing, "This group of despicable and shameless guys!"

Lu Zhou shrugged: "Whether it hurts or not, this is our position on traitors. I will let Xingkong Technology accept the case and hire the best law firm in New York to take charge of the lawsuit. Even if it is a show, we have to do it." Show it to others."

Although he is a good talker and has an easy-going personality, it does not mean that he will tolerate outside the rules.

Good gathering and good separation only exist under the normal resignation procedures. Now that you have turned your back on the battlefield, you should prepare for early "retirement"!

According to the previously signed non-competition agreement, researchers who resigned through abnormal procedures will be prohibited from working in related fields within five years, otherwise they will also bear an additional fine. Especially that Ricardo, he intends to prosecute him for the crime of commercial espionage, and depending on the seriousness of the crime, he may even face criminal responsibility.

After a pause, Lu Zhou continued: "In addition, our confidentiality measures need to be strengthened."

Professor Sarot said harshly: "I will ask the legal department to re-draft more stringent non-competition contracts and confidentiality contracts."

Lu Zhou nodded: "This is only one aspect. You must remember that it is never the terms of the contract that can really retain talents. In order to achieve a specific goal, your opponent can always afford a higher price than you."

For enterprises, it is corporate culture, and for research institutions, it is a scientific research environment jointly created by a series of factors such as well-known scholars, top-notch equipment, research results, and management systems.

In contrast, these are the foundation of a research institute.

"I know what you said, but now is not the time to discuss these things. What's next?" Sarot looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "Shall we continue to fight against Mobil Chemical in this direction?"

Lu Zhou nodded: "Of course, we don't need to change our original direction because of this little setback."

"They can use ten times as much manpower as us to do the work that ten of us do," Sarot said in a depressed tone, "with all due respect, we have no chance of winning at all."

Looking at Sarot, who was a bit self-defeating, Lu Zhou's expression was a little helpless.

How should I say it?

Although the HCS-1 material was obtained by accident when studying the caged carbon molecule, the research institution filled in the two papers in "Science" is indeed the Sarot Institute.

But neither the caged carbon molecule nor the research project conducted by the Sarot Institute has anything to do with lithium-sulfur batteries.

The reason why Sarot was asked to study was just to complete the system task.

However, these words are obviously not used to comfort people.

Lu Zhou wasn't sure if he told Sarot the truth, would his mood get better, or would it get worse, and he would even doubt his life...