When they opened the floor for questions, a woman in the third row stood up.
I knew her face. Sarah Chen. Technology reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Famous for asking the one question nobody wanted asked.
“Ms. Bennett,” Sarah said. Her voice carried clearly through the stream. “The sensor technology in these devices appears to be covered by a series of patents held by Dr. Olivia Foster, who was, until recently, your head of R&D. Can you tell us about the licensing arrangements?”
For half a second, maybe less, something crossed Victoria’s face. A flicker. Then her media training snapped right back into place.
“All intellectual property used in our products is properly licensed and fully documented,” she said smoothly. “Bennett Technologies has complete rights to everything we’re presenting today.”
I turned to Marcus. He was already picking up his phone.
“Shall we?” he said.
“Let’s.”
He’d drafted the press statement weeks earlier. I’d read it forty times. All it needed was one click.
“Send it,” I said.
The statement went out to every major technology and business publication in the country. To every analyst who covered Bennett Technologies. To the investment banks underwriting the IPO. And, through a service Marcus used, directly to the email inbox of every single journalist and investor registered for that morning’s presentation.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. Patent Holder Dr. Olivia Foster Confirms Bennett Technologies’ License to Core Pulse Line Technology Expires in Three Months and Has Not Been Renewed.
It laid out everything. The eleven patent numbers. The license term. The expiration date. The renewal requests that had gone unanswered for a year. And one last line, which Marcus had insisted on.
Dr. Foster has not consented to renewal and is evaluating all options for the future licensing of her technology.
On the livestream, I watched it happen.
Phones lit up all over that auditorium. One at a time, then dozens at once. Heads went down. People started whispering to each other.
Victoria was still talking about market share. Nobody was listening anymore.
Then Sarah Chen stood up again. Right in the middle of Victoria’s sentence.
“Ms. Bennett, I apologize for interrupting. We’ve just received a statement from Dr. Foster. She says your license to use her patents expires in three months, before your planned launch date, and that she has not agreed to renew it.” Sarah looked up from her phone. “You just told this room you had complete rights. Would you like to comment?”
The camera was on Victoria’s face.
And for the first time in the twelve years I’d known her, the great Victoria Bennett had absolutely nothing to say.
Ethan Blake is a skilled Creative Content Specialist with a talent for crafting engaging and thought-provoking narratives. With a strong background in storytelling and digital content creation, Ethan brings a unique perspective to his role at TheArchivists, where he curates and produces captivating content for a global audience.
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