The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4027

Chapter 4027 Restrictive Clauses

Was Ves dreaming?

The breakthrough in the negotiations between the Larkinson Clan and the Voiken Family sounded like music to his ears.

In exchange for contributing to the Pacifier Project, Ves would essentially receive 20 percent of the proceeds of the entire ecosystem of mechs, auxiliary products, replacement parts and other related goods!

Though Ves felt extremely happy to earn a lot of money for a large amount of products that he didn't even require his input, as soon as he sobered up a bit, he grew a bit suspicious why the deal was so heavily favored towards the Larkinson Clan.

Even if it became evident that the Voikens developed a clear intention of befriending the Larkinsons, why give away such a large share when they were doing almost all of the work?

While it was understandable for the Voikens to pay a lot of 'royalty fees' to earn the right to utilize Lufa's glow in one of their key designs, a 20 percent share on the entire range sounded a bit excessive!

There were dozens of other mech models that Ves had not committed to contributing!

Were the Voikens truly willing for Ves to freeload off the income generated by the products of their labor?

If the Voiken Family wanted to show enough sincerity, then gifting the Larkinsons with a one-time gift like the large-capacity combat carrier was already sufficient.

As precious as a starship in the Red Ocean might be, giving away such a precious vessel only affected the early development of the Voiken Family.

On the other hand, a deal that continually forced Voiken Industries to pass on 20 percent of the money it made from selling every single mech and good from their law enforcement mech ecosystem would continue to drag on their heels for many years!

It was extremely unlikely for the Voikens to be able to break off this chain once they shackled it onto their ankles.

Ves distinctly recalled that Professor Taigen Herman Voiken, the Senior in charge of the Voiken Family's operations in the Red Ocean, specialized in designing law enforcement mechs!

This meant that this important Senior had no alternative! He wasn't like Ves who could easily decide to work on a different mech type whenever he wished.

If Professor Taigen wished to push his design philosophy to the next level, then he could only continue to surrender 20 percent of the money made from selling much of his own work.

Of course, if Taigen and the Voikens truly wanted to renege on this onerous restriction in the future, they had plenty of ways to break the chain by force.

They could convince the MTA to intervene and forcibly alter a contract that it was responsible for enforcing.

Voiken Industries could go bankrupt and close its doors, thereby invalidating every agreement made to it while the Voikens could just start a new company.

Taigen could officially leave Voiken Industries and start a new mech company that was not related to the Voiken Family.

When Ves voiced all of these possible concerns to Gavin, his personal assistant smiled back and shook his head.

"If you study the contract more closely, you will realize that the contents already address a part of the scenarios that you have brought up. For example, the agreement doesn't just cover Voiken Industries alone, but also mentions Professor Taigen Voiken by name. This way, it doesn't matter if he leaves his current company and starts a new one. He will still be bound by the terms of our contract! Not even passing through the greater beyonder gate and returning to the Milky Way will allow him to escape our agreement so easily!"

Ves brought the data pad closer to his head and studied the text more seriously. Even though it was filled with a mix of dense legalese jargon and constant references to other clauses, he could see that many of the terms were only there to close up every conceivable loophole that the Larkinson negotiators could come up with. They had not been holding back!

"Besides, as a mech designer, you should know the temperament of high-ranking mech designers. Their credibility and reputation is more valuable than mere profits. It is not difficult for Seniors and Masters to earn money. Giving away 20 percent of the money earned from their law enforcement mech ecosystem in exchange for a substantial amount of long-term benefits is not necessarily a bad deal from their perspective."

"Oh?" Ves raised his eyebrow. "I get the feeling that I am missing a few details. What is in it for the Voikens, exactly?"

"First, you should know that the contract includes a non-compete clause. It essentially states that as long as the contract holds true, we cannot compete against the Voikens in the product category of law enforcement mechs by selling our own versions of this mech type."

Ves immediately frowned. "This is a serious restriction!"

He hated being limited, but he understood why the Voikens wanted to add this reassurance to the agreement. If the Larkinsons did not make this promise, then what would stop the Larkinsons from studying how to design law enforcement mechs and poach their clients while they were nominally cooperating?

The Voikens did not want to spell their own doom in this market by raising their own competitor!

"I don't think it is good to enter into these kinds of agreements either, but right now it is too difficult for our business operations to take off by relying on our own efforts." Gavin laid out his thoughts. "The Voiken Family is a good collaborative partner for us, and our cooperation only covers a single area of the total mech market. Sure, we will be passing on the opportunity to come out with our own line of law enforcement mechs, but it is not a bad deal for us to collect our 20 percent rent from Voiken Industries while concentrating our efforts onto our core product lines. Maybe we can consider entering this market by ourselves in the future, but for now our mech company is too small and limited to compete in too many markets."

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