According to most people's logic, the first thing to do after creating a product is to find a way to sell it. But that logic only applies in industries where copyright or patent infringement isn't a concern.
Once intellectual property is involved, everything changes. The first thing you do—especially when your product is easy to copy or reverse-engineer—is secure your rights.register it before someone else does.
For Ethan, this was clear. After all, his abrupt firing from Magnavox was still fresh in his memory. He wasn't going to risk watching his work get stolen or buried again.
Ethan had considered asking Thomas to help him hire a lawyer. As a landowner and a member of both the California Agricultural Federation and the American Farm Bureau, Thomas had the connections to track down legal counsel.
But then Evelyn dropped a game-changer. She casually mentioned that, during the Snake project, she had already sought help from professors at Stanford Law School.
That was all Ethan needed to hear. In an instant, Thomas was no longer part of the plan.
So, early the next morning, Ethan and Evelyn climbed into a Chevrolet and hit the road—bound for Stanford University, and hopefully, legal protection.
......
Stanford University, founded by Leland Stanford and his wife, is home to one of the largest campuses in America. Nestled on the San Francisco Peninsula, just northwest of the Santa Clara Valley, it might look distant—but it's actually less than fifteen miles from Los Gatos.
After cruising down Route 85 for barely half an hour, Ethan caught sight of a distinctive building: yellow brick walls, red-tiled roofs—an unmistakable hallmark of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture.
"This must be it," Ethan said, glancing at the imposing structure.
It was the centerpiece of Stanford University, recognizable.
As they continued along the wide, well-kept roads, rows of tall palm trees swayed in the breeze. Flowerbeds bloomed with lilies, and rose gardens unfolded on either side. For an open university sprawling across 8,180 acres, Stanford had no walls—not every capitalist wears a red tie, Ethan thought dryly.
Soon, they pulled up in front of a teaching building. A stone tablet near the entrance bore the familiar Stanford tree logo, and beneath it were two lines carved in serif lettering:
StanfordLaw School
"This is it, right?" Ethan asked.
"Uh-huh," Evelyn nodded.
After parking the Chevrolet, they headed upstairs. On the second floor, Evelyn led Ethan to a general office and knocked lightly. About few seconds passed before the door creaked open.
A middle-aged woman appeared. She had a warm face, curly brown hair, and wore a black sweater with a few embroidered flowers near the neckline.
The moment she saw Evelyn, her face lit up.
"Oh, Evelyn~ You're here!" she said, opening her arms for a hug.
"Yes, Teacher Barbara. I'm here," Evelyn replied with a warm smile. "Sorry to disturb you during your free time."
Barbara shook her head emphatically. "No, no, no—it's our duty to use the law to help those who need it."
Then, with a playful smile, she added, "Besides, when haven't you been occupying my free time? If I recall correctly, you show up three or four times a week."
"Whoa That's not on me!" Evelyn grinned. "It was Professor Wenton who kept sending me your way!"
"I swear," Evelyn continued, "if phones and hearing aids didn't cause acoustic feedback due to electromagnetic interference, your office phone would ring every day."
That made Barbara laugh out loud. "So what—you're saying Wenton talks too much?"
"Me? No!" Evelyn blinked innocently, tilting her head. "Teacher Barbara, don't twist my words! I was just stating a purely hypothetical fact."
"Hahaha—alright, alright. You win," Barbara said, still chuckling. "You're making me nervous now."
Then she turned to Ethan. "And this must be your brother. Ethan… Jones?"
"That's right," Evelyn said. "This is the Ethan I told you about."
"Hello, Ms. Babcock," Ethan said, stepping forward.
Barbara reached out warmly. "Ethan! Can I call you that?"
"Of course," Ethan nodded, shaking her hand.
"No need to be so formal," she said, patting him lightly on the shoulder. "Just call me Barbara, like Evelyn does. 'Ms. Babcock' sounds like I'm about to sell you junk stocks over the phone."
Ethan chuckled. "You're very funny, Barbara."
"Alright, alright, enough of the small talk," she said, waving them inside. "Come on in and sit down."
She stepped aside and gestured toward a small tea table.
"Help yourselves. There's coffee and tea—make whatever you'd like."
......
In truth, Ethan Jones had never heard of Ms. Barbara Babcock before. Or rather—in his memories of the future, there was no famous figure by that name active in the American legal world.
But the moment Evelyn introduced him to Barbara's background, Ethan didn't hesitate.
She was exactly the kind of person he needed. Barbara Babcock, born in 1938, had earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1960, then attended Yale Law School, graduating with honors—a member of the prestigious Order of the Coif.
After that, she clerked for Judge Henry Edgerton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Later, she joined the office of renowned criminal defense attorney Edward Bennett Williams. By 1971, she had become the first director of the District of Columbia Public Defender Service.
Then, in 1972, she accepted a faculty position at Stanford Law School, becoming the first female law professor in the university's history.
But it wasn't just her résumé that impressed Ethan—it was her conviction.
Since 1970, Barbara had been teaching courses on Women and the Law at both Yale and Georgetown, and for the past five years, she had been compiling and shaping the emerging history of women in the American legal system.
According to Evelyn: "Professor Barbara is amazing! She's publishing a casebook on gender-based discrimination and law this year—and professors all over the country are already praising it. She's the best choice among all the lawyers we can access.
If nothing else, that book alone is going to make her a household name."
After hearing that, Ethan didn't need convincing.
Barbara was a lawyer. And that was exactly what he needed. Because fear of the law may make you a careful man. But mastery of the law? That's how you turn fear into power.
Note:
① Order of the Coif Medal – A prestigious academic honor awarded only to the top 10% of graduates from American law schools each year.
② The casebook on gender-based discrimination referenced in the text is historically significant—it is only the second such case collection in U.S. legal history. With its publication, Barbara Babcock rose to prominence across the American legal community.
Notably, she once engaged in a high-profile legal debate with the so-called "Maga King", and Justice Sberg has publicly praised Barbara on multiple occasions for her depth of scholarship and fearless advocacy.