FanStory.com - What We See - Chapter 36by Jim Wile

Chapter 36

Monday morning at 9:30, I arrived at Fraleigh Medical, located in University Park, just south of Chicago. It is a modern building in an office park, well away from the city proper. Mr. Carmody was waiting for me in the entrance lobby, and he let the receptionist know we were both here now. She called Wilson Fraleigh’s office to alert them and showed us the way to his office.

Fraleigh was there to greet us when we arrived. He was a tall man, perhaps 65 years old, but very thin and pallid-looking. We made our introductions, and he showed us into his office and asked us if we’d like some coffee, to which we both responded yes. He asked his secretary to bring it in when it was ready and closed the door.

His office was large and spacious, and we took seats at a small conference table. Fraleigh began by giving us a brief history of the company he had built and highlighting some of the products they had manufactured. He seemed very proud of his company. His face then took on a somber look, and he hesitated a few seconds before going on.

“Gentlemen, I’ve had a chance to find out the circumstances of our recent acquisition of this invention, and I must tell you that what I discovered was very disconcerting to me. Did you happen to bring the videotape you recorded of the theft?”

I had placed everything in a briefcase, removed the camcorder, and played the tape for him.

Fraleigh said, “Yes, this is the same man who was on the security footage from when he came in to sell us the device and the documentation that he brought on diskettes. I haven’t had a chance to look at all the data, but his name is on what I did see.”

“I’m sure he went into the files and changed them where he could. I make weekly backups of the hard drive that he stole, so I have all the electronic documentation he gave you, and I assure you, it is my name on all the documentation. I have the newer version of the prototype as well.”

“I don’t doubt you, Mr. Phelps. You seem to have taken great precautions against such an event as this theft. Still, would you mind showing me some of the documentation with your name on it?”

I reached into the briefcase and pulled out a file folder containing hard copies of both notes and drawings that I had printed out, clearly showing my name on them. I also brought out the newer model of the glasses and put everything on the table for him to see.

After perusing the hard copies, he picked up the glasses and inspected them. “This looks a little different from the device we acquired.”

“Yes, this one uses a CMOS camera mounted here above the bridge, while the other one uses a CCD camera. The CMOS camera allows for a wider page to scan with much easier programming.”

He nodded, then put the glasses back on the table and glanced through the notes and drawings I’d provided. “Not that it matters a great deal, but just for completeness, can you verify that this man was indeed in your employ at the time of the theft?”

“Yes, I have that too,” I said as I reached into the briefcase and brought out a copy of the last payroll record I’d printed out.

He studied this for a moment. “This is a different name than the one he used on the documentation I saw. That was most likely an alias. It’s a good thing you had the video proof of his theft, or I might not have known who was telling the truth here, although I would have strongly suspected it was you. I’m just curious; was he a good employee?”

“He was, but he had a gambling problem. He was a poker player, and my guess was that he was deeply in debt and needed the money quickly. He was not himself the last week of his employment and came in with a black eye one day, claiming it was due to a slip in the shower. I suspect he’d been visited by the person he owed the money to.”

“This is all making sense now. Let me tell you what happened at this end and what I plan to do about it. As I told you over the phone, I have been off for the past four or five weeks having and recuperating from heart surgery. I had been largely incommunicado during that time, on the advice of my doctor. Unbeknownst to me, Meyers approached us over a week ago with the device and data. My brother-in-law, who has been working here for about a year as a junior vice-president, was the one to meet with him.”

He paused then, with a grim look on his face and a slight shake of the head. “The bottom line is that my brother-in-law bought the device and data from Meyers for a sum of $100,000. That was an excellent deal on our part. I can’t fault his acumen for recognizing a winner and buying it cheaply, but I can certainly find fault with his judgment and tactics. He did not consult with our attorney on this matter but just wrote Meyers a check for the amount in exchange for the device and data. This was highly irregular but seems to follow a pattern of poor judgment on his part that has led to a few major problems in the past year. I assure you; this will be dealt with in very short order.”

“And the patent application that your company has made?” put in Carmody.

“I will personally withdraw that application today so that you may become first in line when you file yours, Mr. Phelps.”

I smiled broadly.

Carmody said, “We are very happy to hear that, Mr. Fraleigh. That, indeed, was the result we were hoping for, and that is very honorable of you.”

“Thank you. I don’t believe in conducting business in this way, and I apologize for the grief this must have caused you, Mr. Phelps. That being said, this is a wonderful invention, and I would very much like to manufacture it if you could see it your way to let us bid on it. Are you interested in selling the patent once you get it, or were you thinking about a license agreement? We would be happy to accommodate either option.”

Carmody said, “We haven’t gotten that far in our discussions yet, and we will be exploring both options.”

“To show you my sincere regret about what happened, I would be prepared to make you a very good offer whichever way you decide to go. I sincerely hope you will consider us.”

“I appreciate that, Mr. Fraleigh,” I said. “Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”

“I can’t think of anything. I will be sure to notify you, Mr. Carmody, as soon as the provisional patent application has been withdrawn. I will initiate proceedings to do that today.”

“Thank you,” said Carmody. “We very much appreciate your honesty and your attempts to rectify this situation.”

“You’re welcome. That’s just not the way I like to do business. Our reputation has taken a few hits lately, and another lawsuit would have been very unwelcome. As I said, I will be handling the reason for that immediately. I apologize again for what has happened and hope to be able to make it up to you in the future.”

On the way out to the parking lot, Carmody said to me, “Well, Alan, I don’t think we could have asked for a better result than this. I would advise you now to complete your final modifications to the application for the provisional patent and overnight it to me so that I may check it over a final time. The sooner we can get this off to the USPTO, the less you have to worry about being preempted. You’ll then have a year to complete the full patent application. Then we can decide the next step, which will either be to sell the patent or to make a license agreement whereby you would keep the patent rights but earn royalties instead. We can discuss pros and cons later.”

We shook hands and said goodbye after he assured me that he would let me know when Fraleigh had withdrawn their application.