Court Rules Qihoo 360 Not in Violation of Baidu IPR
The Beijing News, 12/08/13
The Beijing Xicheng District People's Court has ruled in favor of Chinese internet services and security software provider Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) in a case brought against the company by rival internet company Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) alleging intellectual property rights infringement. The court has ruled that the documents in question are not copyrightable.
In the suit, Baidu alleged that Qihoo is guilty of unauthorized copying and dissemination of Baidu's webmaster documentation files, for which Baidu demanded RMB 500,000 in damages.
Baidu claims exclusive ownership of the sitemap generation tools on its webmaster platform, which allow webmasters to generate and submit sitemap files to aid in Baidu's indexing of their sites. According to Baidu, Qihoo 360's search platform for webmasters, which launched on January 24, 2013, copies both the content and formatting of the data submission process from Baidu's platform.
The court has ruled that the documentation files involved in this submission process are not subject to copyright laws.
Baidu has refused to accept the judgment and plans to appeal.
Editor's Note: For more information on this topic, please see "Baidu Sues Qihoo 360 for IPR Infringement," MD 6/06/13 issue.
Keywords: Internet IPR infringement Baidu copyright Beijing Xicheng District People's Court BIDU Qihoo 360 QIHU litigation law online search
Sending
