Beijing Court Hears Case Between Sina, Sohu

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 01, 2002

Beijing Court Hears Case Between Sina, Sohu

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court accepted a lawsuit Wednesday filed by Sohu.com against Sina.com relating to charges of unfair competition and copyright infringement.

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The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court accepted a lawsuit Wednesday filed by Sohu.com against Sina.com relating to charges of unfair competition and copyright infringement.

The current lawsuit is the third this year between the two traditional rivals, an indicator of the fierce competition among China's DotCom companies, most of which originated in the 1990s as Internet content providers.

In January, Sina.com accused Sohu of plagiarizing its web content. The case is still being heard by the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court.

In response, Sohu.com filed a libel suit against Sina with the People's Court of Haidian District in Beijing charging that the latter publicly damaged its reputation before the judicial process could proceed.

This case was subsequently dismissed by the court, and the motive for the dismissal has not yet been made public.

With regard to the current lawsuit, Sohu's attorneys are denouncing unfair competition by Sina, arguing that this has had adetrimental effect on Sohu's reputation and business operations.

The attorney is also accusing Sina of copyright infringement, specifying that the company plagiarized 75 photos for mobile phoneshort messages.

Sohu.com is demanding 500,000 yuan (about 60,241 US dollars) in compensation and the payment of all relevant legal fees by Sina.

Lawyers for Sina have responded by claiming that Sohu is filinga second lawsuit for the same copyright infringement charge, noting that the original charge filed by Sina is still being heardby the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court.

As for the 75 pictures for mobile phone short messages, Sina claims that it was Sohu who plagiarized them and is now attemptingto fabricate a case against Sina.

The company is demanding compensation in the amount of 100,000 yuan (about 12,048 US dollars) for its economic losses and the payment of all legal fees by Sohu.

It has also filed a plea asking that the court put a stop to Sohu's malfeasance.

After inspecting the evidence presented by both sides with respect to the ownership of the 75 short message pictures, the chief judge of the court said that more hearings will be held before a verdict is announced.

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