Google may soon find itself in a legal soup in China as top
managers from Sohu.com yesterday said the US Internet giant's
Chinese input method violated its patent rights, for which it can
be sued.
"Google did not just steal the product dictionary, it violated
the intellectual property rights of the revolutionary inventions
used in our input method product," said Charles Zhang, CEO of
Sohu.com, a NASDAQ-listed Chinese portal.
"It's a disgrace for a US company which takes pride in its
respect for intellectual property rights. We will launch a lawsuit
against them anytime," Zhang said.
On April 4, Google launched its own Chinese input method editor
software called Guge Pinyin. It was found to be surprisingly
similar to Sougou Pinyin released by Sohu.com in June 2006.
Similarities were found in the product dictionary that enables
users to write in Chinese characters by typing in their pinyin
equivalents.
Google admitted on Monday that "it did include some data source
that don't belong to Google in the trial period of the product" and
"felt sorry for its users and Sohu.com". But the company also said
it had finished the latest upgrade of its product and the latest
version of the dictionary was based on Google's own database.
Zhang said that although Google has made some changes in its
dictionary, there are sill "70 percent similarities" between the
two products.
"Google's problem is far more than a matter of dictionary
similarity," he said. "They copied our idea and violated the rights
of our technology inventions, which were first used in the input
method editor software."
Sohu.com said it had started patent applications for the key
technologies before it released its Sougou Pinyin last year. Four
patent applications were already in the notice period by the end of
last year and another dozen will enter the notice period this year,
according to Wang Xiaochuan, Sohu.com's vice-president.
But Yu Guofu, chief lawyer of Sam Partners Law Firm, said
Sohu.com is unlikely to file a lawsuit soon since the company has
not yet been granted any patents.
"Sohu.com's technology will be protected by the law only after
it is granted a patent," he said. "Its applications have come in
the notice period, during which disagreements and criticisms are
welcomed."
Yu said that during the six-month notice period, anyone can cast
doubt on an application. This is followed by a lengthy legal
process, which can last several years before a patent is
granted.
(China Daily April 11, 2007)