Court rules in favor of Tencent against Qihoo

Zhang Jun, assistant manager of Tencent's publicity department, said his company respected the court's verdict.

The case is the first time a court on the Chinese mainland has made a ruling on an alleged online monopoly.

Industry experts said the ruling will have a far-reaching impact on the development of the Internet, especially for instant messaging services.

Feng Xiaoqing, an intellectual property rights professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said the case was a common online commercial dispute.

"I think the court has heard and ruled on the case according to facts and laws," he said.

"Now it is normal for a company to bring another company to court to fight for its own interests, challenge its competitors and protect its intellectual property rights," he said.

"Such cases will become more prevalent as more companies step up their efforts to protect their intellectual property rights," Feng said.

He urged government departments and companies to pay more attention to cracking down on IPR infringements.

The case attracted attention both at home and abroad when a public hearing was first held at Guangdong High People's Court on April 18, 2012. The hearing attracted more than 300 observers, including experts, industry insiders, and local legislators.

Tencent was brought to court by Qihoo 360 in November 2011, and the Internet giant was also required to publicly apologize for having misused its dominant market position.

Tencent denied the accusation and argued that many other applications with instant messaging services, including Windows Live Messenger and Sina Weibo, also have major market shares.

Bundling sales is designed to protect Tencent's intellectual property rights, said Xu Yan, one of Tencent's lawyers.

QQ, an instant messaging software from Tencent, has a 76 percent market share, according to consulting company iResearch.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn