Bytedance Adds to Slew of Lawsuits in Bid to Keep Pace With China's Tech Goliaths
Xu Wei
DATE:  Jun 25 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Bytedance Adds to Slew of Lawsuits in Bid to Keep Pace With China's Tech Goliaths Bytedance Adds to Slew of Lawsuits in Bid to Keep Pace With China's Tech Goliaths

(Yicai Global) June 25 -- Beijing Bytedance Technology, best known as the firm behind news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, is again looking to sue search giant Baidu for unfair competition as it vies to keep pace with China's major tech players -- by taking them to court.

The plaintiff demands damages of CNY10 million (USD1.5 million) from Baidu Network Information Technology and Baidu Online Network Technology, both based in Beijing, Haidian District Court said online today. It has already accepted the case.

The complainant believes that the two Baidu units ran special columns on their websites and mobile apps which accused Jinri Toutiao's public relations team of seeking attention by attempting to defame some of the country's biggest tech firms. It claims the articles are misleading, lack evidence and are ruining Bytedance's reputation.

Bytedance, which also operates smash hit video app Douyin, has repeatedly floundered against the tech sector's biggest names and tried taking them to court for allegedly unfair competition. It has filed a string of lawsuits against Tencent, China's biggest tech firm by market cap, after stealing the competitor's intellectual property in 2017 and having to pay CNY270,000 (USD40,000) in damages. It then tried and failed to countersue.

Bytedance also filed a suit against Baidu earlier this year, claiming the defendant used its monopoly on the search market to mislead users and harm Jinri Toutiao's reputation.

Editor: James Boynton

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Keywords:   Toutiao,Baidu,TENCENT,LAWSUIT,Legal,Unfair Competition