Supreme court concludes Internet giants trial

BEIJING -- The case between Chinese Internet giants Qihoo 360 and Tencent over monopolies and unfair practices concluded on Wednesday and the ruling will be announced later, according to the Supreme People's Court (SPC).

The feud between Qihoo 360 and China's leading Internet company, Tencent, began in 2010, when Qihoo 360 accused Tencent of invading the privacy of its users through a security program bundled with Tencent's popular QQ instant messaging service.

Following the complaint, Qihoo 360 released its own security software, claiming it would speed up QQ and offer better privacy. Tencent responded by warning its users that this software could cause QQ to malfunction.

Qihoo 360 sued Tencent, claiming it had abused its dominant position in the Internet marketplace. In March 2013, Guangdong Higher People's Court rejected Qihoo's suit against Tencent.

Later, Tencent sued Qihoo 360, accusing it of unfair competition and asking for compensation. Tencent won the case in April 2013.

Qihoo has now turned to the SPC, appealing for a re-trial at the higher court and demanding Tencent stop its perceived monopolistic actions and pay compensation worth 150 million yuan ($24.6 million) along with Qihoo's legal costs in the case.

Meanwhile, Tencent asked for the SPC to reject all demands from Qihoo and maintain the previous ruling.

According to an SPC statement released late on Wednesday, the two sides carried out heated debates and questioning during the two-day trial concerning key issues such as what the "Internet marketplace" was in this case, whether Tencent had violated the anti-monopoly law and whether the higher court had made procedural violations in the previous management of the case.

Experts and witnesses also appeared in court to clarify technological issues and answer questions raised by the two sides, said the statement, adding that both Qihoo 360 and Tencent maintained their respective appeals until the end of the trial.

"The verdict in the case will be announced on a day yet to be determined," it added.

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