Beijing court files first internet trademark dispute

A Beijing court has filed the first trademark dispute in the internet financial industry and accepted the plaintiff's application to preserve evidence.

Beijing Intellectual Property Court confirmed last week that Qihoo 360, China's largest security software provider, filed the lawsuit in February and claimed that an Internet financial company named 360 Daidai Web had a similar trademark and made use of its popularity to attract users.

Qihoo 360 announced at that time that it never had a relationship with the company, also the platform providing person-to-person services, and it asked for 30 million yuan ($4.49 million) in total, according to the court.

On June 3, Qihoo 360 applied for the preservation of evidence to the court.

Now, the website's domain name, www.360daidai.com, has been frozen, which means it cannot be transferred, canceled or changed, the court said. It added it will be key during the following trial.

Evidence preservation is also regarded as an effective measure to protect intellectual property rights and that it will take advantage of it before hearing related disputes, the court explained.