The Software Giant, Microsoft, has interestingly sued one of China’s largest homegrown electronics distributors, Gome Electrical Appliances Holding, along with a Beijing electronics mall. The reason noted that the latter had allegedly infringed on the copyright of its software.
Microsoft stated that the company has filed lawsuits in the Shanghai Huangpu District People’s Court and the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court against the said Chinese counterparts to prevent these parties from infringing on its copyrights and for a compensation of losses.
The software giant said that it is not giving it a blind shot, without any evidence. The evidence proves that a Gome store in Shanghai has installed pirated versions of its Windows and Microsoft Office software on computers for sale.
Yu Weidong, general manager for IPR of Microsoft China, noted the following statement on January 6. “We hope that the lawsuit will serve as a warning call for computer distributors and sellers to respect intellectual property rights.”
Surprisingly, Gome Vice President Zou Xiaochun helped Microsoft firm its stand, as he said that he was not aware of the lawsuit.
On a similar note, Microsoft notified the evidence that holds Beijing Chaoyang Buynow accountable for “lack of supervision or proper management”, which helped the usage of the installation of illegal copies of Microsoft Windows and Office products on computers sold by two PC vendors at the PC market.
The mall representatives however were not available for comment immediately.
Microsoft would definitely want strict actions to be taken, as the software giant has taken pains to establish a foothold in China’s booming IT industry. The reason for the same was related to endemic problem of software piracy in the country.
Last month, there was a confirmation from China, that the country’s government offices at every level would make use of legitimate, opposing pirated computer software by the end of 2012.
Piracy is an issue, which is to be dealt with. Especially in the case of the US companies. This is because the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a US coalition of film, software, music and publishing groups, estimates that US companies lost more than $15 billion in 2009 due to international copyright theft.
But the stats turned interesting, as it was noted that out of the total, $14 billion were lost due to software piracy, with an estimated $3.5 billion in losses in China and $1.4 billion in Russia.
2012, has the software giant turning stronger with filing lawsuits. Recently, the company sued a U.K. Retail Chain Comet Over Mass Windows Piracy. A news article on the same can be read here.