(Yicai) Jan. 9 -- Baidu will appeal the latest court verdict that would have it pay over CNY65 million (USD9.1 million) to Navinfo after losing a copyright lawsuit brought by the digital map provider, the Chinese internet giant told Yicai.

Baidu has been using its own navigation data since its licensing deal with NavInfo expired in 2016, the Beijing-based search engine and smart driving firm said today.

It will be the second time that Baidu has lodged an appeal in the long-running case. The dispute began in 2017 when Navinfo sued Baidu, claiming the latter infringed on its legitimate rights and interests by making Navinfo’s maps accessible to the public without permission. The Beijing Intellectual Property Court ruled in favor of Navinfo in 2020, but Baidu appealed.

The plaintiff said today, citing the court verdict, that the Beijing High People’s Court upheld the first-instance ruling so the search engine giant will need to give Navinfo CNY64.5 million for economic losses and CNY926,598 (USD129,400) for expenses.

Payment from Baidu would benefit NavInfo’s bottom line, as the Beijing-based firm said that it would add the compensation to its net profit after deducting legal fees.

NavInfo’s net loss in the first nine months of last year widened eight times from a year earlier to CNY495 million (USD69 million), as a result of higher investment in the research and development of autonomous driving technologies. Revenue rose 12 percent to CNY2.3 billion (USD321.2 million).

Editor: Emmi Laine