(Yicai Global) May 31 -- Upholding an earlier verdict, a court in China has ordered short video platform iQiyi to pay CNY160,000 (USD25,100) to rival Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese version, for trademark violation.

The Beijing-based company must pay CNY150,000 in compensation and CNY10,000 for expenses. The court said the case fell under the scope of trademark law, so it was not necessary to judge it under competition law.

IQiyi set ‘Douyin download’ as a keyword when using search engine Baidu’s keyword advertising service to promote its Android-based smartphone app ‘iQiyi speed version,’ Douyin claimed, saying this had caused considerable financial loss.

IQiyi’s behavior misled people into believing that it operates the Douyin app or has a partnership with Douyin, the prior judgment said. In its defense, iQiyi said the link was not the first that came up in search results and was labeled as an advert, but the court said that was not enough to avoid or reduce the possibility of confusion among web users.

Editor: Tom Litting