Tencent's 'WeChat Pay' faces patent infringement
CGTN
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WeChat Pay used in a Chinese supermarket /VCG Photo

WeChat Pay used in a Chinese supermarket /VCG Photo

A Beijing-based company on Monday filed a patent infringement lawsuit against WeChat Pay, one of China's biggest mobile payment platforms owned by Tencent, asking them to pay one million yuan (139,730 U.S. dollars) for using their copyright technology.

Vcard Weika Shidai Information Technology claims the QR code technology used in Tencent mobile payment system, which involves in the scanning, decoding, recognition process, has already been bought by them from GMedia in 2012.

But the defendants reject the allegation, saying the technology used in their WeChat Payment is a "single-field" QR code, which is different from the "multi-field" QR codes claimed by Vcard.

"Scanning, decoding, and recognition technologies behind the QR code have already existed. You cannot claimed they are yours when you artificially redefine the fields," Tencent's lawyer said at the Beijing Intellectual Property Court where the disputed has currently been dealt with.

With QR codes becoming a popular payment option, there are more than 500 million mobile payment users in China and about 400 million users pay on their smartphones while shopping in physical stores, according to figures released by China Internet Network Information Center.