China
11:32, 15-Dec-2017
Mobike sues ad agency for illegal adverts on bicycles
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China’s leading bike-sharing company, Mobike, officially started to declare war on small advertisements, illegal and known as “city psoriasis” on Thursday.
Mobike filed a lawsuit against Shanghai Huijia Information Technologies Co. Ltd. to the People's Court of Pudong District of Shanghai, requiring the defendant to immediately stop installing adverts on the bicycle seats, compensate for the loss of the infringing act and make a public statement to eliminate the adverse effect.
According to Mobike’s accusation, Huijia has posted covers printed with company’s advertising content on nearly 200,000 Mobike bicycles recently in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Wuhan.
Seat covers printed with ads on the bicycle seats have reached to nearly 200,000 adverts, according to Mobike. / CNS Photo
Seat covers printed with ads on the bicycle seats have reached to nearly 200,000 adverts, according to Mobike. / CNS Photo
Over the past two years, Mobike has become an environmentally friendly way of commuting by meeting the demand of a total of 200 million registered users in 200 cities worldwide. The behavior of sticking and placing small ads on bicycles, not only affects the user experience but spoil the city space. Besides, the false information some ads spread may bring unpredictable consequence.
“The defendant’s action has damaged our brand image and cost us a lot for cleaning up the ‘psoriasis',” said Sun Keqing, legal director of Mobike.
Lawyer Xie Tao of T&C Shanghai Law Firm told The Paper that this is not the first case of sharing-bicycle industry against illegal adverts.
In October 2016, a company in Quanzhou, southeast China’s Fujian Province, posted small ads on city public bicycles without permission and later was then taken to the court. The judge holds that the act of the accused constitutes an unfair competition and should be prohibited.
In addition to resorting to legal protection, Mobike will launch the “Small Ads Report Hotline” on Friday. By dialing the hotline, service customers can guide the user to complete the reporting process.
Earlier this month, Mobike received UN's highest environmental accolade for building a pedal-powered green economy.