On April 11, Bloomberg L.P. sued Great Wisdom on grounds of industrial design infringement and now claims 5 million yuan (US$790,000) in compensation.

Both parties stated their evidence during the preliminary hearing in Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court. The dispute between the two is whether or not the "Great Wisdom Investor" final product actually is an infringement, which would in turn constitute unfair competition.

As for the similarities in the final product's design, Great Wisdom's attorney defended that the double-screen display, keyboard with certain colors and the operating interface are all commonly used in the financial information field. He stated that based on the different sales channel, it is easy to differentiate one from the other.

In accordance with the content of Article 5 in China's Anti-unfair Competition Law, Bloomberg showed sufficient evidence proving its good reputation on the market, however, whether this reputation has been affected by Great Wisdom's similar product remains to be seen.

Bloomberg L.P., with its 31 years of history, is the leader in global business and financial information, boasting over 6 billion US dollars in sales revenues in 2009. Incumbent New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is the company's founder.

In 2011, revenues of the global financial information service industry came to a total of 25 billion US dollars, Bloomberg ranked first with a 30.4 % market share, while Great Wisdom's revenues only reached 361 million yuan (US$57 million).

One insider said that there is no way to compare the two as Great Wisdom is not a worthy opponent for Bloomberg. Nevertheless, overhearing Great Wisdom's plans to venture abroad, Bloomberg were probably taking precautions.

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