Chinese online travel service provider Ctrip.com has been sued by its competitor Pek Golden Holiday Travel Co., Ltd. for using such exaggerated wordings as "the largest scale" and "a leading travel service provider in China".
Qian Yu, general manager of Pek Golden Holiday, says there are two main problems with Ctrip.com. According to local media, he claims one of the problems is that it does not have an industry certificate for providing Internet travel services, and it has used improper wording like "the largest scale" in its advertising and this gives an unfair competitive advantage to its competitors. Pek Golden Holiday has asked Ctrip.com to stop the behavior, make a public apology and compensate it RMB10,000.
However, Ctrip.com says its claim of being the largest online travel service provider in China is based on actual statistics and media reports, so it has not been involved in false advertising.
As early as in 2004, Qian filed a series of lawsuits against Ctrip.com for the same reasons as above. Later, Ctrip.com launched a lawsuit against Pek Golden Holiday, accusing it of causing negative effect on the company's reputation. However, the court judged that neither had been involved in unfair competition.
There has been no judgment made yet on the lawsuit.
