From Reuters:
Google Inc. (GOOG.O), which is seeking to broaden its presence in China, on Monday apologized to Internet users and Sohu.com Inc. (SOHU.O), one of the country’s major Web portals for using third-party technology in its latest product rollout.
Sohu.com said an investigation by its technicians found a method of typing in Chinese characters released by Google in China last week had copied a product by Sohu.
In response, Google said the product had in its initial R&D stage been built “leveraging some non-Google database resources,” but it had since upgraded the system. [Full text]