A debate is emerging on the internet whether Google has for its newly released pinyin input system stolen the vocabulary of its competitor Sogou. When the US search engine would have committed such a gross infringement of the intellectual property of a competitor, even though it would have been done by local staff, that would put the company in a difficult position.
There are two different takes up to now. Yee and others point at awkward similar mistakes Google seems to have copied from the vocabulary of Sogou. The fact that Google has failed to respond to the accusations is already seen as an admission of guild.
China Web2.0 Review is an authority here and writes: “My take is that further discussion on this similarity case is not necessary. If Google really infringes Sogou’s intellectual property rights, they would sue Google. Is it possible that they all licensed vocabulary library from the same source? You will never know it.” [Full Text]