Sohu requests Google to stop offering Google Pinyin IME software

Chinese web company Sohu.com has confirmed that they have officially requested the search engine giant Google to stop distributing their recently released software application Google Pinyin IME software.

The company claims that the product in question has portions of their own Sogou Pinyin Input Method Editor (IME) software.

Sohu has delivered a letter to Google’s Beijing office and they have given the company three days to comply with their requests.

Wang Xiaochuan, Sohu’s vice president of technology and head of the company’s research and development center spoke about their demands: “We have requested they stop offering the software for download as quickly as possible. The second request is they make an apology, and the third is to discuss compensation for Sohu.”

The company added that if Google does not respond to their requests they would have to “follow the normal course of legal proceedings”.

Wang added about their objections: “We were surprised to find that Google was using Sohu’s dictionary. We have never made this dictionary public or licensed anybody to use it.”