Decade-long QQ trademark dispute receives final verdict

Chinese automaker Chery has prevailed against China's biggest social media company Tencent, after a decade-long wrangle over the ownership of the trademark QQ for use in vehicles.

The Beijing Higher People's Court gave a final verdict in mid-September, which upheld a ruling by the Trademark Appeal Board and ordered the Shenzhen-based Internet giant to withdraw its registration of the trademark for vehicles.

For years Tencent has been widely known for its online instant messaging tool QQ. At the same time, sales of Chery's QQ model surpassed the 1-million benchmark in early 2013, Chinese media reported.