China's bike-sharing giant sues over illegal advertisements on its bikes

SHANGHAI - China's bike-sharing giant Mobike has filed a lawsuit against a Shanghai-based company for illegally putting advertisements on its bikes.

Mobike claim that Shanghai Huijia Information Technology put seat covers printed with advertisements on around 200,000 Mobikes in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

It says that Huijia took advantage of Mobike's users and reputation to promote its own brand and service, which has damaged Mobike's image.

The bike-sharing company filed a lawsuit to the Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court in mid-December, demanding compensation of 1 million yuan ($150,000) as well as a public announcement to alleviate the negative impact of the actions from Huijia.

Huijia is a Shanghai-based company and runs an online platform to provide search and reservation services for customers who need meeting venues.

The court accepted the case Wednesday.