Beijing court rules in favor of eLong in dispute with Qunar

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

BEIJING, China – eLong, Inc, released the following update on its legal dispute with Qunar:

BEIJING, China – eLong, Inc, released the following update on its legal dispute with Qunar:

On December 26, 2014, the Beijing First Intermediate Court (the “Court”) issued its written judgment (the “Judgment”) in the contract dispute between an eLong subsidiary, eLongNet Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (“eLong Information”), and an affiliate of Qunar, Beijing Quna Software Technology Co. Ltd. (“Beijing Qunar”). eLong Information had filed the case in 2013 after Beijing Qunar improperly terminated a three-year hotel inventory redistribution agreement (as amended, the “Affiliation Agreement”) entered into by eLong Information and Beijing Qunar.

In the Judgment:

โ€ข The Court held Beijing Qunar in breach of contract for early termination of the Affiliation Agreement. Specifically, the Court rejected Beijing Qunar’s claim that eLong Information had breached the Affiliation Agreement and held that Beijing Qunar’s termination notice was therefore void.

โ€ข The Court ordered Beijing Qunar and eLong Information to resume PRC domestic agency hotel inventory cooperation under the terms of the Affiliation Agreement.

โ€ข The Court ordered Beijing Qunar to compensate eLong Information RMB 52,335,396 (USD 8.5 million) for the period from September 6, 2013 through September 30, 2014, and, as stipulated in the Affiliation Agreement, to pay such compensation as an advertising credit to eLong Information’s advertising account at Qunar.

โ€ข The Court further ordered Beijing Qunar to pay eLong Information an advertising credit of RMB 27 per room night if Beijing Qunar fails to meet the room night target of 450,000 PRC domestic hotel room nights per quarter under the Affiliation Agreement for any quarterly periods from October 1, 2014 through June 30, 2016.

โ€ข The Court ordered eLong Information to pay RMB 8,127,402 (approximately USD 1.3 million) in commissions to Beijing Qunar for room nights sold under the Affiliation Agreement during the period from July 1, 2013 through September 5, 2013, prior to Beijing Qunar’s breach of contract.

โ€ข The Court also ordered Beijing Qunar to pay eLong Information RMB227,599 (USD 37 thousand) in legal fees, and apportioned court fees between the parties.

Either or both parties may appeal the Court’s Judgment to the Beijing Municipal High Court within 15 days from the date of receipt of the Judgment, and the Judgment is not binding prior to the conclusion of any such appeal.

We will continue to take all necessary and appropriate actions to protect our rights and interests under law and contract.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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