China-based Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology has sued Apple, alleging that its Siri voice assistant technology infringes one of its patented technologies and dragging the iPhone maker to a Shanghai court.
The firm has filed an infringement lawsuit against the Apple and Apple Trading (Shanghai) businesses for alleged intellectual property infringement (IPR).
In Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate Court, Zhizhen alleged that Siri-powered Apple products such as the iPhone 4S infringe its own ‘Xiao i Robot’ for iOS and Android, which was originally patented in 2004, prior to launch of Siri.
Developed in 2007, Siri was acquired by Apple in 2010 and introduced with iPhone 4S.
Both the software technologies are reported to be working to identify a user’s voice, with a variation being that Xiao also runs on an Android powered device.
Zhizhen’s lawyer Si Weijiang was cited by AFP as saying that the company will ask Apple to stop manufacturing and selling products using its patent rights, once Apple’s infringement is confirmed.
"We don’t exclude the possibility of demanding compensation in the future," Weijiang said.
In addition to Zhizhen, Apple has also been sued by another Chinese firm Jiangsu Xuebao Daily Chemical, which alleges that the Chinese translation of iPhone maker’s Mac OS X Snow Leopard infringed its trademark rights.
Apple has also been fighting over 30 lawsuits with Samsung in four continents.
