Apple appears in Chinese court over Siri claims

Apple appeared in court this week over claims that it stole software now used in the "Siri" personal assistant tech seen on iPhones.

Shanghai's Zhizhen Network Technology Co. accused Apple of patent infringement for the voice recognition software and both companies are now submitting evidence at the pre-trial hearing.

Zhizhen says it patented its own "Xiao i Robot" software back in 2004, three years before Apple began developing Siri. Siri was eventually unveiled in 2011. Xiao Robot works the same way as Siri, responding to voice commands.

Xiao i Robot is allegedly used by over 100 million users in China, including in the telecommunications, finance and e-commerce fields.

"The company will ask Apple to stop manufacturing and selling products using its patent rights, once Apple's infringement is confirmed," says Si Weijiang, a lawyer representing Zhizhen (via AFP). "We don't exclude the possibility of demanding compensation in the future,"

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 28 Mar 2013 10:28

Bozobub

LOL

Ah, that goose sauce makes ganders taste great! Mmm...

Sometimes there is justice.

28.3.2013 11:16 #1

Joe_1981

Nice to see Apple get hit with a fat lawsuit since they're always going after everyone they can think of.

28.3.2013 11:32 #2

aldan

this is one court they dont own.

28.3.2013 12:47 #3

Mr-Movies

This is ridiculous, voice recognition has been around for decades now if not a half a century. Neither party came up with the idea or the method used. I'm going to patient air then I'll be rich.

28.3.2013 13:54 #4

jjmehm

Originally posted by Joe_1981: Nice to see Apple get hit with a fat lawsuit since they're always going after everyone they can think of. while I think their claim is ridiculous, like someone else said, voice recognition has been used in similar ways for quite some time, I totally agree. Apple is so sue happy it's refreshing to see them on the other side of a patent suit.

28.3.2013 14:30 #5

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