Chinese company sues Apple for patent infringement with Siri

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Apple showed up in a Shanghai court on Wednesday on the receiving end of a patent suit, with a Chinese company alleging that the Siri digital assistant featured in iPhones and iPads is based on software that infringes its patents.



Zhi Zhen Network Technology filed a Chinese patent application for its Xiao i Robot software in 2004, and that that patent was granted in 2006. Like Siri, Xiao i Robot features voice interactions, with the ability to answer questions and hold simple conversations.

Zhi Zhen has released versions of Xiao i Robot for the web, Android, Windows Phone, desktops, and Apple's iOS. The firm claims its technology has more than 100 million users in China, with companies such as China Mobile, China Telecom, and a number of major banks featuring Xiao i Robot.

Zhi Zhen launched its suit in July of last year, shortly after Siri became available in China. Lawyers representing the firm told AFP that the Zhi Zhen's goal is to get Apple to stop infringing, but that a monetary settlement could be a possibility.

"The company will ask Apple to stop manufacturing and selling products using its patent rights, once Apple's infringement is confirmed," said Si Weijiang, a Zhi Zhen lawyer. "We don't exclude the possibility of demanding compensation in the future."

Apple's Wednesday court appearance was a part of pre-trial proceedings. The full case is slated for a July hearing, according to Zhi Zhen spokespersons. The two companies will in the near future exchange evidence at a pre-trial hearing.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 36
    zoffdinozoffdino Posts: 192member


    You know, SIRI was a DARPA project which likely dates back more than a decade from 2004. Sue that.


     


    The iPhone wasn't even released in 2006 and Android and Windows Phone were nowhere to be seen at that point. How can this company claim they come to the market first? I also find the UI similarity kind of... odd. The Xiao iRobot and Siri has almost exact same GUI, the same level of similarity that led to the $1B verdict against Samsung. Those companies have no shame in China, and the legal system is more likely than not to back them up.

  • Reply 2 of 36
    Monetary compensation a possibility? What, was it some kind of afterthought?
  • Reply 3 of 36
    zozmanzozman Posts: 393member


    Seems legit....

  • Reply 4 of 36
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Curious to know what the patents in question are.
  • Reply 5 of 36
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member


    Why wait till not to sue?  All these years.  Apple bought SIRI.  Why get sued for some thing you bought?

  • Reply 6 of 36
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  • Reply 7 of 36
    LOL. Seems a bit fishy.

    That said, the real headline here? "China could finally start to care about IP."
  • Reply 8 of 36
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    zoffdino wrote: »
    You know, SIRI was a DARPA project which likely dates back more than a decade from 2004. Sue that.

    The iPhone wasn't even released in 2006 and Android and Windows Phone were nowhere to be seen at that point. How can this company claim they come to the market first? <span style="line-height:1.231;">I also find the UI similarity kind of... odd. The Xiao iRobot and Siri has almost exact same GUI, the same level of similarity that led to the $1B verdict against Samsung. Those companies have no shame in China, and the legal system is more likely than not to back them up.</span>

    That is my exact thought. I doubt DARPA was beaten to this technology by this Chinese company. Perhaps Apple will be able to turn the tables!

    In fact that makes me ask, has a suit like this ever actually backfired on the initial claimant? This company has raised its head above the parapet as using a Siri like technology. What if Apple is found to be clearly the patent holders from the DARPA history. Then surely this company is in deep dodo and may not have otherwise risen to Apple's radar level.
  • Reply 9 of 36
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    I won't be at all surprised to see Chinese companies start lining up to sue Apple over IP infringement or other business claims. The Chinese government has sent signals that Apple is fair game and companies bringing suit will likely have their official approval to do so.

    It almost seems like something in the China/Apple relationship has changed in the past few months. Personally I think it's China playing hardball with Apple. If they want to do business there it will be on Chinese terms including access to communications using iDevices. I think that's pretty much what they wanted from Google isn't it?
  • Reply 10 of 36
    dnd0psdnd0ps Posts: 253member


    And then what?? "Apple gets sued in China over iOS UI" "Apple gets sued in China over OS X UI" Hell, "Apple gets sued over the use GUI" **** the Chinese and their third world judiciary system

  • Reply 11 of 36
    taniwhataniwha Posts: 347member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tylerk36 View Post


    Why wait till not to sue?  All these years.  Apple bought SIRI.  Why get sued for some thing you bought?





    caveat emptor. It happens all the time. It's part of the risk of Mergers and Acquisitions. The interesting thing is whether the Patent survives in China, less so what happens in the US or other jurisdictions not currently involved. Could get to be quite an interesting scrap with quite a lot at stake for Apple in the first instance.

  • Reply 12 of 36
    steven n.steven n. Posts: 1,229member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Zozman View Post


    Seems legit....



    Do you really think Apple and Zhi Zhen Network Technology both came up with the microphone with circling purple neon high-lights?


     


    Zhi Zhen Network Technology might have some voice/interaction tech and some valid patents but those were not demonstrated here.  The UI demonstrated was a 100% rip off of SIRI.

  • Reply 13 of 36
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member
    I do not understand what the patent is. Voice recognition is as old as computer science. And human computer interaction is an obvious thing. It is commonly seen in Hollywood movies.
  • Reply 14 of 36


    Keep in mind this is a Chinese lawsuit. Unless apple has CHINESE patents dating before 2004 in china. they will lose. Remember this is a lawsuit in china. Seems like a valid one this time around.


     


    I think apple will end up settling .

  • Reply 15 of 36


    Seeking injunctions of infringing products. Sounds like the iPad trademark case. They don't want to just block sales of the products in China - since they are made in China they want to stop export as well. This prevents Apple from selling products anywhere in the world. If successful they can demand almost anything for compensation.


     


    Apple is diversifying it's supply chain to rely less on Samsung for components. They need to do the same with manufacturing so a single corrupt government can't hold them hostage.

  • Reply 16 of 36

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by majortom1981 View Post


    Keep in mind this is a Chinese lawsuit. Unless apple has CHINESE patents dating before 2004 in china. they will lose. Remember this is a lawsuit in china. Seems like a valid one this time around.


     


    I think apple will end up settling .



     


    And you know this how? Please show me the actual Chinese patent and the feature of Siri that infringes this patent.

  • Reply 17 of 36
    gustavgustav Posts: 827member
    "Xiao i Robot features voice interactions, with the ability to answer questions and hold simple conversations."

    So could the speech recognition built into the Mac Centris 660av and Quadra 840av released in the mid 1990s. , "Computer, what time is it?", "Computer, tell me a joke."
  • Reply 18 of 36
    @dnd0ps It's freaking ridiculous. However, with Texas judiciary system here in the US, I can't ridicule Chinese "third world judiciary system" solely.
  • Reply 19 of 36
    froodfrood Posts: 771member


    Waiting for Apple to buy Teddy Ruxpin and countersue Xiao

  • Reply 20 of 36
    OK. If this is the case then the original violation was by Nuance who Apple bought to get Siri. However the video posted as the link was put up on 2012. Also if iOS violates the patent then so does Androids S-voice technology. Also if push came to shove the whole idea has been done as a open-source project anyway (or at least the basic idea, if I have understood the link correctly)

    http://sourceforge.net/projects/cmusphinx/

    I think the reason that they waited was for someone as big as Apple to integrate something that looks as though they have violated it and then put it though the Chinese courts who are not known for recognising western pattent laws. Further as pattens are partitioned into regions then the Chinese company will have to show they took out patents and kept them valid in the all the regions that they are staking a claim in.

    To be honest I am getting quite fed up with the world and his wife trying the 'me too' or 'me first' approach.


    Innovate DON'T Imitate!
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