Chinese company sues Apple over patent dispute
Form：Anhui CNT Trademark Law Firm Time：2013年4月2日 Views：764
SHANGHAI - A Chinese company met Apple Inc in court on Wednesday, accusing the US-basedtech giant of intellectual property right infringement regarding software used in its popular Sirisoftware.
Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology Co, the developer of voice-recognition technology Xiaoi Robot, is alleging that Siri infringes on its patent, especially relating to "a type of instantmessaging chat robot system."
The Chinese company said its product can respond to requests in an intelligent way based onits artificial intelligence servers and databases.
Siri, described by Apple as an "intelligent personal assistant, " responds to user commandsthrough voice-recognition software.
Both sides appeared at the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court for a preliminaryhearing on Wednesday to present evidence to the court before a formal hearing begins.
Apple Computer Trading (Shanghai) Co, which is responsible for Apple sales in China, andApple Inc applied to have the case delayed, but the motion was rejected by the court.
According to evidence presented by Zhizhen, it filed for a patent for the Xiao i Robot in 2004,while Apple's Siri, which made its debut with the release of the iPhone 4S in 2011, was firstdeveloped in 2007 by Siri Inc, a start-up company acquired by Apple in 2010.
In April 2012, Zhizhen had sent letters to Apple Computer Trading (Shanghai) Co and AppleInc, seeking to resolve the dispute through negotiation, but received no reply. The Chinesecompany filed a lawsuit on June 21, 2012, demanding that Apple stop the manufacture, saleand use of products with Siri technology in China.
"The product involved in the case is the iPhone 4S. But more are to be affected as Apple rollsout more new products such as the iPhone 5, iPad 4, iPad Mini and iPod Touch 5," said SiWeijiang, an attorney representing Zhizhen.
Apple, however, said Siri has an international patent and their products installed with Sirisoftware are not related to the Xiao i Robot technology, so it did not violate the patent.
Apple also said at Wednesday's hearing that a detailed technical appraisal and analysis of Siriand Xiao i Robot should be presented as evidence to determine whether Siri has violatedZhizhen's intellectual property rights. The company held that Zhizhen has failed to provide suchinformation.
"Once the infringement is confirmed, Apple may be ordered to stop selling its products with Sirior delete the software on its products in China," said Zhao Zhanling, a researcher with theIntellectual Property Research Center of the China University of Political Science and Law inBeijing.
However, Li Yi, secretary-general of the China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance, reasoned thatApple would be unlikely to stop selling its products in China because the market is so importantto the US electronics giant.
He also speculated that after a long court process, the two parties would likely reach a financialsettlement out of court.
Last year, Apple paid 60 million US dollars to Proview Technology (Shenzhen) to end aprotracted legal dispute over the iPad trademark in China.
Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology Co, the developer of voice-recognition technology Xiaoi Robot, is alleging that Siri infringes on its patent, especially relating to "a type of instantmessaging chat robot system."
The Chinese company said its product can respond to requests in an intelligent way based onits artificial intelligence servers and databases.
Siri, described by Apple as an "intelligent personal assistant, " responds to user commandsthrough voice-recognition software.
Both sides appeared at the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court for a preliminaryhearing on Wednesday to present evidence to the court before a formal hearing begins.
Apple Computer Trading (Shanghai) Co, which is responsible for Apple sales in China, andApple Inc applied to have the case delayed, but the motion was rejected by the court.
According to evidence presented by Zhizhen, it filed for a patent for the Xiao i Robot in 2004,while Apple's Siri, which made its debut with the release of the iPhone 4S in 2011, was firstdeveloped in 2007 by Siri Inc, a start-up company acquired by Apple in 2010.
In April 2012, Zhizhen had sent letters to Apple Computer Trading (Shanghai) Co and AppleInc, seeking to resolve the dispute through negotiation, but received no reply. The Chinesecompany filed a lawsuit on June 21, 2012, demanding that Apple stop the manufacture, saleand use of products with Siri technology in China.
"The product involved in the case is the iPhone 4S. But more are to be affected as Apple rollsout more new products such as the iPhone 5, iPad 4, iPad Mini and iPod Touch 5," said SiWeijiang, an attorney representing Zhizhen.
Apple, however, said Siri has an international patent and their products installed with Sirisoftware are not related to the Xiao i Robot technology, so it did not violate the patent.
Apple also said at Wednesday's hearing that a detailed technical appraisal and analysis of Siriand Xiao i Robot should be presented as evidence to determine whether Siri has violatedZhizhen's intellectual property rights. The company held that Zhizhen has failed to provide suchinformation.
"Once the infringement is confirmed, Apple may be ordered to stop selling its products with Sirior delete the software on its products in China," said Zhao Zhanling, a researcher with theIntellectual Property Research Center of the China University of Political Science and Law inBeijing.
However, Li Yi, secretary-general of the China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance, reasoned thatApple would be unlikely to stop selling its products in China because the market is so importantto the US electronics giant.
He also speculated that after a long court process, the two parties would likely reach a financialsettlement out of court.
Last year, Apple paid 60 million US dollars to Proview Technology (Shenzhen) to end aprotracted legal dispute over the iPad trademark in China.
