Apple Faces $1.4 Billion Lawsuit by Chinese AI Firm in Siri Patent Fight
03 August 2020 - 4:56PM
Dow Jones News
By Liza Lin
An artificial-intelligence company recently awarded a Chinese
patent for a voice assistant similar to Apple Inc.'s Siri has filed
a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple that, if successful,
could prevent the American tech giant from selling many of its
products in the world's second-largest economy.
Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology Co. said in a statement on
Monday it was suing Apple for an estimated 10 billion yuan ($1.43
billion) in damages in a Shanghai court, alleging the iPhone and
iPad maker's products violated a patent the Chinese company owns
for a virtual assistant whose technical architecture is similar to
Siri. Siri, a voice-activated function in Apple's smartphones and
laptops, allows users to dictate text messages or set alarms on
their devices.
As part of the suit, Shanghai Zhizhen, also known as Xiao-i,
asked Apple to stop sales, production and the use of products
flouting such a patent.
China's Supreme Court ruled in late June that Xiao-i owns the
patent for the virtual assistant in China. The patent ruling, which
brought to an end a process that spanned several court trials since
2012, is the third time in less than a decade that Apple has faced
trademark and patent challenges in China. China is Apple's most
important sales market outside the U.S., second only to its home
market in terms of sales.
Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Raffaele Huang contributed to this article.
Write to Liza Lin at Liza.Lin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 03, 2020 02:41 ET (06:41 GMT)
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