Apple previously filed a law suit against arch rival Samsung in which the iOS device maker claimed that the Korean company copied its Siri technology and thus infringed on its copyrights. The tech giant may soon be getting a taste of its own medicine, as China-based firm known as Zhizhen Network Technology Co has sued the late Steve Jobs’ company in a Shanghai court by accusing Apple of infringing on its copyrights. The company has also demanded that the court stop the manufacturing and selling of its devices in China that includes Siri digital voice assistant technology. The Telegraph has reported that Zhizhen Network has claimed that the Siri technology of Apple is actually a copy of its “Xiao i Robot”, a voice technology for which the Chinese company has received exclusive rights back in 2006.
The Chinese company asserts that Apple first developed Siri in 2007, which was a year after Zhizhen was awarded the exclusive rights of the voice technology. Due to this reason, Zhizhen is demanding from the court that it should prevent Apple from producing and selling its products with Siri voice recognition software in China. Arguing against this claim, Apple’s lawyers have said that although the two voice assistant softwares work in a similar fashion, at their core they use absolutely different technologies.
Zhizhen’s lawyer, Yuan Yang told AFP that, “Our main goal at the current stage is to let the court validate our claim regarding the infringement.
“We are not ruling out the possibility of mediation or compensation, but they are to be considered in the future. Apple claimed that the technology for Siri was different from that used for Zhizhen’s Xiao i Robot.
A lawyer for Apple was quoted by the Global Times newspaper as saying: “One can achieve the same results through various means.”Apple has its own technology for Siri, which is totally different from the plaintiff’s.”
If Zhizhen wins this case then it will severely damage Apple’s reputation and revenue because the Cupertino-based company considers China as one of the most important markets in the world due to its high population. And it is because of this very reason, estimates suggests that soon China’s market will surpass US market and become the largest market for Apple products. Therefore, it is expected that this law suit will draw lot of attention.
Source: iPhoneinCanada
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