Officials at Apple say a patent lawsuit brought before a Shanghai court alleging the company stole the technical architecture of voice-assistant app Siri is without merit.
Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology Co., a Chinese tech firm colloquially known as Xiao-i, filed the patent infringement lawsuit on Monday claiming that the intellectual property which motors Siri voice assistant was based on a technology patent it was granted in 2009.
A statement released Monday afternoon from representatives at Apple says the company is eagerly anticipating a chance to present a defense against the charges.
“We look forward to presenting the facts to the court and we will continue to focus on delivering the best products and services in the world to our customers,” Apple wrote in a statement.
In June, China’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of Xiao-i, confirming that the company owns the virtual assistant patent for all of China, ending an almost decadelong battle between the two tech companies, which began when Apple introduced Siri to Chinese customers in 2011.
Now, Xiao-i is looking for $1.4 billion in damages for “manufacturing, using, promising to sell, selling, and importing” that infringed upon its intellectual property.
Fang Jianwei, a former judge in China and a litigation partner at Zhong Lun Law Firm, told that Wall Street Journal that Xiao-i could potentially get Apple products loaded with Siri completely barred from China if the company files for a preliminary injunction against Apple.
Fang added that injunctions are rarely granted, and the prevailing belief is that Chinese authorities do not wish to hamper an economic relationship with Apple. In the second financial quarter of 2020, Apple recorded more than $9 billion in sales within China alone.
