Apple fails to protect Siri patent

Apple has failed to convince a Beijing court that a Chinese patent covering voice recognition technology is invalid.

The decision, issued at the Beijing First Intermediate Court, paves the way for patent holder Zhizhen Network Technology to continue its own case against Apple for allegedly infringing its IP rights.

Zhizhen first sued California-based Apple last year citing patent infringement.

It claimed Apple’s Siri, an application  that uses voice recognition and is used on devices including the iPhone, violated its own voice system called Xiao i Robot which was developed three years earlier.

Prior to the case, Apple had asked China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) to invalidate a patent covering voice recognition technology used in the Xiao i Robot.

SIPO rejected that plea, prompting Apple in February to take both the office and Zhizhen to court in an attempt to invalidate the patent.

But on July 8, the court rejected Apple’s claims.

The ruling means Zhizhen is free to pursue its own patent infringement case.

Apple told WIPR it believes deeply in protecting innovation and that it takes IP rights very seriously.

“Unfortunately, we were not aware of Zhizhen's patent before we introduced Siri and we do not believe we are using this patent,” said a spokesperson.

“While a separate court considers this question, we remain open to reasonable discussions with Zhizhen.”

The Xiao i Robot software was first patented in China in 2004.

Siri, which according to Apple, “allows you to use your voice to schedule meetings and send messages”, was not developed until 2007.