Recently, the Chinese AI company Shanghai Zhizhen Intelligent Network Technology (a.k.a Xiao-i ) has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Apple.
The company said on Monday that it is suing Apple for an estimated 10 billion yuan (approx €1.2 billion) in damages and demands the Cupertino giant to cease “manufacturing, using, promising to sell, selling, and importing” the products that allegedly infringe on the patent.
As per the company claims, the patented technology has been used on Apple’s voice assistant Siri. In fact, the legal battle between Xiao-i and Apple goes back to 2012. However, Apple has refused the claims saying Siri does not contain features included in the patent. If the Xiao-i comes out successfully, it could bar Apple from selling many of its products in China.
According to Xiao-i CEO Yuan Hui in the statement on Monday, “As a tech person, I have a lot of respect for Apple, whose products and services bring a lot of value and experience to the world. But customers are paying for every Apple product. In turn, Apple has to respect innovation. They use our patents, they need to pay us a reasonable fee.
The iPhone maker said that Xiao-i’s patent is related to games and instant messaging and independent appraisers certified by the Supreme People’s Court have concluded that Apple does not infringe Xiao-i Robot’s technology.
“We are disappointed Xiao-i Robot has filed another lawsuit,” Apple said in a statement. “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.”
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