Apple faces new copyright suit in China
Submitted by Rahul K. Chaudhary on July 9, 2012 - 3:45pm
Apple’s voice assistant Siri in dispute
In a recent setback, the Company was forced into a lawsuit in China on Thursday over allegations of patent infringement. The technology in argument is Siri, the voice assistant used by Apple in its latest 4S model, which has been challenged by the Shanghai-based Zhi Zhen Internet Technology for violating service patents of its personal voice assistant software.
The legal action of Zhi Zhen is apparently inspired by a recent statement by Apple wherein it was revealed that Siri’s Mandarin and Cantonese designs will soon be introduced for customers in China.
“Our only demand is that Apple stop infringing on our patent and cover the court costs,” the company officials said.
The lawsuit is the latest happening in a string of legal hurdle being faced by Apple in China. Not long ago, Apple resolved a thorny two-year-long patent dispute with Proview Technology Shenzhen Co Ltd for a massive S$76 million ($60 million) in a grievance relating to the ownership of iPad trademark.
Back-to-back lawsuits getting Apple in trouble
The copyright suit has completely demoralized Apple as it is the second allegation of patent infringement within a weak in China, one of the world’s largest smartphone markets which has always been on the dream list of Apple for increasing its sales and sponsors.
Earlier during the week, Chinese chemical giant Jiangsu Xuebao sued Apple over allegations of violating the trademark of ‘Snow Leopard’, an OS launched by Apple in 2009. It’s a case of direct infringement as one of Mac OS X version also uses the same name in China, and therefore Jiangsu Xuebao is seeking more than $80,000 along with apology from the iPhone giant.
