Apple Facing $1.4 Billion Lawsuit by Chinese AI Firm in Siri Patent Battle

Apple has been hit with a $1.4 billion lawsuit by a Chinese artificial intelligence company that alleges Apple violated a patent it owns for a virtual assistant similar to Siri, according to a paywalled Wall Street Journal report.

ios14compactsiri

Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology Co. said in a statement on Monday it was suing Apple for an estimated 10 billion yuan ($1.43 billion) in damages in a Shanghai court, alleging the iPhone and iPad maker's products violated a patent the Chinese company owns for a virtual assistant whose technical architecture is similar to Siri. Siri, a voice-activated function in Apple's smartphones and laptops, allows users to dictate text messages or set alarms on their devices.

As part of the lawsuit, Shanghai Zhizhen, also known as Xiao-i, wants Apple to cease "manufacturing, using, promising to sell, selling, and importing" all products that it says infringe on the patent, which was ruled as valid by China's Supreme Court in late June.

Apple didn't immediately respond to WSJ's request for comment.

The patent ruling is the culmination of several court trials between Zhi Zhen and Apple that's been ongoing for nearly a decade. MacRumors first reported on the Chinese AI firm's claim that ‌Siri‌ infringes on its patent rights in March 2013. The claim is specifically in relation to Xiao-i, a chat robot system the Zhi Zhen has been developing since 2003.

The Xiao-i bot began life as a chat bot for MSN and similar networks, but it has since migrated to a number of platforms including Android and iOS, and evolved to look quite similar to ‌Siri‌. Zhi Zhen applied for the virtual assistant patent in 2004 and it was granted in 2009.

‌Siri‌ was acquired by Apple in April 2010 under the direction of Steve Jobs, but Apple's first notion of a digital personal assistant was originally a concept video in 1987, called the Knowledge Navigator.

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...

Top Rated Comments

Williesleg Avatar
61 months ago
I first saw the headline and thought this was April 1st, didn't realize China actually had and enforced patents! Whoopsee!
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ian87w Avatar
61 months ago

I first saw the headline and thought this was April 1st, didn't realize China actually had and enforced patents! Whoopsee!
They do. But they are biased against foreign companies. Local companies get full protection from the government.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
supremedesigner Avatar
61 months ago
Not surprising...

China has been stealing a lot of technologies from all over the world but now this? That's insane.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coldwaves Avatar
61 months ago
This case has been going on for many years. The fight centers around whether Zhizhen's patent is valid. Apple first sued to invalidate Zhizhen's patent claim in 2013. Beijing Court rejected Apple's claim and ruled that Zhizhen owns that patent. Then Apple appealed to Beijing Intermediate Court, which again rejected Apple's claim. Apple then appeals to Beijing High Court. Beijing High Court ruled that information about the patent provided by Zhizhen to the court is not in sufficient details and thus sided with Apple. Zhizhen then appeals to the Supreme Court and the court ruled that Zhizhen's patent is indeed valid. However, there is not a ruling yet about whether Apple violates the Zhizhen's patent.

The contention about the patent appears to be about the technicality of the patent application process. Apple's argument is that a gaming function in the patent is an essential function of the patent and is not declared in sufficient details. Zhizhen argues that the gaming function is not at the core part of the patent and thus the details declared in the patent application is appropriate.

The bias in the comments here on the forum is appalling, but perhaps not surprising. It is important to look into the details to know what happens. For many people, when a US company is alleged to violate IP, it is always a victim of unfair trial or a victim of patent troll. When a Chinese company is alleged to violate IP, it is always Chinese stealing tech.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Maximara Avatar
61 months ago

If you actually read the article, you will see that Zhizhen applied for patent in 2004 and Apple acquired Siri in 2010. It is not until Oct 2011 Apple released a beta version of Siri on iPhone 4s. Zhizhen cannot copy something nonexistent.
If only it was that simple. "Mac OS 8 and 9 has optional voice recognition software, which takes your speech and turns it into commands to control your computer. (...) English Speech Recognition can be found on the Mac OS CD-ROM: under CD Extras: Universal Access: Easy Access." - BBC Website ('http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/archive/mac/keyboard/vr/voice-recog-os9.shtml')

Mac OS 8 came out in 1997 and Mac OS 9 came out in 1999.

More over "Siri is a spin-out ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin-out') from the SRI International ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRI_International') Artificial Intelligence Center, and is an offshoot of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA')'s (DARPA)-funded CALO ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CALO') project" (reference - SIRI RISING: The Inside Story Of Siri’s Origins — And Why She Could Overshadow The iPhone ('https://www.huffpost.com/entry/siri-do-engine-apple-iphone_n_2499165') )

The article itself has this piece of information: "In 2003, the agency’s investment arm, DARPA, tapped the non-profit research institute SRI International to lead a five-year, 500-person effort to build a virtual assistant, one the government hoped might yield software to help military commanders with both information overload and office chores."

If that little trip into the patent rabbit hold isn't enough there is Who invented Siri? Apple sued for patent infringement - who else might be in line? ('https://www.ambercite.com/amberblog/2018/9/25/apple-siri-sued')

So there is previous work going back to 2003 (one year before the Zhizhen patent) with related previous work going back to 1999 (five years before the Zhizhen patent) with a somewhat similar patent (US7558730 ('https://patents.google.com/patent/US7558730B2/en')) from 2001 (three years before the Zhizhen patent)

Aren't patents fun?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pbrutto Avatar
61 months ago
Given China’s general disregard for other countries/companies IP, this seems like it will be a nightmare for Apple. It’s easy for China to ignore knockoffs and IP theft by their own companies, but now that a company there is targeting a US company with a massive investment on their soil, I’m sure they will suddenly care.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)