Apple Faces $1.4 Billion Lawsuit by Chinese AI Firm in Siri Patent Fight

By Liza Lin

An artificial-intelligence company recently awarded a Chinese patent for a voice assistant similar to Apple Inc.'s Siri has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple that, if successful, could prevent the American tech giant from selling many of its products in the world's second-largest economy.

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 suit, Shanghai Zhizhen, also known as Xiao-i, asked Apple to stop sales, production and the use of products flouting such a patent.

China's Supreme Court ruled in late June that Xiao-i owns the patent for the virtual assistant in China. The patent ruling, which brought to an end a process that spanned several court trials since 2012, is the third time in less than a decade that Apple has faced trademark and patent challenges in China. China is Apple's most important sales market outside the U.S., second only to its home market in terms of sales.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Raffaele Huang contributed to this article.

Write to Liza Lin at Liza.Lin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 03, 2020 02:41 ET (06:41 GMT)

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