Xiao-i is suing Apple for 1.43 Billion USD

[soldier_ph]

Summary

Xiao-i, better known as Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology Co., is a Chinese AI firm that announced on Monday it has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Apple. It is suing Apple for 1.43 Billion USD (or 10 Billion yuan) in damages in Shanghai court after the AI firm recently acquired a patent for a Voice assistant whose architecture is said to be similiar to Siri. As part of the Lawsuit Xiao-i is asking Apple to stop the sale, production and use of it's products that have the patent, which encompasses the vast majority of Apple's products on the market today.

 

Quotes

Quote

-Quote form foxbusiness-

 

A Chinese AI firm announced Monday that it has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Apple, which could prevent the tech giant from selling certain products in the important Chinese market, according to a report.

Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology Co. -- also known as Xiao-i -- announced it is suing Apple for 10 billion yuan ($1.43 billion) in damages in Shanghai court after the Chinese company recently acquired a patent for a voice assistant whose technical architecture is said to be similar to Apple's Siri, The Wall Street Journal reported. Apple introduced the voice-activated intelligent assistant Siri in 2011. Since then, it has helped smartphone and laptop users enable functions such as alarms and reminders as well as send texts or call someone without having to pick up the device. As part of the lawsuit, Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology Co. is asking the tech behemoth to stop the sale, production and use of its products that have the patent, which encompasses the vast majority of Apple's products. In June, following an eight-year legal battle, China's Supreme Court ruled that Shanghai Zhizhen owns the patent for the technology in China, the Journal reported, adding that the company can apply for a preliminary injunction. If the injunction, which has to meet strict conditions, is issued, the court could ban Apple from selling its Siri-enabled products in China while the trial persists, Fang Jianwei, a former Chinese judge who is now a litigation partner at Zhong Lun Law Firm in Shanghai, told the Journal. Fang noted that such injunctions, however, are rarely approved. Furthermore, he added that although the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Shanghai Zhizhen, the current court could still rule in favor of Apple if the technology behind the voice assistants is found to be different enough. However, Apple told FOX Business in a statement Monday that the company "deeply respects innovation, and our teams work tirelessly to create new technology and product features" for customers.  The news comes after Apple posted sales growth, though slim, in the greater China region amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, the company noted that sales in the region rose to $9.33 billion over the three-month period ending June 27, according to the company's earnings report.

“China remains a key ingredient in Apple’s recipe for success as we estimate roughly 20% of iPhone upgrades will be coming from this region over the coming year,” Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities said in a note, Reuters reported.

China is the No. 2 market in terms of Apple sales, behind the U.S., the Journal reported.

 

My thoughts

I think that this legal Battle won't have any affect on Apple really, they'll pay the 1.43B USD fine but they certainly won't stop selling their products in China (nor stop making them there) with Siri on it. Though right now the Shanghai court could still vote in favour of Apple so what exactly this lawsuit is gonna result in is still open. Shoutout to @zeusthemoose for sharing this Story with me !

 

Sources

https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/apple-lawsuit-chinese-ai-firm-siri

 

https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-hit-with-1-4b-lawsuit-over-alleged-siri-patent-infringement-by-chinese-company/

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-hit-1-4b-lawsuit-155807333.html

[mbntr]

like that's gonna work...

[Applefreak]

Wait, I thought no US products could be sold to china because of trumps business plan that punished lucrative us exports. And I don't think there is a chinese Siri anyways.

[The Sloth]

14 minutes ago, Pascal... said:

I think that this legal Battle won't have any affect on Apple really, they'll pay the 1.43B USD fine but they certainly won't stop selling their products in China (nor stop making them there) with Siri on it. 

 

keep in mind they lost a lawsuit to a company that made handbag named iphone, so for now, it's hard to predict. 

Quote

In 2012, Apple paid $60 million to end a protracted legal dispute over the iPad trademark in China, which had hampered some sales and delayed the introduction of a new iPad in the country.

https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/in-china-a-leather-bag-can-be-called-iphone-rules-court-321597-2016-05-04

 

 

[Belgarathian]

So they're being sued by a company for using a product that has been around for longer than the patent they're using to sue. Gl;hf.

[TetraSky]

Another one?

Is China becoming the new patent troll holy land? Or is this just part of the Chinese gov's plot for getting back at the US in the ever escalating "trade war"... Can be a lot of things.

[ARikozuM]

4 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Another one?

Is China becoming the new patent troll holy land? Or is this just part of the Chinese gov's plot for getting back at the US in the ever escalating "trade war"... Can be a lot of things.

Trade wars don't work if the other party holds the majority power (in this case China holds the majority power).

[justpoet]

2 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Another one?

Is China becoming the new patent troll holy land? Or is this just part of the Chinese gov's plot for getting back at the US in the ever escalating "trade war"... Can be a lot of things.

China basically vowed to go after US companies for IP due to the US going after China for IP theft and blocking Chinese hardware.  This is all retaliatory nonsense to make the Chinese government have a PR arm to Chinese people, much like the also recent FinFET suit against Intel.

[mr moose]

1 hour ago, Belgarathian said:

So they're being sued by a company for using a product that has been around for longer than the patent they're using to sue. Gl;hf.

It sounds like they spent the last 8 years fighting that they own the patent, now they have been granted ownership by the high court they can finally sue apple.  I don't think they only just acquired it recently. 

 

Also as frustrating as it is, even they did only just acquire the rights, it wouldn't be the first time a company has been successful in suing for stuff prior to ownership, It's happened here before.

[Guest]

Another company after Apple’s coffers. I don’t think this will stand up. 

[RejZoR]

I know what China is doing. They'll be extorting money this way. Pay us the sum we ask for in the "patent infringement" (that we stole from US anyways) or we'll block you from Chinese market. And since everyone knows China by itself is a massive market, everyone's gonna pay. Bookmark this comment because I guarantee you more and more of this shit will start popping up...

 

It would just be absolutely hilarious all non-Chinese companies in China would close down and left them despite loss of a big market. And sanction China everywhere outside of China because of state wide extortion scheme so China couldn't just spread its tentacles unchallenged outside of China. Realistically, this would be the only medicine to stop whatever game China is trying to play here.

[LAwLz]

US company: *Does something bad* 

Everyone: That company sure is bad! 

 

Chinese company: *Does something bad*

Everyone: China sure is bad! 

 

 

By the way, this patent dates back to 2004 so there might be some legitimacy to it. Don't be too quick to jump on the "China bad" bandwagon. People have been complaining that China doesn't have IP laws for a long time but now that they are starting to enforce them people complain too? 

Remember, China has recently passed the US in number of patents filed. So for every US parent lawsuit it makes sense that we see at least one involving a Chinese company. 

 

 

Edit: I looked it up and in the US 5000-6000 patent lawsuits filed every year in the US. This means that even without some crazy conspiracy theory about China, it makes sense that we should see around 5000-6000 patent lawsuits there as well. I really don't get why people are surprised and that this is some big-brain plan from the Chinese government to try and harm the US when they would not use random companies and lawsuits to do that. If the Chinese government didn't want iPhones to exist in China they would just ban Apple from making sales in China. Just like the US has banned Huawei stuff in the US.

Thinking that this is some conspiracy theory makes absolutely no sense.

[Soppro]

Ironic. A Chinese company suing a foreign company for IP infringement ... what world am I living in

[Kisai]

6 hours ago, TetraSky said:

Another one?

Is China becoming the new patent troll holy land? Or is this just part of the Chinese gov's plot for getting back at the US in the ever escalating "trade war"... Can be a lot of things.

It wasn't until relatively recently that Chinese patents could be enforced outside of China. Thanks WTO. So by allowing Chinese companies to steal foreign IP through JV's and then patenting that same tech and suing other foreign companies that use it, gee, maybe don't JV in China, it always ends in lawsuits.

 

I think the only aspect of trade wars here is really the Chinese government can tell it's companies to find a reason to sue foreigners, and patents are a relative easy way to do so by submarine'ing the patents so they can blackmail companies from selling in their own countries, while simultaneously ignoring patent infringement in their own backyard.