July 8th in iPad, iPad News, iPhone, Mac by

Apple faces new suits in China over Siri and Snow Leopard

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Apple’s legal situation in China just got more complicated now that they have been sued by two more Chinese companies after having just reached a settlement with another.

Apple has been sued by Zhi Zhen Internet Technology, alleging Apple’s Siri is infringing on its voice assistant service patents, and prior to that by Jiangsu Xuebao, which alleged that Apple infringed on its trademark of Snow Leopard, Apple’s operating system released in 2009.

The two new lawsuits come after Apple agreed to pay $60 million to Proview Technology to settle a two-year dispute over ownership of the iPad trademark in China.

Zhi Zhen said it applied for a patent for its voice assistant software, Ziao i Robot, in 2004, and that it sent Apple a complaint in May but received no response.

Apple has since announced it was adding Mandarin and Cantonese versions of Siri for its users in China, which may be the catalyst for Zhi Zhen’s lawsuit.

In the Snow Leopard lawsuit, Jiangsu Xuebao  more than $80,000 and an apology from Apple, for the alleged infringement on the Snow Leopard trademark by Apple.

The company claims it registered the Chinese equivalent of Snow Leopard, Xuebao, in 2000. The company said Apple tried to register that word in 2008 but was turned down. Jiangsu Xuebao cites that as evidence of the infringement.

Apple has not commented on either lawsuit.

[Forbes]





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