A Chinese company has filed a lawsuit seeking to halt iPhone production in China, including Apple’s Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology Co, also known as Xiao-i, had previously tried to halt sales of all Siri in China, but failed. The Chinese company had argued that Apple’s intelligent assistant (IA) infringed on a “chat robot” patent held by the company…
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What exactly had happened?
Xiao-i claimed last year that Apple infringed on its patent and sought an injunction that would prevent the sale of all Apple devices with Siri in China.
The two previous lawsuits ended in a 1-1 draw. In the first case, Apple asked the court to invalidate the patent, but the judge declared it valid. In the second, Xiao-i failed to convince the court to ban the sale of Apple products, leaving open the question of whether Siri infringed the Chinese company's patent.
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Xiao-i is trying to stop iPhone production in China
The South China Morning Post reports that the Chinese company is not giving up and is even trying to stop all iPhone production in the country this time:
“A Chinese AI company has asked a Shanghai court to halt the production and sale of Apple iPhones in the country, about a week before the world's most valuable company launches the latest update to its flagship smartphone, due to a long-running patent dispute involving the virtual assistant Siri..
Xiao-i Robot, last Friday, filed an application with the Shanghai Higher People's Court for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the manufacture, sale and export of iPhones patentits.
The CEO of Xiao-i Robot said that Apple did not respect the company's intellectual property. "Apple should immediately stop the infringement, withdraw and stop selling the relevant products."
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The timing of the lawsuit is significant. It aims to pressure Apple, which is preparing to unveil the new iPhone 13 in a few days. The Chinese company hopes it will pressure Apple to agree to a settlement rather than risk halting its production at such a critical time. That risk is likely, given that courts in China often favor local companies over foreign ones.
However, Apple usually opts for litigation, as CEO Tim Cook hates intimidation or blackmail.
Apple commented: “We are disappointed that Xiao-i Robot has filed yet another lawsuit. We look forward to presenting the facts in court and will continue to focus on delivering the best products and services to our customers.”
Source: 9to5mac
