A Chinese AI firm is asking a court to stop the production and sale of the iPhone in China. The firm alleges that Siri infringes upon its patent. The move comes just a week before Apple is expected to unveil its upcoming iPhone 13 lineup. (South China Morning Post)
Chinese AI firm Xiao-i Robot hit Apple last year with a $1.4 billion lawsuit, which claims Apple’s Siri virtual personal assistant violates its patent for a similar assistant. The firm is asking Apple to cease “manufacturing, using, promising to sell, selling, and importing” all products that “infringe” upon its patent.
If Xiao-i-Robot’s injunction is granted by the court, it could have a significant impact on Apple’s supply chain. While a ruling is unlikely to directly affect the iPhone 13 launch this month, it may impact future iPhone launches.
The preliminary injunction application, filed in a Shanghai court, was announced by Xiao-i Robot in a statement on its WeChat account just hours before Apple officially announced its upcoming “California Streaming” event which is set for Tuesday, September 14.
Xiao-i Robot chief executive Yuan Hui said in the statement that Apple did not respect its intellectual property. “Apple should immediately stop the infringement, take down and stop selling the related products,” Yuan said.
In a statement to South China Morning Post, Apple said that Siri does not “contain features included in their patent, which relates to games and instant messaging” and that local certified Chinese appraisers have “concluded that Apple does not infringe Xiao-i-Robot’s technology.”
