Apple Inc. is being sued by a Taiwanese university that is claiming patent infringement over the companies Siri speech recognition system. The Siri voice assistant allows users to place calls, perform internet searches and take care of other tasks using only their voice.
Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University on Monday said the lawsuit focuses on two U.S. patents that were generated in 2007 and 2010 relating to voice-to-text technology. Apple acquired Siri technology on April 28, 2010.
The university has filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division. According to Yama Chen, legal manager of National Cheng Kung:
“We filed that lawsuit in the Texas court because it processes faster and its rulings are usually in favor of patent owners and the compensations are usually higher.”
The university has not disclosed the amount of money it is seeking. The lawsuit covers current and future versions of iPhone and iPad devices operating Siri technology.
Apple recently lost a patent design lawsuit to Taiwanese manufacturer ProView, that lawsuit resulted in a $60 million settlement.
Apple Inc. has been very aggressive in its patent attacks against competitors including Samsung, Google, Motorola and HTC. Those company’s and others recently began firing back against Apple by filing smaller patent lawsuits regarding various aspects of iOS based devices.
The world’s largest tech firm is facing other patent lawsuits in Asia, specifically from Jiangsu Xuebao which filed a trademark violation for the use of Snow Leopard OS name and Zhi Zhen Internet Technology which has also targeted Siri technology.