back to article Now Apple faces Siri court room showdown

Apple’s protracted iPad trademark battle with Proview appears to have opened the floodgates to further legal attacks in China, with Siri now being targeted in a law suit which could cost Cupertino in excess of $60 million to resolve. A Shanghai-based developer of voice assistant technology has filed against Apple and its local …

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  1. David Hicks

    So we can decide we 'own' animal names now then?

    I suppose the company in question is named after a fruit....

    Personally I don't think anyone should get to own trademark use of common nouns like apple or leaopard.

    1. Giles Jones Gold badge

      Re: So we can decide we 'own' animal names now then?

      Or Windows?

      Or Boots?

      Or Comet?

      Or Argos?

      etc...

      1. David Hicks

        Re: So we can decide we 'own' animal names now then?

        Argos not so much eh?

        I'm not saying they can't call themselves that, I just disagree with the violently litigious cordoning off of language in this way.

        1. mccp

          Argos not so much eh?

          Argos the store seems to be the most recent in a long line of illustrious Argosi.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argos_(disambiguation)

    2. Blunderbuss
      WTF?

      Re: So we can decide we 'own' animal names now then?

      Does that mean that the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) need to be sued as they offered to send me a toy Snow Leopard with my membership thereby blatantly infringing the trademark for financial gain?

    3. David Hicks
      Coat

      Re: So we can decide we 'own' animal names now then?

      Of course anyone should be able to trademark "leaopard" if they want, because it's not a real word.... bugger.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So we can decide we 'own' animal names now then?

      It's completely irrelevant. Apple tried to register the Chinese translation of "snow leopard" (xuebao) but couldn't. So it chose to go with the English name instead. Other than the fact that it's lubricous to claim someone might confuse a cleaning product with an operating system, you can't sue on the grounds that the translation of their product name is the same as yours. You could discover a huge numbers of infringements if you start playing that game - imagine what could happen if you started translating car model names for example.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: So we can decide we 'own' animal names now then?

        @Ralph 5: "...it's lubricous..."

        "Ludicrous" of course - I must be having Friday a day early. I suppose legal wrangling could be described as 'lubricous' though.

  2. Danny 14

    maybe..

    Perhaps apple should develop their own tech instead of stealing others?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: maybe..

      Not saying you're wrong and I don't give a monkey's about Apple but the scientist in me wants you to explain your rather blunt statement before I can accept it, just give 10 examples to back up your statement.

    2. toadwarrior

      Re: maybe..

      They didn't develop Siri, they bought it. So on the assumption there was a theft it would have been the company that developed the app. Of course not surprisingly nothing was done until a company of value bought up Siri.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Paris Hilton

      Re: maybe..

      DAMN RIGHT DENNY 14 WHATS SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE COMES AROUND

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    wait, you mean China support Software Patents? I honestly though that they didn't.

    any way, if anybody still haven't decided on which side they should take on the acceptance of Software Patents in the EU. I hope that you guys have taken sides after you have witness the mess those patents can cause.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Chinese have found the best system!

      They ignore all international IP, but sue over national stuff.

      They'll even backdate national patents if you have enough officials in your pocket.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Chinese patents?

    I've heard it all now.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Chinese patents?

      It'll be democracy next!

    2. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Chinese patents?

      But of course if a Chinese company rips YOU off, tough. I think it was Top Gear did a piece on Chinese cloned car models.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Of course Apple started all this

    So lets feel TOO sorry for them.

    They opened the floodgates...

    http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/2302/4high.jpg

    1. philbo

      Re: Of course Apple started all this

      I thought you were going to be linking to this picture:

      http://d.asset.soup.io/asset/2503/2525_1e70.jpeg

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Bad URL

      Bad URL

  6. Jeebus

    Is there anything Apple didn't steal?

    Have they patented the wheel yet?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      the problem with the patent system is that your patent only apply in the jurisdiction of the office that granted you the patent. That is why companies have to register as many patents as they can in as many countries as they can. Unless there is a agreement between the different jurisdiction.

      which is why some people are trying to stream line this process by having a common patent system plus a common court to look at the IP disputes. Which should cut down on the money spent registering patent and protection them.

      this case is an example of how problematic the current system is. Even though Apple have a valid patent in the US (for the sake of argument, let us ignore the fact that it is a Software Patent and that I am against Software Patents) and have developed their product in the US, they might be found liable in China because they didn't register their patent with the Chinese Patent Office!

      so, no, in this case Apple didn't steal, it is just that they didn't re-patent their patent under a different jurisdiction so that it could be protected their as well.

      with all that being said: Say NO to Software Patent in the EU

      1. Whitter
        Boffin

        True, your patent only applies in a given juristiction(s) but the prior art it creates applies globally. This might dent Siri a bunch more than just in the chinese marketplace.

        1. The Commenter formally known as Matt
          Boffin

          prior art [...] applies globally

          So did the bbc get this wrong:

          'HTC defeats Apple in swipe-to-unlock patent dispute'

          ""National patent laws thematically are very similar, but can be applied very differently.

          "Not only are the tests different but also the evidence that can be introduced in different courts varies. If the Neonode wasn't released in the US it might not be able to be cited there.

          "So the fact that Apple has lost this particular patent battle in the UK shouldn't mean it should be seen to have lost the global war.""

          http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18709232

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Well, given the controllers on early iPods, I'll bet they've patented the wheel *on a mobile device*

      1. davidp231
        Thumb Up

        See also: Sony J5 and J7 phones, and Nokia 7110 - they had wheels for menu navitagion (ok the Nokia one was more a cylinder but functioned the same.

        And no, that's not the phone from the original Matrix film - that's the 8110 (aka banana phone)... the 7110 features briefly in Day 1 of '24'.

  7. Andrew Moore
    Coat

    I'm sorry...

    ...but I do not understand 'Weckomend a westauwant'.

    1. philbo
      Happy

      Re: I'm sorry...

      Upvote for the BBT wefewence :-)

    2. Anonymous Dutch Coward
      Coat

      Re: I'm sorry...

      Welease Bwian then!

  8. Gil Grissum
    Pint

    YAY for China. Booo for Apple. Sue the pants off them China. See how they like having iProducts banned in China. Next up is Europe. Somewhere they will find some patent that Apple violated with some lame feature no one cares about.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Oh get back under your bridge!

  9. JaitcH
    FAIL

    I guess Apple screwed up and ...

    didn't do it's due diligence.

    So easy, all they gad to do was ask Siri a question.

  10. iCode86
    Trollface

    Karma

    It's a bitch isn't it?

    1. HammerOfTruth

      Re: Karma

      I knew a Karma and she was.

      1. Dire Criti¢
        Coat

        Re: Karma

        Yeah, but my karma ran over your dogma

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shouldn't....

    .....this Chinese company be filing for an immediate ban on the import of any Apple devices into China until the issue is resolved? Pretty sure there's a precedent for that.

  12. davidp231
    Meh

    Anyone else remember Wildfire?

    If I remember correctly. the Orange network had a similar facility many moons ago called Wildfire which did some of the functions that Siri provides. True said service was finally withdrawn in 2005, but was operational long before Siri came about.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Karma

    Live by the sword, DIE by the sword.

    The small guys are many and coming for you Apple.

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