Apple defiant after losing patent appeal

Apple Inc insisted yesterday that it will continue using voice recognition software Siri in iPhone and iPad in China despite a Beijing court rejecting its appeal on a related patent.

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court on Tuesday turned down Apple's request to the State Intellectual Property Office to cancel the original patent of Xiao i Robot, a Siri-like product, developed by Shanghai-based Zhizhen Network Technology.

The dismissal of the suit could force Apple to remove Siri, a voice-recognition personal assistant application, from its products on the Chinese mainland, media reported.

But Apple denied the reports. "We are serious on patent protection and innovation. We don't know the patent of Zhizhen but we are sure we don't use their patent," Apple said in a Chinese-language statement.

Apple also said previously that it would file an appeal.

Zhizhen sued Apple in Shanghai last year, alleging that Apple's Siri infringed the patents of its Xiao i Robot in man-machine interaction technologies.

The dispute between Apple and Zhizhen has simmered since 2012 when Siri was introduced on the Chinese mainland in the iPhone 4S.