”Apple has won an appeal in China over patent rights to voice recognition software such as the iPhone’s ‘Siri,’ with a court overruling an earlier decision that had gone against the US technology giant,” AFP reports.
“The legal battle begun in 2012 when Shanghai-based Zhizhen Network Technology pursued Apple for allegedly infringing its Chinese patent with Siri, its ‘intelligent personal assistant,’” AFP reports. “Apple asked a Chinese intellectual property body to declare Zhizhen’s original patent ineffective but the request was rejected. The US firm then took legal action against both the agency and Zhizhen, but lost.”
“The Beijing Higher People’s Court upheld Apple’s appeal, ordering the Chinese agency to reverse its decision,” AFP reports. “The announcement came days before the long-awaited Apple Watch launched Friday in select parts of Asia including China, which is expected to be a key market.”
