Apple Inc, the global electronics giant, appeared in court in Shanghai on April 27, accused of intellectual property right infringement involving software used on "Siri", its intelligent digital assistant.

Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology Co, the developer of a voice technology named "Xiao i Robot", alleges that the Apple assistant infringed its patent, in particular relating to "a type of instant messaging chat robot system".Siri responds to a user's commands through voice recognition software.

A preliminary hearing - during which, in accordance with  Chinse civil procedural law,both sides can present evidence to the court before a formal hearing starts - was held at Shanghai Number 1 Intermediate People's Court. The formal hearing will be held on July 2.

According to evidence presented by Zhizhen, its chat robot system was filed for patent with China's State Intellectual Property Office on Aug 13, 2004, and approved on Feb 15, 2006.Siri Inc, a start-up company Apple acquired in 2010, started producing the virtual mobile assistant in 2007. Apple included the technology on its iPhone 4S smart phone in 2011.

Apple, however, said Siri had gained an international patent and the company had applied to China's State Intellectual Property Office for declaration of  invalidation of Xiao i Robot's patent right.

Zhizhen Chairman Yuan Hui said his company demands Apple stop the infringement, and that means that Apple Computer Trading (Shanghai) Co and Apple Inc have to stop the manufacture, sale and use of products with Siri technology in China, such as iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 3, iPad 4 and iPod touch 5.

Zhizhen initiated litigation on June 21, 2012, only a few days after Apple paid $60 million to Proview Technology (Shenzhen) to end a protracted legal dispute over the iPad trademark in China. The company said judging from the iPhone 4S' promotional slogan, which describes Siri as a character-driven intelligent personal assistant, Apple violated one of its patents.

"Xiao i Robot is not as famous as Siri only because we sell it as our technical core to varied types of clients, including China Merchants Bank and Shanghai Meteorological Bureau. Users get to know it under our clients' name," said Mei Li from Zhizhen's marketing department, adding that Xiao i Robot now has 100 million users across China, including some local governmental departments.

Apple said at the hearing that detailed technical appraisal and analysis on Siri and Xiao i Robot should be presented as evidence to determine whether Siri has infringed Zhizhen's IPRs, which Zhizhen has failed to provide.

This is the third time Apple has been sued in China for patent infringement. It lost a battle for the use of the iPad name in China and was accused of infringing trademark rights by Jiangsu Xuebao Daily Chemical Co.

However, some industry insiders and lawyers doubt Zhizhen's motivation for filing the lawsuit. Geng Yan, a smartphone specialist at CCID Consulting Co, said Siri and Xiao i Robot have overlapping functions such as online chatting and information inquiries, but that is common for technology companies. "The settlement with Proview could be seen as a benchmark for what Apple is willing to pay for clean access to a trademark, but that would also embolden trademark trolls looking to make a quick buck off Apple," said Geng, adding there is also the possibility that Zhizhen is using the lawsuit to gauge its popularity on the domestic market.