Dot 23 Technologies, a non-practicing identity hailing from the state of Texas in the U.S. has filed a complaint with the Eastern District Court of Texas, stating Apple has infringed on three of the patents it owns through its popular voice assistant Siri.
More specifically, the organization states that Apple has infringed on patents 6,917,802, 7,245,903, and 6,405,029, which were all granted between 2002 and 2007. These patents were invented by Byard G. Nilsson, and were transferred to Dot 23 Technologies back in September of last year.
In a nutshell, the '802 and '029 patents are all about a dialing program that has the ability to recognize and process spoken alphanumeric characters. '029 also covers a system with low-level user interaction, and cues taken from an automated service. In connection to the lawsuit, Siri can perform such an operation, by dialing a number from a voice command from the user, for example, a user saying "Siri, call 555-1234."
Patent '903, on the other hand, refers to an information service that serves up geographical data on demand. Relating it to Siri, the assistant can pull up data about a certain location using a device's GPS, displaying traffic, road information, and so much more, when a user asks for it.
These features of Siri reputedly crossing the line of the patents mentioned are what ignited Dot 23 towards filing a complaint against Apple.
According to the entity, Apple has been informed of the complaint, but has not taken any action. Lastly, the alleged infringement also reportedly covers the iPhone 4, iPhone 5, and iPhone 6, including their variants.
Dot 23 Technologies is now seeking for damages. However, the case has not been assigned a judge yet.
Back in November, Apple was sued by a pensioner for allegedly wiping his iPhone after taking it in for repair. The pensioner eventually emerged victorious, claiming $1,800 in damages.
Source: Apple Insider via Digital Trends | Image via Hadrian/Shutterstock.com
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