Apple in court over alleged IPR infringement

SHANGHAI - A Shanghai court on Tuesday started to hear a case in which Apple's Siri application stands accused of infringing upon another company's intellectual property rights (IPR).

According to the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate Court, Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology Co Ltd is suing Apple Inc., as well as Apple Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd over alleged IPR infringement.

The company is accusing five Apple products that run Siri, including the iPhone 4S, of infringing upon the IPR of its chat robot system.

Shanghai Zhizhen requests that Apple stop manufacturing and selling relevant products.

Apple has denied the accusations, saying Siri goes beyond Shanghai Zhizhen's IPR, and it has asked the court to reject all requests from Shenzhen Zhizhen.

Siri was first launched as an application available in Apple's App Store in the United States. Apple introduced the iPhone 4S in October 2011 with Siri, which is integrated into the iOS and offers conversational interaction across multiple applications.

The case will continue to be heard on a future date, the court said, without giving specific time.