National Cheng Kung University has said that the patents that it owns were issued in 2007 and 2010. Siri originally started as an artificial intelligence project at SRI International that was funded by U.S. government. Eventually, it turned into an independent company by the name SIRI, in 2007, the company was then bought by Apple in 2010. Though nothing has been proved yet but if Apple loses this one, then for compensation, the company will have to pay a percentage of its U.S. sales of the devices that has Siri. In a nutshell, this will include sales of all iPhone 4S and iPads that have iOS 6 software, which is expected to enter the market this fall. This means that the university may get a good amount in terms of compensation. This is one of the many lawsuits that have been filed against Apple regarding its mobile technology. Speculations are that filing charges against international companies has become a kind of trend these days. What has really boosted the courage of companies is the Apple’s decision of settling with the almost bankrupt Proview over the iPad trademark in China, which happened last month for $60 million. Though at present, Siri has simply sued Apple, but University’s lawyers told Reuters that it is also planning to sue to Microsoft and Google on the violation of same two patents.
