Often Apple’s legal debates seem so centred around the US and California, especially in regards to Samsung, that it’s easy to forget that Apple is a truly global organisation and that patent problems emerge all over the world. An excellent example is Apple's current struggle in China.
A year after Siri support was released in China, Zhizhen Network Technology Co, sued Apple for patent infringement. Zhizhen Network Technology Co, based in Shanghai filed their patent for Xiaoi Bot which is basically “a type of instant messaging chat bot system”. This was filed in August 13th 2004 and approved in 2006. Initially, Zhizhen attempted to solve the patent dispute outside of court, however Apple’s lack of response now means that Zhizhen is aiming to over $60 million in settlement. Evidently, if approved, this is major setback for apple’s strategy in china.
To exacerbate this situation, after Apple’s infringement is confirmed, Zhizhen Network Technology Co is demanding Apple to stop manufacturing and selling products using their patent rights in China. When this is accompanied with the possibility of paying future compensation the effects on Apple’s market share in China, appear greatly unsettled.
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