There is no doubt that, together with the new App Store, the great news of Fourth generation Apple TV, introduced almost two years ago, was the introduction of Siri. But, while in Tupiniquim territory, the virtual assistant still doesn't give the slightest sign of landing, in her homeland she is already a rebellious teenager taking problems home.
I say this because Ma received another notorious #processinho to join the extensive list of legal battles that are already disputing this one, however, directly linked to Siri on Apple TV.
On the other side of the event is the CustomPlay, a company based in the state of Florida, USA. According to the company, which filed a complaint with the Southern Florida District Court, Apple infringed a patent on its property with a famous appeal from Siri on its set-top box: the voice command “What did he say?”, which returns the content in 15 seconds and temporarily activates the subtitles.
Patent registration No. 6,408,128 B1, which was applied for in 1998 and granted in 2002, actually describes a feature very similar to that implemented by Apple: a remote control capable of activating a function, here called "WHAT?" (“WHAT?”), Which makes the system return to playing the video in a pre-defined amount of time and turn on the subtitles in the default language of the system or in a previously selected language.
To make matters worse, documents provided by CustomPlay show that the company contacted Apple in 2014 seeking a partnership; Ma, however, never responded. That would be proof that Tim Cook and his gang were aware of the patent (and the functionality) but, presumably, chose to infringe it anyway. Finally, before we go on to classify the accuser as a mere Patent trollIt is worth noting that the company produces apps for iOS and claims to have this feature implemented in some of them, that is, at least at first glance, they do not only have the intellectual property to profit from it.
CustomPlay is now asking for undisclosed financial compensation, covering the damage caused and the legal costs of the process. On her side, Ma has not yet commented on the case but we will keep an eye on it.
via 9to5Mac
