Once part of Nuance Communications (which powered Siri‘s speech recognition in its early years), Cerence is now a subsidiary that, according to its website, works with bringing “conversational AI to the automotive world and beyond.”
Today, Cerence filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing it of infringing multiple patents. Here are the details.
In its complaint, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Cerence says that it contacted Apple in 2021 regarding “the potential acquisition of or license to” multiple patents, including for mobile text entry and wake word technology.
Clarence says it offered Apple multiple documents, including:
An overview of its patent portfolio;
Spreadsheets showing that Apple had cited Cerence in some of its own patent applications, some of which were denied due to Cerence already holding related patents;
Charts mapping Cerence’s patents to Apple’s products and features that allegedly infringed its patents.
Cerence says that it held limited discussions with Apple that year, “but no resolution was reached concerning the mobile text entry patent portfolio.”
But which patents are at issue?
In a nutshell, patents related to virtual keyboards, and “Hey Siri.”
From the complaint:
U.S. Patent No. 7,251,367, entitled “System And Method For Recognizing Word Patterns Based On A Virtual Keyboard Layout.” “(…) Apple makes (…) certain products that utilize systems and methods for recognizing word patterns by identifying an input as a stroke, matching the stroke to a stored list of word patterns, and generating and displaying the matched word to the user, including without limitation Apple iPhones and iPads with iOS13+ (…)”
U.S. Patent No. 7,453,439, entitled “System And Method For Continuous Stroke Word-Based Text Input.” “Apple makes (…) certain products with “slide to type” keyboard functionality which allows the user to enter a word by contacting the keyboard on or near the key of the first letter, tracing through or near the key of each letter in sequence, and lifting the stylus from the keyboard in the vicinity of the key of the
last letter, and matches the input pattern to the correct word by comparing it against words in a
database, including without limitation Apple iPhones and iPads with iOS13+ (…).”
U.S. Patent No. 7,750,891, entitled “Selective Input System Based On Tracking Of Motion Parameters Of An Input Device.” Apple makes (…) certain products that have a selective input system that tracks the motion of a pointing device over an area, including without limitation Apple iPhones and iPads with iOS13+ (…)”
U.S. Patents No. 8,712,755, and No. 9,256,580, both entitled “System And Method For Improving Text Input In A Shorthand-On-Keyboard Interface.” And “Apple makes (…) certain products that utilize a word pattern recognition system to improve text input entered on a shorthand-on-keyboard interface, including without limitation Apple iPhones and iPads with iOS13+ (…)”
U.S. Patent No. 9,361,885, entitled “Methods And Apparatus For Detecting A Voice Command.” “Apple makes (…) certain products that utilize methods for monitoring voice commands while operating in low power or idle mode, including without limitation Apple iPhones and iPads with iOS5+, Apple Watches with watchOS 5+, and Apple HomePods released on or after February 2018 (…)”
Cerence is asking the Texas court to declare that Apple infringed these patents, block it from further infringement, and order it to pay damages, ongoing licensing fees, and more. Cerence is also asking for a jury trial.
It is worth noting that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas has historically been known as a friendlier venue for patent holders, so Apple could be in for a challenging dispute.
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