Apple has long been one of the first tech companies that come in mind when thinking about lawsuits.

The Cupertino-based company is no stranger to Court battles, as it is consistent caught in trials throughout the years against people and other companies for a variety of reasons.

And this time, the tech giant faces a lawsuit filed by Shanghai Zhizhen Intelligent Network Technology Co, Ltd, a Chinese AI company also known as Xiao-i.

The Chinese company said that it is suing Apple for an estimated ¥10 billion ($1.43 billion) in damages in a Shanghai court.

Xiao-i alleged that the iPhone and iPad maker's products have violated a Patent (ZL200410053749.9) for a virtual assistant whose technical architecture is similar to ‌Siri‌, the voice-activated function in Apple's smartphones and laptops.

The patent was applied for in 2004 and was granted in 2009 by the State Intellectual Property Office or SIPO (CNIPA’s predecessor),

This follows a court decision back in June that upheld the validity of its Chinese patent for the chatbot. It was in July that China's Supreme People's court ruled that the patent was valid.

Xiao-i began its life from founders Max Yuan and Pinpin Zhu in 2001, to then became the creator of a chatbot for Microsoft Network’s (MSN) messaging platform and similar networks in 2004. But since it has migrated to a number of platforms including Android and iOS, the chatbot evolved to look quite similar to ‌Siri‌.

‌Siri‌ itself was acquired by Apple back in 2010 under the direction of Steve Jobs.

Apple introduced Siri as a digital personal assistant, taken from the original concept called the Knowledge Navigator, first described by former Apple Computer CEO John Sculley in his 1987 book.

Xiao-i first sued Apple back in 2012 for patent infringement regarding its voice recognition technology. The Chinese AI firm's claimed that ‌Siri‌ infringed on its patent rights, specifically in relation to Zhi Zhen, a chatbot Xiao-i has been developing since 2003.

Subsequently, Apple filed an application with the Patent Reexamination Board of the State Intellectual Property Office for the invalidation of the patent.

After 8 years of litigation re-validity, on June 28, 2020, Xiao-i received the Supreme People’s Court (2017) Supreme Court No. 34 Administrative Judgment confirming the validity of the patent.

So here, this lawsuit marks the continuation of a row of other court trials that have been ongoing for nearly a decade.

The patent that Xiao-i owns, is the 'Chat robot system' (ZL200410053749.9), which said that it is comprising at least: a user; and a chat robot, which a robot can have a chat using AI, information services server and a database corresponding to an AI function.

The Supreme People’s Court reversed the invalidity decision of the Beijing High Court, and maintained the validity decision of the Beijing First Intermediate Court, to say that Apple Computer Trading Shanghai Ltd. (“Apple”) had been challenging the validity of the patent in response to a lawsuit filed by Xiao-i against Apple.

As part of the lawsuit, Xiao-i wants Apple to cease "manufacturing, using, promising to sell, selling, and importing" all products that it says infringe on the patent, which was ruled as valid by China's Supreme Court in late June.

What this means, if the patent-infringement lawsuit against Apple is successful, the Chinese company can prevent Apple from selling many of its products in China, a country considered as one of its most important market outside the U.S.

While preliminary injunctions are rarely granted in China, permanent injunctions are. In other words, this lawsuit can damage Apple real bad.

In a statement, Apple said that its Siri does not contain features included in the Xiao-i patent.

Apple argues that Xiao-i's patent relates to games and instant messaging, rather than for a digital assistant.

The company also said that independent appraisers certified by the Supreme People’s Court have concluded that Apple does not infringe Xiao-i's technology.

“We are disappointed Xiao-i Robot has filed another lawsuit,” Apple said in a statement.

“We look forward to presenting the facts to the court and we will continue to focus on delivering the best products and services in the world to our customers.”