Apple, others sued over voice-controlled phones

Apple has been named in a new lawsuit targeting the manufacturers of cellular phones with voice control capabilities. Colorado-based Potter Voice Technologies has filed a federal patent infringement suit against Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Google, HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola, ZTE, Kyocera, Sharp, Huawei, Pantech, RIM, and Nokia, claiming that all phones containing voice command functionality violate its 14-year-old patent. “Apple’s Siri and Google’s Google Voice Actions make cell phones and other electronic devices much more useful for customers, but those products and others would never have been possible if not for the technology embodied in Potter’s patent,” said IP attorney Christopher Banys, who is representing Potter. “The defendants have collected a fortune using Potter’s technology, and we are asking the court for at least a reasonable royalty based on their unauthorized use.”