In a suit filed last week, Nuance and Phonetic Systems Ltd
allege that Tellme infringes patents covering valuable features of
directory assistance and call centre applications, including
pioneering “whisper” technologies and advanced database query
techniques.
Two patents are involved: US Patent No. 5,033,088, entitled
“Method and Apparatus for Effectively Receiving Voice Input to a
Voice Recognition System,” and US Patent No. 6,256,630, entitled
“Word-Containing Database Accessing System for Responding to
Ambiguous Queries, Including a Dictionary of Database Words, a
Dictionary Searcher and a Database Searcher.”
Jo-Anne Sinclair, vice president and general counsel at Nuance,
said: “Nuance values its intellectual property and intends to
diligently and vigorously protect its patent rights and prevent
infringing use by others.”
Tellme has not commented on the lawsuit.
