CANNES, France-ScanSoft Inc. announced it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against voice recognition company Voice Signal Technologies Inc., a move that Voice Signal said comes after ScanSoft’s failed attempt at acquiring the company.
ScanSoft alleges Voice Signal’s voice-activated dialing technology infringes on one of its speech-recognition patents, and that the company misappropriated ScanSoft’s confidential information and trade secrets. ScanSoft said it is seeking an injunction against Voice Signal and monetary damages.
However, Voice Signal said the lawsuit “has absolutely no merit” and comes shortly after ScanSoft attempted to acquire Voice Signal. Voice Signal alleges ScanSoft was unable to commercialize its own technology in the mobile phone market and therefore entered acquisition discussions with Voice Signal. Those talks ended when ScanSoft was unwilling to pay fair market value to purchase the company, Voice Signal said, and shortly after the end of negotiations ScanSoft filed suit against Voice Signal. Voice Signal said the suit is a “last ditch effort” to harm the company in its customer dealings during the 3GSM show.
A ScanSoft spokeswoman said the company could not comment on Voice Signal’s allegations.
In the past several months Voice Signal has racked up an impressive number of customer wins for its voice recognition technology, which resides inside a mobile phone and recognizes commands without training or prerecording. Voice Signal’s technology is in a range of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. phones as well as advanced phones from Sendo and Panasonic.
