Call centre system infringes speech recognition patent, says Nuance

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.