Two Patent Claims Filed Against Apple

DENVER - Two smaller rivals this week accused Apple of patent violations: one claiming Apple's Siri iPhone featured violated its voice recognition patent, and the second one challenging Apple's iPad Smart Cover for its gadget.

Both complaints were filed in Denver Federal Court.

Potter Voice Technologies claimed Apple's Siri feature violates its patent on a "Method and Apparatus for Controlling a Digital Computer Using Oral Input."

Also named as defendants in that complaint were Motorola, Google, Samsung, Sony, Research in Motion and others major computer and device makers.

Potter, a small firm that apparently does not have a website, claims it registered its patent in 1998. It is represented by Christopher Banys, with the Lanier Law Firm, of Palo Alto, Calif.

In the second case, Jerald Bovino, a retired Aspen ophthalmologist and film producer who now hosts a television show, claims that Apple's iPad Smart Cover for the New iPad and the iPad 2 violates his 2005 patent for a "portable computer case."

Bovino also sued Target, which sells the device at issue.

Bovini is represented by Lisa Secor of the Fischer Law Firm.

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