Investors Unconcerned About Apple Patent Verdict

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares were flat Wednesday despite a Beijing court ruling that Apple's voice-activated Siri service infringed on a patent from Zhizhen Internet Technology.

Zhizhen took issue with the way Siri recognizes speech, saying it's too similar to their own patented technology. The company sued Apple in 2012 for intellectual property rights infringement.

Apple intends to take this case to Beijing Higher People’s Court for additional review, insisting it was unfamiliar with Zhizhen’s patent.

“We were not aware of Zhizhen's patent before we introduced Siri and we do not believe we are using this patent,” an Apple spokesperson said. “While a separate court considers this question, we remain open to reasonable discussions with Zhuzhen."

Investors seemed to be unconcerned with the verdict against Apple. The tech behemoth's shares traded around the unchanged level of $95 on Wednesday.

“Apple's voice efforts have spanned many years and I believe they have covered their efforts well on the legal side,” Brian Blair, analyst at Rosenblatt Securities said. It “looks like another case that won’t amount to anything.”

Siri was introduced in 2011 with the iPhone 4S and has become a marquee feature for voice-activated calling and hands-free Internet searches.