The "small degree" voice woke up the command "crash" and the court ruled that it constituted unfair competition.

This case is the first case of unfair competition in voice command of intelligent products in China.

Author | Bruce

Editor | Zhao Ling

"What's the weather like tomorrow?"

"A little, I want to listen to Mojito ..."

A voice interaction that starts with a specific "wake-up word" seems to be the key to a mysterious AI. Voice commands with the functions of awakening and operating products in human-computer interaction like this play an important role in the application and popularization of artificial intelligence technology in daily life.

Not long ago, Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Baidu Online Company") sued Beijing Zile Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zile Company") and its product seller Beijing Jingwei Zhicheng E-Commerce Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jingwei Company") to the court because of the "wake-up word" of "car crash", demanding that the two defendants stop their involvement in the case and demand that

Recently, the Haidian District People's Court of Beijing (hereinafter referred to as Haidian Court) made a first-instance judgment on this case, and ordered Zile Company to eliminate the influence of its unfair competition behavior and compensate Baidu Online Company for its economic loss of 5, yuan and reasonable expenses of 55, yuan. It is reported that this is the first case of unfair competition dispute over voice instruction of smart products in China pronounced by Haidian Court.

1

"komORi komori" or "komori komori"?

Baidu Online Company, as the plaintiff in this case, believes that the Du Yaya learning machine produced and sold by Zile Company highlights the use of "Xiao Du" to refer to its products, and uses the voice command "xiaoduxiaodu" to wake up and operate, which constitutes unfair competition.

According to public information, as early as March 218, Baidu has released the product "Little Home 1S". It is said that this product integrates the functions of videophone, mobile TV and smart speaker, and can check the weather, ask recipes, broadcast videos, tell stories and watch news.

Xiaodi is at home 1S

And Baidu's default wake-up word for Xiaodi products including "Xiaodi is at home 1S" is "Xiaodi Xiaodi".

The wake-up word for the small-scale at-home 1S product is "small-scale at-home"

Baidu Online Company claims that it is the developer and operator of small-scale AI electronic products including "small-scale at-home 1S" (hereinafter referred to as "small-scale smart speaker"), and "xiaoduxiaodu" is a voice instruction used by Baidu Online Company in AI electronic products with wake-up and operation functions.

According to Baidu Online, it found that Zile Company produces and sells Du Yaya learning machine, an AI electronic product that is the same as a small smart speaker. The company highlighted the use of "Xiao Du" in its official website promotional content and Du Yaya learning machine to refer to its products; Using the voice command "xiaoduxiaodu" in Du Yaya's learning machine to wake up and operate, and publicizing it in official website, the above behavior confuses the public and constitutes unfair competition.

Du Yaya LOGO

Du Yaya bilingual learning machine

According to Du Yaya official website, Du Yaya bilingual learning machine is a family bilingual enlightenment education program developed by Zile Company for children aged 2-8 in China; In July 218, Zile Company received tens of millions of RMB pre-A round of financing from Xianfeng Changqing, the top three early venture capital institutions in China. At the end of March 219, Zile Company received RMB 55 million A round of financing led by Lanchi Venture Capital and followed by Xianfeng Changqing.

In response to Baidu Online's lawsuit, Zile Company argued that it did not make prominent use of "Xiaodi" product name and "xiaoduxiaodu" voice command; Its use of "Du Yaya" name and "Xiao Du Xiao Du" voice command has a reasonable basis; The appearance, functions and target users of the products of the two parties are completely different, which will not confuse consumers. Jingwei Company said that it only sold one device to Baidu Online Company as evidence in this case, and deleted the product link in time after knowing the lawsuit in this case.

2

Zile Company's use of "xiaoduxiaodu" is malicious

Haidian Court pointed out after trial that "xiaodu", as the product name of its smart speaker, is an influential product name stipulated in Item 1 of Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law; "xiaoduxiaodu" is a special voice command that is necessary and frequently appears when users use small-scale smart speakers. This voice command has established a clear and stable connection with Baidu Online Company and its products, and has a high popularity and influence, which should be protected by Article 6, Paragraph 4, of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.

Haidian Court held that, combined with the popularity and influence of "xiaoduxiaodu" and "Xiaodu Xiaodu", Xiaodu Smart Speaker and Du Yaya Learning Machine are similar products in terms of functions, audiences, sales channels and so on. Zile Company's behavior of being sued was subjectively malicious, and objectively, it was easy for the relevant public to mistakenly think that there might be product research and development and technical support for Du Yaya Learning Machine and Baidu Online's Small Smart Speaker and related services.

accordingly, the court found that the above-mentioned behavior of Zile Company violated the provisions of Item 1 and Item 4 of Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and constituted unfair competition for Baidu Online Company. Jingwei Company also lacks a legal basis for selling Du Yaya learning machines. In the end, the court made the above judgment.

At present, Du Yaya's official website no longer displays related propaganda content about the voice command "xiaoduxiaodu".

It is reported that, as the first unfair competition dispute involving voice command of intelligent products in China, the verdict of this case effectively regulated the malicious confusion and misleading behavior of the public in the artificial intelligence product market, guided the market operators to conduct healthy competition through technological innovation and other means, and maintained the market competition order of artificial intelligence related products in the process of innovation and development.

The verdict of this case is also a positive response to policies such as further strengthening the judicial work against unfair competition, promoting the healthy development of intelligence and digitalization, and helping to upgrade the modernization level of emerging industries.

3

In order to successfully "wake up AI", various enterprises have made patent trademark layouts

At present, AI intelligent interactive products such as smart speakers, smart screens and intelligent learning machines are emerging one after another in the market: Baidu's "small degree", Xiaomi's "little love classmate", Apple's "Hi, Siri" and Microsoft's "Xiao Bing".

how to get a pleasant, easy-to-call and easy-to-remember voice wake-up command for a product has largely become one of the keys to whether a product can catch consumers' attention.

all enterprises have noticed this and quickly launched the layout of related intellectual property rights.

Huawei, for example, applied for the invention patent of "a voice wake-up method and electronic equipment", and its technology can be used to ensure the probability of successful wake-up of electronic equipment in a wide range of locations.

Baidu has also applied for the invention patent of "Voice Wake-up Method, Device and Computer-readable Media Based on Lip Language". This patented technology can even compare the user's lip change image with the preset change image according to the device. Once matched, it can wake up the voice interaction function, which is amazing.

trademarks are another layout focus. Baidu's "small degree" submitted a trademark application in 219; Xiaomi' s "Little Love Classmate" has been laid out since 217; Ali's "Tmall Elf" also began to apply for trademarks at about the same time.

however, if someone else's trademark is used as a wake-up word, it will be inappropriate.

regarding the legal nature of this behavior, some insiders analyzed the meaning of wake-up words in the usage scene, and thought that only the behavior of using well-known trademarks with no public association as wake-up words constituted the behavior prohibited by the competition law.

This view holds that the wake-up word is a technical function symbol, and the trademark is a commercial mark symbol, so it is difficult to identify the wake-up use as trademark use. Although, according to the provisions of Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, the confused object must be a logo that has a certain influence, and using other people's ordinary trademarks as wake-up words is not prohibited by the Anti-Unfair Competition Law; However, when the wake-up word is the same as other people's well-known trademarks, the technical function advantage will be strengthened and the influence of their products will be enhanced because of the popularity of well-known trademarks, which will make consumers mistakenly believe that there is a certain business cooperation relationship between the two sides, which is naturally an act that needs to be prohibited against unfair competition. In addition, it should be noted that a well-known trademark should not be regarded as an act of unfair competition if it has an associative meaning that is well known to the public, and the wake-up word uses this associative meaning. [1]

So, how can we avoid similar legal disputes for the design/production/seller of AI voice interactive products at this stage? Welcome to discuss in the message area ~