Nuance sues Zi in Canada over patents

Nuance Communications Inc. of Burlington and its Tegic subsidiary said today that they have filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Canada against Zi Corp.

Nuance, a provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers, and Tegic said the lawsuit claims that Zi's Qix and eZiText products infringe Tegic's intellectual property. A representative for the Canadian company could not immediately be reached for comment.

Zi's software is used in mobile phones for predictive text messaging.

Nuance said it is seeking damages from Zi, but it did not specify how much.

Zi earlier this month rebuffed a Nuance $40.4 million unsolicited takeover offer from Nuance. Nuance called the rejection "perplexing and inappropriate" because it was at a significant premium to Zi's stock price.

Nuance's shares fell 17 cents to $15.48 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Shares of Zi fell about 5 cents, or 6.8 percent, to 66 cents. (AP)