Bulington, Mass.-based Nuance Communications, which develops speech-recognition software, said today it was giving Zi Corp. shareholders two more weeks to consider its $20 million buy-out offer, which pencils out to about 40 cents a share in cash. Previously, the decision had to be made by Jan. 2, but now it’s…

It’s been a little fun watching Nuance Communications’ awkward courtship with Zi Corp. This summer, Nuance offered $40.5 million to acquire Zi, a mobile ad and search firm. And, when Zi declined the offer, Burlington, Mass-based Nuance reacted by filing a patent infringement lawsuit over SMS technology. Then, in November,…

Zi Corp.’s license agreement with Nokia (NYSE: NOK) for predictive text services has been renewed and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Nuance Communications, which makes speech-based technology for customer service, directory assistance and voice-activated commands on wireless devices, has been dogged in its pursuit of the company…

Here’s a lesson right out of the keep-your-enemies-close playbook. Nuance Communications filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Zi Corp. over SMS technology just days after it rejected the Burlington, MA-based company’s all-cash $40.5 million takeover bid. Nuance and its Tegic subsidiary said it filed suit against Zi in a federal…

Update: Zi Corp.’s board of directors has declined Nuance’s offer. After consulting with Ridgecrest Capital Partners, the company concluded that “the Nuance proposal does not recognize the full value of Zi.” (Release). Nuance Chairman and CEO Paul Ricci fired back in a statement: “Zi’s refusal to negotiate is perplexing and…