Apple sues Oppo employees

An Oppo store in China. Photo: Reuters .

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo has hired a former Apple Watch engineer who was accused of stealing trade secrets from his former employer and then presenting the information to hundreds of Oppo employees, according to court documents filed by Apple last week.

In August, Apple accused former employee Chen Shi of stealing internal technology information related to the Apple Watch and entered a legal battle with Oppo. Apple claimed Oppo was deliberately concealing information, while the Chinese phone company denied receiving any trade secrets.

Chen Shi was spotted revealing sensor technology, as well as an inside look at Apple’s development process and future product plans, in a presentation titled “Apple’s Sensor Hardware R&D Philosophy and Methodology.” The tagline for the meeting read: “Are you curious about how Apple develops their sensors?”

Apple said the presentation included slides taken directly from internal documents, and Shi answered specific questions about sensor design. Oppo allegedly encouraged its new employees to share this confidential information.

Presentation details provided. Photo: MacRumors.

Additionally, Apple said it had not received sufficient documentation or device forensic reports from the plaintiffs to determine the extent of the alleged data theft. The company argued that Dr. Shi had the opportunity to delete the information from Oppo’s systems after the initial lawsuit was filed.

Apple is asking the court to issue an injunction to prevent Shi from further disclosing the information and Oppo from developing products based on its technology. The complaint also seeks to quarantine employees who have been exposed to the trade secrets and remove them from any development of competing technology.

Oppo said it had conducted a comprehensive review of the systems Shi accessed, and “there was no indication that any trade secrets were received” from him. The company asserted that Shi’s presentation only covered “general technical principles” and did not include information taken from Apple.

Mr. Shi agreed to testify, but requested an extension and a protective order because of a recent medical diagnosis. The court ordered Oppo to provide documents requested by Apple by October 31.

Before leaving Apple, Shi downloaded 63 files from a protected Box folder and transferred them to a USB drive. Shi also reportedly attended dozens of private meetings with members of the Apple Watch engineering team to learn about their research projects before leaving the company.

Oppo is now one of the leading smartphone makers in China, shipping 10.7 million devices in the second quarter, accounting for 15.5% of the domestic market share and ranking third behind Huawei and Vivo. The company entered the smartwatch market in 2020, about five years after the Apple Watch.

Source: https://znews.vn/apple-kien-nhan-vien-oppo-post1598055.html