Apple doubles down on claims that ex-Apple Watch engineer leaked secrets to Oppo
Apple's latest court filing brings new details to light, suggesting that Oppo may have benefited from insider knowledge about Apple Watch sensor tech — a claim Oppo continues to deny.
Once again, we're having a complicated legal situation between tech companies. This time, a new court filing by Apple gives more details on the accusation that an ex-Apple Watch engineer has shared trade secrets with the Chinese company Oppo.
Apple gives more details on its accusations against a former Apple Watch engineer
Back in August, the Cupertino tech giant accused its former Apple Watch engineer Chen Shi of copying trade secrets and sharing them with a competing electronics company, and more specifically, with Oppo.
The new court filing reveals more information about the situation. The filing was made to the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, and it's a joint status report. We're talking about a redacted public version, from which the Apple trade secrets have been hidden for obvious reasons.
After the initial filing in August, Oppo argued that it had found no evidence that Apple's theft of trade secret allegations were true. Oppo also stated that it didn't find evidence that it even happened during Shi's employment at Oppo InnoPeak Technology subsidiary.
Image Credit - Apple's filing
Well, Apple's latest filing seems to bring a new perspective that's quite convincing, suggesting Oppo's claim may be incorrect.
Apple claims that Shi gave a presentation on Apple sensor technology to other Oppo employees. Apparently, documentation marketing the presentation as "Oppo Talk" was found, and the documents are claiming that a Former Apple technical director is going to reveal sensor hardware development of Apple's on August 1, possibly during a company event.
The Cupertino tech giant also claims that the presentation includes slides with information from the 63 confidential files downloaded by Shi, reportedly in his final weeks at Apple. Allegedly, Shi also used the event to answer questions related to Apple's sensor design.
Do stories like this make you trust tech companies more or less?
I trust them less — there’s too much behind-the-scenes
33.33%
I don’t really care as long as the products are good
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It depends on how Apple handles this one
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Apple claims Oppo is not cooperating
On top of all that, Apple claims that despite insisting otherwise back in August, the Chinese electronics company has not been cooperating.
Apple insists that Oppo didn't hand over all the documents that Apple had requested, and also, it didn't provide the results of forensic device reports.
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Meanwhile, Shi potentially had had the chance to delete files from Oppo's servers when the lawsuit was filed, which, if true, could've destroyed evidence.
Apple is also requesting the court to stop Shi from sharing any further details. Apple wants Oppo to stop any work on products that use Apple's technology, and related employees to be banned from working on competing products or technologies.
On the other hand, Oppo claims that it had searched whatever systems Shi had access to and found no sign that the company had received any trade secrets or information.
Meanwhile, for the presentation, Oppo claimed that Shi talked about "general engineering principles" and not specifically about information from Apple.
Apple asked for injunctive relief, and Oppo said that Apple was not entitled to it.
In the meantime, the court has ordered Oppo to comply with Apple's document requests by October 31. Or, Oppo can choose to comply on a rolling basis starting from October 28, if the quantity of documents is high enough for that.
Shi has agreed to take part in a deposition, but he has also requested that the deadline be extended. The former Apple employee says that this is due to a recent diagnosis of a condition that could worsen from high stress and adversity. He has also requested a protective order to limit or stay the deposition for medical reasons.
Oppo claims that the Cupertino giant was served similar requests for interrogation and documents on September 18, and Apple had until October 20 to respond. But reportedly, the response was just 54 documents, not the hundreds that it claimed were taken by Shi.
Right now, the filing doesn't include decisions by the court. There's still time to go for Oppo's deadline for documents, but it's possible that we'll know more about this lawsuit before the year ends.
Another tech drama with lots of layers
It's honestly hard to keep up with all these legal battles in the tech world lately. This one feels especially tricky – there's Apple protecting its secrets, Oppo denying everything, and a lot of back-and-forth that'll probably take months to untangle.
Whether Shi really shared anything or not, it shows how valuable (and sensitive) this kind of tech knowledge is. Hopefully, the truth comes out soon, because cases like this remind us how thin the line can be between innovation and imitation.
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Izzy, a tech enthusiast and a key part of the PhoneArena team, specializes in delivering the latest mobile tech news and finding the best tech deals. Her interests extend to cybersecurity, phone design innovations, and camera capabilities. Outside her professional life, Izzy, a literature master's degree holder, enjoys reading, painting, and learning languages. She's also a personal growth advocate, believing in the power of experience and gratitude. Whether it's walking her Chihuahua or singing her heart out, Izzy embraces life with passion and curiosity.
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