Apple Says Oppo Engineer Stole Apple Watch Trade Secrets, Gave Presentation to Hundreds

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo recruited a former Apple Watch engineer who stole trade secret information from Apple and then gave a presentation on that data to hundreds of Oppo employees, Apple said in a court filing last week [PDF].

Back in August, Apple accused former employee Chen Shi of stealing Apple Watch trade secrets to provide to Oppo, and since then, the two companies have been battling it out in court. Apple claims that Oppo is withholding information, while Oppo says no trade secrets were disclosed.

Apple discovered that Shi gave a presentation on Apple sensor technology, providing insight into Apple's sensor development and future product plans. Internal Oppo communications promoted an "Apple Sensors" talk with Shi, titled "Apple's Sensor Hardware R&D Philosophy and Methodology." A tagline for the meeting said "Are you curious about how Apple's sensors are developed?"

Apple claims that Shi's presentation included slides taken directly from materials procured from Apple, and that he answered specific questions about sensor design at Apple. Oppo is accused of encouraging Shi to share the trade secret information.

Further, Apple says Oppo has not provided all of the documents or forensic device reports that Apple has asked for to determine the extent of the alleged data theft. Apple says that Dr. Shi was given the opportunity to delete information from Oppo's system after the original lawsuit was filed.

Apple asked the court for injunctive relief to stop Shi from sharing further information, and to stop Oppo products from being developed with Apple technology. Apple requested that employees exposed to Apple's trade secrets be quarantined and removed from any competitive technologies.

Oppo says that it conducted a comprehensive search of the systems that Shi had access to, and that there is "no indication that Oppo received any Apple trade secret information" from him. Oppo claims that the presentation Shi provided discussed "general engineering principles" that did not include information sourced from Apple.

Now the search is complete, and there is no indication that OPPO received any Apple trade secret information from Dr. Shi. There is consequently no basis for Apple to request preliminary injunctive relief, and it is not entitled to any such relief. OPPO has already looked for Apple's "trade secrets" and "confidential information" and found nothing that it might disclose, retain, use or be obligated to return.

Shi has agreed to participate in a deposition, but he has asked to extend the deadline because of a recent medical condition diagnosis that is "likely to be significantly exacerbated by participation in a lengthy, high-stress, and adversarial proceeding" like the deposition with Apple. He has also asked the court to issue a protective order to limit or stay his deposition because of his medical condition.

Oppo has been ordered by the court to provide the documents that Apple is requesting by October 31, or on a rolling basis starting on October 28 if there is a high volume of documents that need to be reviewed.

Prior to leaving Apple, Shi downloaded 63 files from Apple's protected Box folder and transferred them to a USB drive, then he searched for information on how to cover his tracks. Shi also reportedly attended "dozens" of one-on-one meetings with Apple Watch technical team members to learn about their research before he left the company.

Shi told Oppo that he would "collect as much information as possible" on heart rate sensing methods, and he now works at Oppo developing sensing technology.

In the original filing, Apple requested restitution, damages, punitive damages, attorneys' fees, and an injunction to prevent Oppo and Shi from disclosing Apple's trade secrets.