Apple has filed a lawsuit against Dr. Chen Shi, a former employee, accusing him of stealing sensitive trade secrets about the Apple Watch before leaving the company to join Chinese company Oppo.
The lawsuit was filed in Northern California against Chen Shi, who previously worked at Apple as a Sensor System Architect.
In this role, he was highly compensated and had access to confidential details about the Apple Watch, including its design, technical documents, internal specifications, and even Apple’s future product roadmap.
Apple says that Shi misused this access before leaving the company.
According to the lawsuit, Shi downloaded 63 confidential files from a protected Apple server and transferred them to a USB drive.
Apple claims the files contained roadmaps, design documents, and specifications for Apple’s health sensor technology, including its ECG system.
The company says Shi attended “dozens” of meetings with Apple Watch engineers to gain insider knowledge before resigning. He allegedly messaged Oppo that he was working to “collect as much information as possible” before starting his new role.
Apple also says Shi searched suspicious queries on his work laptop before leaving, including:
- “How to wipe out MacBook”
- “Can somebody see if I’ve opened a file on a shared drive?”
Apple claims Oppo not only knew about Shi’s plan but encouraged and approved it. Messages found on Shi’s Apple-issued iPhone reportedly show Oppo discussing his role and the transfer of information.
Despite stating in his resignation letter that he was leaving for “personal and family reasons,” Shi now leads Oppo’s sensor technology team.
Apple is asking the court to stop Shi and Oppo from using or sharing its trade secrets. It is also seeking restitution, damages, punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
If Apple wins, it could restrict Oppo’s work in smartwatch technology and set a stronger precedent for protecting trade secrets.
At the time pf publishing, Oppo has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.
