Oppo responds to Apple's lawsuit claiming theft of Watch trade secrets

Last week (August 22), it was reported that Apple filed a lawsuit in a federal court accusing a former employee of stealing trade secrets. Said employee was alleged to have taken data from the Apple Watch department and moved to Oppo. The Chinese company has now responded to the lawsuit stating that it has found no such evidence.

For reference, Bloomberg reported on August 22 that a former sensor system architect at Apple named Chen Shi was planning on moving to Oppo but did not reveal his intentions to the company. He instead claimed that he was returning to China to take care of his parents. Before he left Apple, Shi attended several meetings to gather data on the health-sensing research and also downloaded 63 protected documents late at night. Furthermore, the day before the move, he allegedly transferred them to a USB drive.

To make matters worse, a message exchange between the employee and Oppo’s VP of health was revealed as well. It cited Shi stating he was collecting as much information as possible, to which the VP responded with an OK emoji. Apple believes that Oppo was well aware of Shi’s intentions and encouraged them as well. Shi has reportedly joined Oppo at its Silicon Valley research unit.

Now, Android Authority has reported that Oppo responded to them via email sharing an official statement on the matter. The quote is as follows: 

We are aware of the recent lawsuit filed by Apple in California and have carefully reviewed the allegations in Apple’s complaint. We have found no evidence establishing any connection between these allegations and the employee’s conduct during his employment at OPPO. 

OPPO respects the trade secrets of all companies, including Apple, and OPPO has not misappropriated Apple’s trade secrets. OPPO will actively cooperate with the legal process, and we are confident that fair judicial proceedings will clarify the facts.

Apple, in the past, has been accused of snooping on employees based on its policy that it can “engage in physical, video, and electronic surveillance” as well as have the ability to search Apple and non-Apple devices on “company premises." This lawsuit was filed by Amar Bhakta in December last year but it is unclear where it currently stands. Bhakta is still working at Apple as a Digital Ad Tech and Operations Manager. With that in mind, it's not surprising to see Apple has a record of the message exchange, whether it was done through a company device/ account or a personal one. But, if the allegations turn out to be accurate, this could become a major case of corporate espionage.