Despite Oppo not cooperating with discovery, a court filing details how a former Apple Watch engineer was preparing a presentation to share confidential sensor information with Oppo.
In August, Apple accused former Apple Watch engineer Chen Shi of copying trade secrets and handing them over to Chinese electronics rival Oppo. In a new filing, Apple has revealed more information about the affair.
The new filing, made to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division spotted by MacRumors is a joint status report. Specifically a redacted public version, due to the contents of Apple trade secrets.
Following the initial August filing, Oppo insisted that it had found "no evidence" that Apple's trade theft allegations were true or took place during Shi's employment at Oppo's InnoPeak Technology subsidiary. The latest salvo does a lot to prove that claim wrong.
Details of Chen Shi's presentation at Oppo, as presented in the new filing.
A chief claim of Apple's is that Shi gave a presentation on Apple sensor technology to Oppo employees. Documentation marketing the internal presentation as an "Oppo Talk" were found, proclaiming that a "Former Apple technical director reveals: Apple Sensor Hardware Development Philosophy and Methodology," at an August 1 event.
Apple goes on to claim that the presentation used slides including information from the 63 confidential files downloaded by Shi in his final weeks at Apple. He also used the event to answer questions about Apple's sensor design.
A lack of cooperation
At the time of the August filing, Oppo insisted that it would "actively cooperate" with th legal process. In the October filing, Apple says otherwise.
Apple insists that Oppo had not handed over all of the documents that Apple had requested, nor the results of forensic device reports. Furthermore, Shi had the chance to delete files form Oppo's servers once the lawsuit was filed, potentially destroying key evidence.
Due to Shi and Oppo's actions, Apple has requested for the court to stop Shi from any further sharing of details. Apple also wants Oppo to cease any development of products that uses Apple's technology, and for related employees to be separated from working on any competitive products or technologies.
Oppo insists that it had searched systems Shi had access to, and that there was no sign that the company had received any trade secret information. As for the presentation, Oppo says Shi talked about "general engineering principles" and not any information sourced from Apple.
While Apple has asked for injunctive relief, Oppo says Apple is not entitled to it.
The court has ordered Oppo to comply with Apple's document requests by October 31, or on a rolling basis starting from October 28 if the quantity of documents is sufficiently high.
Though Shi has agreed to take part in a deposition, he has also requested for the deadline to be extended. The reason is due to a recent diagnosis of a condition that could be made worse by taking part in "a lengthy, high-stress, and adversarial proceeding."
He has also asked for a protective order to limit or stay the deposition for medical reasons.
Oppo also claims that Apple was served similar requests for interrogation and documents on September 18, and that Apple was due to respond on October 20. But its response was just of 54 documents, not the supposedly claimed hundreds taken by Shi.
The filing, as a status report, doesn't include decisions or rulings by the court. Since Oppo's deadline for documents is less than a week away, the court's next update could take place before the end of 2025.
