Apple Sues Ex-Employee Who Allegedly Stole Apple Watch Secrets for Chinese Rival Oppo [Updated]

[7thson]

Good lord. He may as well have cc’d Tim Cook in his communications. SMH

 

[t0rqx]

There is a reason he spoke to a dozen people. All of them had no information, except "we just going to rebrand the previous S-chip".

It shows cause the S10 is just a rebranded S6. Just like the S11. The watch never changed.

He could have just visited MacRumors to learn even more.

 

[jz0309]

This is making news because it's Apple, but this kind of stuff literally happens everywhere. It's not even limited to tech or big corps. I have even seen local restaurants suing former employees that stole recipes and opened their own near-identical restaurant.

of course its making news on Macrumors, a site dedicated to Apple ...
So what's your point? that is is ok behavior?
it is not.

 

[gdbleb]

Curious about Apple's DLP (Data Loss Prevention) measures. I thought all big corporations had them.

 

[CarlJ]

Since they appear to have a paper trail and Oppo was fine with him doing this, I wouldn't feel bad if Apple absolutely buried Oppo legally.

Seems like this kind of deliberately planned corporate espionage would be worthy of a ban on imports of Oppo products into the US.

 

[jz0309]

Seems like this kind of deliberately planned corporate espionage would be worthy of a ban on imports of Oppo products into the US.

well, Oppo does not have a sales channel in the US for all I know ... so, and they will of course deny any wrong doing ...
So, if Apple can proof that they are using Apple's tech stolen in this case in a future Oppo product, it is on Apple for the proof and the legal steps in some other country - not going to happen imho.
The only course Apple does have is what they are doing, suing the former employee. And if that guy is already in China, nada as Apple will not take that suit to China ...

 

[Musocat]

Gee, how shocking.

 

[burgman]

This is making news because it's Apple, but this kind of stuff happens everywhere. It's not even limited to tech or big corps. I have even seen local restaurants suing former employees that stole recipes and opened their own near-identical restaurant.

Edit: Folks are misinterpreting what I wrote so I need to clarify. This is not intend to endorse what the employee did.

It's news on an Apple centric website, I haven't seen it anywhere in general media, have you?

 

[burgman]

Hire American. Hire American. Thats all ill say.

Engineering school is hard, being a rich TikTok star is desired career path for many these days.

 

[Mrjoedot]

Certain behaviour is obvious from a certain group of people though

 

[212rikanmofo]

Satan has got his grip on all the industries, fashion, music, sports, big pharma, big tech, banking, education, justice, military, etc. He's the one responsible for everything that goes wrong in this world.

 

[racerhomie]

So people get mad when someone allegedly steals Apple's ideas, but are against other companies (e.g., Masimo, Fintiv, etc.) from suing Apple for stealing theirs???

At the end of the day, no one will get justice or good results. Just how the world works

 

[Jay Tee]

The CCP holds leverage over its citizens by threatening to seriously degrade a person's family's quality of life unless they do something (or stop doing something). He was likely coerced for the sake of his family.

I’d look at Apple’s HR executives to see if they’re purposefully recruiting only to compromise Apple’s trade secrets, long term.

 

[schappim]

"We hire the smartest engineers..."

 

[BGPL]

Bad tradecraft. They knew they'd have what they wanted by the time it caught up to him.

 

[cdsapplefan]

I don't understand how otherwise really smart people do these apparently dumb things.

I mean you have a good, respected job, you are paid well, this would be the possibly the dumbest way to destroy your career and potentially life.

Sure they might have gotten a better offer in some aspect, but was it worth it? Time will show.

Their in China 🇨🇳 now and Apple can’t bring the person back to the US 🇺🇸 The guy’s intention was to never stay in America 🇺🇸

 

[ghanwani]

It's news on an Apple centric website, I haven't seen it anywhere in general media, have you?

OK, if not in mainstream news then I stand corrected.

 

[MichaelYYZ]

Shi has left the building. Thank you and good night!

 

[Robin Bonathan]

My estimation of oppo has now gone down considerably.
I would not buy their products now.

 

[svish]

Apple should definitely win this case but with the person no longer in the US, not sure how much will actually happen. Bad for Apple that its secrets are now available with Oppo.

 

[philstubbington]

Good luck suing a Chinese company

lol remember when Huawei even had a bonus program for stealing trade secrets? https://www.businessinsider.com/huawei-indictment-trade-secrets-2019-1?op=1

They’ll have some legal entities in the US - they do in the UK.

 

[martint235]

If anybody wants to pay me for secret Apple watch product roadmap information, I'll risk the lawsuit.

And to prove I have real info, I'll give you an exclusive couple of details about forthcoming models: square watches with poor battery life.

Are they getting rid of my rectangular Ultra? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

[DotCom2]

He high-tailed it to China. Nothing is going to happen to him.

 

[burgman]

He high-tailed it to China. Nothing is going to happen to him.

Given Apple’s presence in China it depends on how hard they chose to go. Behind the rainbow and unicorn curtain they are just as ruthless as any other multinational corporation

 

[darngooddesign]

There is a reason he spoke to a dozen people. All of them had no information, except "we just going to rebrand the previous S-chip".

It shows cause the S10 is just a rebranded S6. Just like the S11. The watch never changed.

He could have just visited MacRumors to learn even more.

While the S10 might look like the S6, it is actually different and not just a rebrand.

You could have visited Google to learn even more.