OPPO Responds to Apple's Trade Secrets Lawsuit

Apple on Thursday filed a lawsuit against its former employee Chen Shi, as well as the companies OPPO and InnoPeak Technology, over alleged trade secret misappropriation. Apple alleges that Shi "conspired to steal Apple's trade secrets relating to Apple Watch and to disclose them to his new employers, OPPO and InnoPeak."

Apple Watch Series 10 Jet Black
OPPO is a Chinese company that sells smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and other devices, while California-based InnoPeak Technology says it "performs cutting-edge research in smartphone technologies."

A spokesperson for OPPO has since shared the following statement with MacRumors:

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.

Read our previous coverage of the lawsuit for more details.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...

Top Rated Comments

haunebu Avatar
10 weeks ago
Stop hiring Chinese nationals. It's become such a huge problem across the defense industry, technology corporations, and countless other examples. American universities welcome Chinese students (and revenue from the CCP) with open arms, only for them to absorb and frequently steal as much intellectual property as they can get their hands on and flee back to China. It's ridiculous. Time to stop rolling out the red carpet for these people.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Roller Avatar
10 weeks ago

Like Apple in general do this without any evidence
Did you even bother to read the previous article or the lawsuit summary before posting? Apple claims that Shi downloaded confidential documents to a USB drive and promised to provide material to a competitor. Or are you simply believing their denial, which any company would do in this situation?
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Student of Life Avatar
10 weeks ago

Stop hiring Chinese nationals. It's become such a huge problem across the defense industry, technology corporations, and countless other examples. American universities welcome Chinese students (and revenue from the CCP) with open arms, only for them to absorb and frequently steal as much intellectual property as they can get their hands on and flee back to China. It's ridiculous. Time to stop rolling out the red carpet for these people.
It’s a systemic issue on so many levels that got us to this point. Universities profit from foreigners because they pay full price for tuition even in state schools. For instance a highly educated and intelligent America child will more likely than not go into law or medicine and never give the defense industry consideration. Corporations love to hire foreigns because they can under pay them compared to the American counterparts. That’s not even touching our in general abandonment of education in a culturally level vs China embracing it. It’s frustrating when looking at the big picture and realizing there is no simple solution.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nfl46 Avatar
10 weeks ago
Lol. Suuuuure Oppo! We believe you!
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
10 weeks ago
I'm just glad Apple doesn't use IP from other companies without the rights to do so.

Oh wait ...

Careful throwing stones in the liquid glass house.



Attachment Image
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kr0019 Avatar
10 weeks ago

What I find amazing, and a bit amusing, is that this Shi fellow possibly did not know, or understand, that all his actions on the corporate net are monitored and stored. Now, maybe he knew, did not care, and figured he would be long gone by the time Apple found out. Who knows? However, I would almost think that in the future, whenever an employee gives notice to leave, Apple will immediately review all of their keyboard activity. A bit surprised they don't do that already.

As for OPPO's response, that is the lawyer speaking. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I expect OPPO will distance itself from Shi, possibly end his employment, and throw him to the wolves. OPPO could quietly approach Apple, issue a mea culpa, terminate Shi, and license the technology. No harm, no foul. Mostly.

If OPPO brings to market any tech that vaguely looks 'Apple', Apple will be on them in a heartbeat.
I see you're not fully aware of how the CCP IP theft policy works or how they treat their own. Shi was there only a short time, so it's likely he was primed for that position just to do what is alleged. You can bet that he will never be seen or heard from again. He has done his job, they have the IP so he is dispensable, but they'll never turn him over. They laugh at IP lawsuits because there's no consequences on the international stage for anything they do.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)