A new legal battle is brewing for Apple, which recently filed a lawsuit against a former employee. The tech giant believes this individual secretly took trade secrets related to the Apple Watch. These secrets were allegedly passed on to Oppo, a well-known Chinese maker of smartphones and other electronics. Apple claims the former staff member worked with Oppo to steal company information.
The lawsuit names Chen Shi, who used to be a sensor system engineer and designer for the Apple Watch. His time there lasted from January 2020 until June 2025. This legal action highlights the intense competition and constant fight over intellectual property in the tech world.
The story Apple tells in court documents began when Shi announced his resignation. He told Apple he was leaving to return home to China to care for his elderly parents. He also promised he would not look for a new job. However, Apple later found evidence suggesting Shi held many private meetings with the Apple Watch development team. These meetings, dozens of them, were supposedly to gather information. The targets included sensitive data about light sensors, temperature sensors, and the device’s ECG heart monitoring feature.
Apple’s claims go further. They allege Shi downloaded over 63 confidential files from Apple’s protected folders. He then supposedly moved this data onto a USB drive. After that, Apple says, he searched online for ways to “delete data on MacBook” and “see if anyone saw files opened on a shared drive.” Even more damning, Apple reportedly found messages from Shi to his new employer at Oppo. In these messages, he allegedly stated he would “collect as much information as possible about Apple’s health sensor technology.”
Oppo has since responded to the allegations. The company issued a statement to MacRumors, saying they “have not found any evidence linking these allegations to this employee’s work during their time with Oppo.” Oppo also stated firmly that it “did not use Apple’s trade secrets.” It seems both sides are digging in for a long fight.
This isn’t the first time Apple has gone to court against a former employee for stealing secrets. Earlier this year, the company sued another design engineer. That engineer was suspected of taking confidential information about the Vision Pro smart glasses. Those secrets were allegedly given to Snap, the company behind the popular Snapchat app.