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Apple has taken legal action against Chen Shi, a former Apple Watch division employee, accusing him of stealing trade secrets and passing them to his new employer Oppo.
Court filings show Shi was employed as a Sensor System Architect between January 2020 and June 2025. During that time, Apple said he was trusted with proprietary material, including design documentation, internal specifications, and the product roadmap for Apple Watch.
The company said that Shi was bound by a Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Agreement before starting and reminded of his obligations throughout his tenure.
Alleged misuse of Apple Watch data
According to Apple, Shi resigned in early June, telling colleagues he planned to return to China to see his parents and denying he had employment plans. Before leaving, he allegedly downloaded 63 files from a secure Box folder and transferred them to a USB drive.
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Apple also claimed Shi engaged in conversations with dozens of staff to gather details about ongoing research and product development. The lawsuit further alleges Oppo knew about the conduct and encouraged it.
“Trade secret theft by former employees for new employers is always wrong. Here, allowing Dr. Shi’s and the OPPO Defendants’ actions to go unpunished would undermine Apple’s commitment to innovation and its substantial investments in pioneering technologies like Apple Watch. It also would risk destroying the value of Apple’s trade secrets and provide a competitor with an unfair advantage,” Apple said in its indictment.
Oppo denies Apple’s allegations
In a statement, Oppo said: “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,” the company added.
The case is Apple’s third recent lawsuit alleging trade secret theft. In June, the company filed a suit against Di Liu, a former Design Engineer, for taking a “massive volume” of Vision Pro R&D materials to Snap. Last month, it accused Jon Prosser and an accomplice of stealing information related to iOS 26 through unauthorized access to an Apple employee’s phone.
