Apple has filed a lawsuit against its former engineer, Dr. Chen Shi, accusing him of stealing trade secrets and handing them over to Oppo and its California-based affiliate Innopeak. The lawsuit was submitted on Thursday in the Northern District of California, with Apple represented by Kirkland & Ellis.
According to Apple, Dr. Shi, who worked at the company from January 2020 to June 2025, allegedly copied 63 confidential documents onto a USB drive just three days before his departure. These documents reportedly contained development roadmaps, design files, hardware and software specifications, and sensitive information about ECG health sensor technology used in the Apple Watch. Apple also claims Shi took data from its custom AI chip team that works on processors for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Court filings allege that Shi was in regular contact with Oppo leadership before leaving Apple, and in messages, he indicated he was gathering internal materials to share later. Publicly, however, he told colleagues he was leaving for “personal and family reasons” to return to China, with no plans to seek new employment.
Oppo has denied wrongdoing, stating that after a careful review of Apple’s claims, it found no evidence linking Shi’s conduct to any misuse of Apple’s intellectual property. Apple is seeking an injunction to block Oppo from using the alleged trade secrets, along with restitution and damages determined at trial.
