# Apple's Watch trade secret case against Oppo can go ahead

Source: https://idevice.com/apples-watch-trade-secret-case-against-oppo-can-go-ahead
Published: 2026-10-01

> A federal judge refused to dismiss Apple's suit saying a former Apple Watch engineer took trade secrets to Oppo. Oppo has until October 21 to file its defenses.

A federal judge has ruled that Apple's trade secret case against Oppo and a former Apple Watch engineer can go ahead, [AppleInsider reports](https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/10/01/oppo-cant-get-accusations-of-apple-watch-trade-secret-theft-dismissed). US District Judge Eumi Lee turned down Oppo's bid to have it thrown out.

Apple sued in August 2025. It says Chen Shi, who worked on the [Apple Watch](https://idevice.com/smart-watches/apple-watch/roadmap), passed confidential details to Oppo to land a job there. Oppo makes smartwatches that compete with the Apple Watch in China.

Lee's six-page ruling says Apple's breach of contract claims are enough on their own to keep the case alive. She also found that Apple has made specific allegations about at least one trade secret. Oppo had argued that Apple uses the term so broadly that Shi "cannot practice as an engineer in the health-sensing field without violating it." Lee disagreed. The agreement Shi signed only stops him from disclosing confidential company information, she wrote.

Lee called Apple's allegations plausible, a word she uses 14 times in the ruling. That isn't a finding that any of it happened, and Apple still has to prove it.

Apple says Shi downloaded 63 documents onto a USB drive late one night, three days before he left. He also set up dozens of one-on-one meetings with Apple Watch technical team members to learn about their ongoing research. He told Apple he was leaving to care for family, not to join Oppo. Apple says he searched online for ways to cover his tracks, including whether someone can see if you've opened a file on a shared drive.

Oppo and InnoPeak Technology, which is also named in the case, now have until October 21 to file their defenses. Oppo has reportedly been slow to cooperate already. The court ordered it to comply with discovery by October 31, 2025, and it appears to have kept delaying. Shi asked for his deposition to be pushed back after reportedly being diagnosed with a condition that a long, adversarial proceeding could make worse.

In March, Apple asked for an emergency injunction to stop Oppo deleting evidence. Lee is reportedly still weighing it, and that is the likelier next ruling. No other dates have been published.

## Sources

- [AppleInsider](https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/10/01/oppo-cant-get-accusations-of-apple-watch-trade-secret-theft-dismissed) (AppleInsider)