14 DAY TRIAL // Corporate espionage is a serious matter, especially in the mobile world, where every smartphone maker wants to impress the market with its new designs and innovative features. But because technology takes time to develop and test, many internal projects are kept a secret until the official unveil of a product.
A report from Chinese website PcPop reveals that six Huawei executives were arrested for allegedly leaking information to smartphone maker LeEco. It seems that the six were middle and top-level product designers at Huawei.
At this point, it’s unknown what information was leaked to LeEco, while the report mentions that the six executives were no longer Huawei employees when the information was disclosed to the competing company. Nonetheless, they must have signed non-disclosure agreements with Huawei, especially if they were overseeing the development of new designs for various devices.
Huawei accuses LeEco of infringing upon its patents
Chinese technology company LeEco issued a statement on the matter, mentioning that it didn’t receive any information from the arrested individuals, but acknowledged that there were some patent disputes between the two smartphone makers. LeEco has already stated its intention to take legal action.
Apparently, Huawei believes that LeEco’s recent patent fillings for a children’s smartwatch and an antenna design infringe upon its patent. LeEco claims that the six individuals who were arrested didn’t take any documents or drawings upon leaving Huawei. It’s unsure at this point, but more information will surely surface as the case develops.
In the smartphone market, many companies seek inspiration from phones already available on the market and accusations of patent infringements are being made even between the biggest players on the market.
Samsung, Apple, Nokia are all involved in lawsuits regarding patent infringements, some that have stretched over many years now. Last year, Huawei itself faced a similar lawsuit, after Samsung accused the company of infringing on six of its patents.