Legal issues mount, Huawei maintains denial

A trial date was set for March 2, 2020, the Justice Department said in a statement. As reported on by Reuters, the two companies were charged in an indictment unsealed last month that they conspired to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile U.S. Inc. between 2012 and 2014. The indictment includes accusations by T-Mobile that Huawei lifted technology called “Tappy,” which mimics human fingers and is used to test smartphones. However, Huawei claims that the dispute was resolved in 2017. Multiple media outlets have reported that the company was forced to pay T-Mobile $4.8 million in damages and the companies eventually reached a private settlement. In a statement, Huawei, which has consistently denied the charges, said the allegations in the Tappy case were “already the subject of a civil suit that was settled by the parties after a Seattle jury found neither damages nor willful and malicious conduct on the trade secret claims.” As reported in Fortune Magazine recently, some speculate that the case, fronted by Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, is part of a larger U.S. case designed to hamstring China’s largest telecom equipment manufacturer as a way of reducing China’s power as a technological giant. In a continued effort to maintain and increase pressure on Huawei, Washington is trying to prevent American companies from buying Huawei routers and switches and pressuring its global allies to do the same. That isn’t the only problem bearing down on the conglomerate. In two other separate cases, U.S. Federal prosecutors have also charge Huawei with wire and bank fraud charges that they say violate U.S.-Iran sanctions, and the U.S. is also seeking the extradition from Canada of Huawei CEO Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the company’s founder. Wanzhou has also been charged individually with bank and wire fraud.