Federal Court: Huawei guilty of trade secrets theft

On Wednesday, after a three-week trial in federal court in Sherman, Texas, jurors found that Huawei did misappropriate technology from Cnex, but did not benefit from it. No damages were awarded to Cnex, according to various media reports. The jury also rejected Huawei’s claims that Cnex Co-Founder Yiren Huang stole technology while he worked at a Huawei subsidiary, then recruited other former Huawei workers after helping launch Cnex in 2013. Although not directly related to the Cnex case, the same federal judge, Amos Mazzant III is also overseeing the ongoing trade dispute between China and the U.S. In that case, Chinese companies, including Huawei, are accused of committing forced technology transfers and stealing trade secrets, leading to a ban of Huawei’s products by the U.S. government. Huawei’s position is that a ban on federal agencies and contractors buying its equipment is unconstitutional. Huawei has called the Cnex ruling a “mixed verdict.” The company is considering its next steps, media reports said.