Apple has filed a lawsuit against its former employee Chen Shi and China's Oppo, accusing them of conspiring to steal trade secrets related to Apple Watch technologies.

According to the details of the lawsuit, Shi worked as the sensor systems architect on the Apple Watch team between January 2020 and June 2025. Apple says he began communicating with Oppo in April 2025 without disclosing it, claiming that he will leave the company to return to China to care for his parents.

The lawsuit alleges that Xi held dozens of one-on-one meetings with members of the Apple Watch team to review their work in the areas of optical sensors, temperature and ECG.