FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is seen at a bus stop in Mexico City, Mexico February 22, 2019. Picture taken February 22, 2019. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril/File Photo
(Reuters) – A Silicon Valley chip startup has accused a top executive of China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Deputy Chairman Eric Xu, of participating in a conspiracy to steal its trade secrets, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing court documents.
Huawei had filed a lawsuit in 2017, accusing CNEX Labs Inc and its co-founder Ronnie Huang, a former employee of a Huawei unit, of poaching Huawei employees and stealing Huawei’s trade secrets and intellectual property to build CNEX.
CNEX has said in counterclaims that Huawei misappropriated its technology. It had accused Huawei of enlisting a Chinese university professor working on a research project to improperly access the startup’s technology.
Huawei said in a statement on Thursday the allegations against Xu were “groundless”. CNEX did not respond to requests for comment.
Trial on the two sets of allegations is set for June 3 in the Eastern District of Texas.
In April, Judge Amos Mazzant, who is hearing the case, declined to allow further legal discovery on allegations of Xu’s involvement.
Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Anne Marie Roantree in Hong Kong; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Christopher Cushing