US startup accuses Huawei executive of involvement in trade-secrets theft

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.