Apple Files Lawsuit Against Former Engineer for Alleged Trade Secret Theft
On June 24, Apple Inc.initiated legal proceedings in the Superior Court of Santa Clara against Mr. Di Liu, a former engineer on the Vision Pro team. The lawsuit alleges that Liu improperly downloaded and stored thousands of sensitive documents in his personal cloud storage, organizing them into a folder titled “Personal”and a sub-folder labeled “Knowledge.”
The Allegations of Misconduct
The court documents reveal that Liu strategically managed his resignation, which he submitted at the end of October the previous year. He cited personal reasons, stating the need to focus on his family and health. Consequently, Apple granted him a customary two-week transition period, during which he retained access to internal company systems.
However, Apple contends that Liu did not inform them that he had accepted a new position at Snap approximately two weeks prior to his resignation. According to Apple, had they been aware of his transition to a competitor, they would have revoked his access immediately.
Unauthorized Access and Data Theft
During the two-week notice period, Liu allegedly utilized his Apple-issued laptop to duplicate a significant number of confidential documents from the company’s secure servers. These documents reportedly included critical trade secrets, encompassing information about unreleased products, research and development strategies, and secret project codenames tied to Apple’s efforts in spatial computing.
As a senior system product design engineer directly involved with Apple Vision Pro and other related projects, Liu had access to some of Apple’s most sensitive information, raising the stakes of the allegations against him.
The Move to Snap and Implications
Following his tenure at Apple, Liu took on a similar role at Snap, a company known for its AR glasses, Spectacles. Apple’s legal team argues that this transition is too coincidental, inferring that Liu intends to leverage the proprietary information he allegedly stole to benefit Snap.
Response from Snap and Legal Proceedings
In response to inquiries from CNBC, a spokesperson for Snap stated that they have examined the allegations and find no evidence linking them to Liu’s conduct during his tenure at the company.
Legal Demands and Further Actions
In its complaint, Apple is seeking several remedies, including a jury trial, unspecified damages to be determined in court, and a directive for Liu to hand over his personal electronic devices and cloud accounts for forensic examination. This step aims to ensure that all traces of the purportedly stolen information are eradicated.
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