The first case involving 5G technology infringement! Two former ZTE employees were sentenced

According to Nan Fang Daily, two former engineers of ZTE Corporation, Huang Mouyu and Wang Mou, were sentenced for suspected infringement of trade secrets. This case is the first criminal case of intellectual property infringement involving 5G technology in China.

It is reported that Huang Mouyu worked at ZTE Corporation from 2002 to January 2017, and served as a radio frequency engineer, wireless architect and other positions; and Wang Mou worked at ZTE Corporation's Xi'an Research Institute from April 2008 to October 2016, and served as a RRU department R&D engineer and other positions.

The report pointed out that in 2014, Huang Mouyu accepted a technical outsourcing project for a 5G active antenna prototype from a certain research institute and signed four contracts with the institute for a total amount of 2.35 million yuan. It was Wang who was responsible for the implementation of this project. Huang Mouyu delivered an active antenna prototype and related technical documents to the institute in stages. After identification, the technical documents delivered by Wang Mou were private documents of ZTE Corporation and confidential technical information, with an estimated value of up to 4.3 million yuan.

In June 2019, the Nanshan District Procuratorate of Shenzhen City filed a public prosecution against Huang Mouyu and Wang Mou for suspected infringement of trade secrets. In December of the same year, Huang Mouyu and Wang Mou were convicted of infringement of trade secrets and were sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for four years, and fined RMB 150,000. The two defendants pleaded guilty and accepted the punishment, and neither appealed.

The report said that ZTE stated in this case that Huang Mouyu made great contributions to the company's development during his tenure, and did not use ZTE's technology after leaving the company to start his own business. As long as Huang Mouyu pleads guilty, repents and compensates for the losses, the company is willing to forgive him.

It is understood that after negotiations, Huang Mouyu and Wang Mou finally compensated ZTE for its losses and obtained the company's forgiveness.

According to Jiwei.com, IPLytics, an internationally renowned patent data company, recently released the latest 5G industry patent report. The report shows that ZTE has jumped from fifth to third with 2,561 patents. ZTE has also been committed to the research and development of 5G technology. Since 5G surfaced in the industry in 2015, ZTE's annual R&D investment has exceeded 10 billion yuan, reaching 9.36 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2019. So far, ZTE's 5G strategic global patent layout has exceeded 5,000, ranking first.