BROOKLYN, New York — Jurors in Huawei’s racketeering trial saw evidence Wednesday suggesting proprietary antenna technology disclosed by Quintel during joint-venture negotiations was subsequently incorporated into a patent application by a Huawei engineer, as prosecutors sought to portray trade-secret theft as a corporate strategy rather than isolated employee misconduct.
The evidence concerned Quintel’s “Per User Tilt” concept, designed to improve communications between cellular antennas and individual mobile devices. Quintel and Huawei entered a nondisclosure agreement in September 2009 while discussing a possible partnership.
Quintel subsequently alleged that it provided Huawei with confidential technical information, patent material and simulation results. About five weeks later, Futurewei—Huawei’s American research subsidiary—filed a provisional patent application related to user-specific antenna down-tilt technology.
Huawei has disputed the allegations.
As jurors heard that evidence, a separate battle was unfolding over whether they will be allowed to see Huawei’s own regulatory disclosures concerning equipment and technical support in Iran and Sudan.
The government’s major theory concerns Huawei’s business in Iran, its relationship with the Hong Kong company Skycom and Iran-related payments that allegedly passed through the American financial system.