U.S. charges China's Hytera with conspiring with ex-Motorola staff to steal technology

The U.S. Justice Department said on Monday it has brought criminal charges against China-based telecommunications company Hytera, accusing it of conspiring with Motorola Solutions Inc employees to steal the American company's digital mobile radio technology.

In a partially redacted indictment unsealed in Chicago, the government said Shenzhen-based Hytera Communications Corp recruited Motorola employees in Malaysia to steal proprietary trade data about the radios, known as walkie-talkies.

The indictment charges Hytera by name, but it redacts the names of other co-defendants in the case, at least some of whom are the now-former Motorola employees who the Chinese company is accused of recruiting. The indictment said Hytera recruited Motorola employees from 2007 through 2020, and that these workers received higher salaries and benefits than what they received at Motorola in exchange for stealing the trade secrets.

Hytera was charged with 21 criminal counts including conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets. Hytera and the unidentified other defendants were also charged with possessing or attempting to possess stolen trade secrets. If convicted, Hytera would face a criminal fine of three times the value of the stolen trade secrets.

In a statement sent by its attorneys, Hytera's said it is "disappointed" by the charges and "respectfully disagrees with the allegations."

"The indictment purports to describe activities by former Motorola employees that occurred in Malaysia more than a decade ago. Hytera looks forward to pleading not guilty and telling its side of the story in court," the company said.

Hytera added that it is "committed to honoring the intellectual property rights of others."

Mark Hacker, Motorola's executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statement the charges against Hytera "underscore the calculated and deliberate character" of the Chinese company's illegal conduct.

"We will continue our civil litigation against Hytera in jurisdictions around the world to prevent Hytera's serial infringement and to collect the hundreds of millions of dollars in damages it owes to Motorola Solutions," Hacker added.

The former Motorola employees all signed confidentiality agreements at the time they were hired and later signed non-disclosure agreements after they left the company, the indictment said. It cited evidence that certain employees gained access to trade secrets through a Motorola database that they never had used in the past.

In one February 2008 email, an unidentified employee emailed another person to ask: "Are we going to 'reuse' as much as possible or we need to develop most of them from scratch to avoid patent infringement?"

Hytera is a former distributor of Motorola Solutions products.