DeHeng’s Retrial Acquittal in a Trade Secrets Case Upheld on Second Instance Appeal

2025-10-30

Recently, the second-instance verdict was announced for a trade secrets infringement retrial case handled by DeHeng’s Shanghai Office, resulting in an acquittal. The second-instance court adopted the defense arguments presented by DeHeng lawyers, rejected the prosecution’s appeal, upheld the original not-guilty verdict, rendering the acquittal legally effective.

The client, the actual controller of a high-tech enterprise, had hired a former employee of another company for R&D. The former employer later alleged that the client and the enterprise used its technology in project products, infringing its trade secrets. The prosecution asserted that the employee violated confidentiality obligations, committing trade secrets infringement, and that the client and enterprise, being aware of this, also used the trade secrets, thus equally committing the offense, leading to a public prosecution.

Upon accepting the client’s mandate, DeHeng lawyers meticulously reviewed all case materials, engaged with the enterprise and technology specialists, gained an in-depth understanding of technical features and the product development process, sought opinions from appraisal experts, consulted industry specialists, studied industry practices, examined applicable laws and relevant judicial precedents, and ultimately determined to pursue an acquittal defense.