Motorola Malaysia staff allegedly hired by Chinese company to steal walkie-talkie technology

According to the U.S. Justice Department, China-based telecommunications company Hytera has been accused of conspiring with Motorola employees to steal digital mobile radio (DMR) technology. The company specifically recruited Motorola employees in Malaysia to steal the data.

According to the court documents, Hytera recruited and hired Malaysian Motorola Solutions employees from 2007 until 2020. In exchange, the employees received “higher salaries and benefits than what they received at Motorola”.

“Motorola’s proprietary and trade secret information was used by Hytera and the individual defendants to accelerate the development of Hytera’s DMR products. As a result, Hytera’s DMR products relied on and contained Motorola’s proprietary and trade secret information,” the Department of Justice claimed.

Hytera Communications Corp is a Chinese manufacturer of radio transceivers and radio systems—and a former distributor of Motorola Solutions products. The company was charged with 21 criminal counts, including conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets. If convicted, Hytera would face a criminal fine of three times the value of the stolen trade secrets.

“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,” said Hytera in a statement.

In February 2020, Motorola Solutions won a USD 764.6 million (RM3.1 billion) jury verdict in a trade secret theft and copyright infringement case against Hytera. It was found that Hytera used Motorola Solutions’ confidential documents and copyright-protected source code to compete in the market for walkie-talkies.

Hytera, however, told jurors it had developed its radios on its own. In January 2021, Motorola was even forced to pay Hytera more than USD 1.5 million (RM6.2 million) after losing a UK Court of Appeal case over claims Hytera threatened to “retreat to China” and evade a previous judgment.

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