Tale of Fake Hewlett-Packard Gear Spurs Arrest in China, Lawsuit

When three Chinese nationals were jailed in Beijing almost a decade ago and accused of selling fake Hewlett-Packard Co. networking gear, it looked like an example of U.S. companies getting what they’d long demanded: aggressive protection of intellectual property in the world’s most populous nation.

A drawn-out court case heading to trial in Massachusetts paints a much muddier picture. The three, exonerated in China, accuse the former Silicon Valley icon of setting them up. They argue that it was H-P units that conspired to sell counterfeit gear, and then pinned the blame on them.

H-P disputes the claims, and is asking a U.S. federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the story was concocted by Integrated Communications & Technologies Inc., the Massachusetts-based company that employed the three Chinese nationals, to cover up its own criminal behavior. U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin may rule on the dismissal request at any time. If he lets the case continue, a trial is scheduled for February.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-02/tale-of-fake-hewlett-packard-gear-spurs-arrest-in-china-lawsuit