Huawei pleads not guilty to attempted theft of trade secrets

The Chinese telecommunications company Huawei pleaded not guilty in federal court Thursday to attempting to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile, the Department of Justice announced.

A federal judge in Seattle set a trial date for March 2, 2020 over the charges against the two entities, Huawei Device Co., Ltd. and Huawei Device USA Inc.

The company had been indicted in January as the Justice Department was also bringing charges against Huawei for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions on Iran.

{mosads}T-Mobile has alleged that Huawei tried to steal information about a proprietary software called “Tappy” which is used to test phones before they hit the market by imitating human fingers.

A spokesman for Huawei declined to comment citing company policy not to weigh in on active litigation.

The firm has been the target of U.S. policymakers who warn that it could be compromised by the Chinese government and constitutes a national security threat. President Trump has been considering an executive order that would keep the company out of U.S. communications networks.

The administration is also seeking the extradition of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the company’s founder who was arrested in Canada in December at the request of the U.S.