With stories throughout the international press trashing Huawei on the basis that its products present a security risk, reports here have emerged of a Portuguese inventor who claims the tech giant stole his patent for a 360Âș smartphone camera.
Rui Pedro Oliveiraâs case reportedly goes back almost five years to the date when he was apparently flown by Huawei from Porto in Portugal to meet company representatives in Texas.
The trip was designed for Oliveira to present his patent pending described as âSMATCAM; a 360 VR camera addon for smartphonesâ.
Tabloid Correio da ManhĂŁs suggests the meeting âwent so well that the Portuguese was invited to return a few days laterâ.
During that second meeting âthe inventor decided to share the functioning process (of the camera) along with the two patents that were pendingâ.
He then returned to Portugal and âheard nothing moreâ.
Then, in 2017, Huawei launched its âHuawei EnVision 360â – a 360Âș camera that fitted onto smartphones.
Says CM, the product appeared to be âa photocopy of the work developed by the Portuguese (inventor)â.
Since then âRui Pedro Oliveira has sold his house to fund the judicial process he has taken out against the tech giantâ.
Fstopphers – a community based photography news website – released Oliveiraâs story on Wednesday, suggesting Huaweiâs legal representatives have been âputting blockades upâ since the legal fight began, âtrying to grind him down and make him quit by taking months to resolve what could be fixed in mere minutesâ.
The website claims to have tried getting a comment out of Huawei, but says âthey wonât replyâ.
CM seems to be the first Portuguese mainstream media outlet to have taken up this case, though it has been gaining traction over social media for some time.
Oliveira appealed to his friends back in February to âspread the wordâ in the hope that his story might reach âserious,independent newspapersâ.
His post dated February 4 concedes that the press doesnât always work, particularly âwith powerful companies and countriesâ.
This has been an electrifying week for Huawei with multiple stories in the international press suggesting sinister connections.
Last week, the US ambassador to Portugal George Glass chaired a press conference warning of Huaweiâs involvement in Portugalâs developing 5G network (click here), while the company already faces technology bans in America, Australia and New Zealand.
This morning, the BBC reports that Huawei is fighting back by suing the US government on the basis that its ban is not supported by evidence.
