Bitmain sues ex-employee for allegedly IP theft

[Baofeng]

And there's more drama around Bitmain,

Yang Zuxing, CEO of Shenma Mining Machinery, was taken away by the police to assist in the investigation or involved in intellectual property disputes in Bit China.

The block rhythm BlockBeats news, recently there is news that the bitcoin mining industry executives were taken away by the police and assisted in the investigation, involving tens of millions of yuan. After blockade rhythm BlockBeats asked the insiders and confirmed that the police were taken away by the founder of Shenma Mining Machinery, CEO Yang Zuoxing.

Yang Zuoxing, used to be an employee of Bitmain, one of their best engineers who help and design S7 and S9. And it was reported that he demanded Wu to have a stakes in the company in which Jihan declined.  Yang left and then started his own company, MicroBT, and then releases their own bitcoin mining hardware Whatsminer.

Note: the link I posted above is in Chinese, I just used Google's translate.

[1714762817]

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[squatter]

Yang Zuoxing, used to be an employee of Bitmain, one of their best engineers who help and design S7 and S9. And it was reported that he demanded Wu to have a stakes in the company in which Jihan declined.  Yang left and then started his own company, MicroBT, and then releases their own bitcoin mining hardware Whatsminer.

Domestic intellectual property claims being enforced in China?! I've never heard of that before.

If Bitmain can pick off their competitors like this, it really makes one wonder whether they have friends in higher places. I've always wondered to what extent Bitmain might be controlled by the PRC.

Note: the link I posted above is in Chinese, I just used Google's translate.

Something did sound off about "block rhythm BlockBeats news."

[Kemarit]

First there was a coup inside the company, installing Jihan Wu's in power, and the first thing he do is to sue his ex employee for IP theft? I think they're picking up their competition, or at least Jihan is putting his enemy one by one. And this is not the first time though, China's court already dismissed the first patent case. So why he was arrested?

[dunfida]

it really makes one wonder whether they have friends in higher places. I've always wondered to what extent Bitmain might be

Actually no doubt into this line.They act according to their likes for sure they're relying on something.Its not surprising for these kind of issues
where a certain ex-worker/employee built up his own company then there would be a corresponding trouble will be mold up yet competition would
always be high.

[CryptoBry]

Yang Zuoxing, used to be an employee of Bitmain, one of their best engineers who help and design S7 and S9. And it was reported that he demanded Wu to have a stakes in the company in which Jihan declined.  Yang left and then started his own company, MicroBT, and then releases their own bitcoin mining hardware Whatsminer.

So this is more of a competition story. I am sure that Bitmain is feeling anxious that its former valued employee has now started his own company MicroBT with its Whatsminer and with a big possibility that in terms of technology and efficiency the product can compete well. Now, the man is charged with intellectual property violation and most probably Bitmain being the one with the most money will likely to flex its muscles in this legal battle.

The takeaway here is that maybe the Bitcoin mining industry is truly a very dynamic one, with players really making sure that they retain their market share at all cost and in any means legal and maybe even under the table. With China now not anymore applying any pressure to this expanding industry, there can be more competition coming and Bitmain will not allow anyone to undermine its continuing leadership.

[Steamtyme]

I'm going to have to read up on this more, but I've seen a few discussions pop up on it. I don't think he was arrested, I believe he was brought in for questioning, in regards to the accusations. There are a few Ex- Employees that left Bitmain, and started direct competition, all of them had some sort of a strict non-compete clause in their contracts that were in effect for 1 year from the time they left. One of these employees is the founder of I want to say Poolin pool, which launched fully operational with lots of hashrate I believe exactly 1 year after the fact. For the gear side of it though, if the last thing this guy worked on for them was the S9, it's a tough sell to say it's the same thing when they stepped it up to an entirely different chip size, 10nm as opposed to the 16 nm I think.
There is a lot at work here and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Funny side note is that the MicroBT gear points to Poolin pool by default when you receive it. Old friends against a common enemy.

[Yaunfitda]

Yang Zuoxing, used to be an employee of Bitmain, one of their best engineers who help and design S7 and S9. And it was reported that he demanded Wu to have a stakes in the company in which Jihan declined.  Yang left and then started his own company, MicroBT, and then releases their own bitcoin mining hardware Whatsminer.

The takeaway here is that maybe the Bitcoin mining industry is truly a very dynamic one, with players really making sure that they retain their market share at all cost and in any means legal and maybe even under the table. With China now not anymore applying any pressure to this expanding industry, there can be more competition coming and Bitmain will not allow anyone to undermine its continuing leadership.

More likely that Bitmain still wanted to have full monopoly of the mining hardware industry. So with him back on the top, he wanted to close out his competition specially against his former employee. If Bitmain doesn't want competition then something is wrong with the bitcoin mining industry.

Intel and AMD have been bitter rivals in the late 90's and early 2000's. And it did good in the market back then because boards became so cheap, the downside is that the market became saturated.

[jseverson]

Domestic intellectual property claims being enforced in China?! I've never heard of that before.

They're apparently trying to improve on that front. One of their justices even penned a piece for the World Intellectual Property Organization:

https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2019/03/article_0004.html

If Bitmain can pick off their competitors like this, it really makes one wonder whether they have friends in higher places. I've always wondered to what extent Bitmain might be controlled by the PRC.

Doesn't the CCP hold each and every one of them by the balls? Lol. I do know they assign people to large companies. With their renewed focus on blockchain tech, I wouldn't be surprised if they already had people in Bitmain too.

[BChydro]

Domestic intellectual property claims being enforced in China?! I've never heard of that before.

They manufacture and export all the fake branded products world wide and if you take that into equation this looks like a joke.

If Bitmain can pick off their competitors like this, it really makes one wonder whether they have friends in higher places. I've always wondered to what extent Bitmain might be controlled by the PRC.

The Chinese government is investing world wide using shell companies is the biggest accusation against them and if that is true then there is no doubt that they have control over Bitmain as it is the biggest hardware manufacturer in the bitcoin space and they can silence any competitor.

[Harlot]

This might just be a shakedown against Yang for going out of Bitmain and starting his own company. This is the kind of bullshit you will always see when they want to try to take out their competition entirely especially if it's their ex-employee. It's really not a fair game out there since Yang is competing someone already in the top and this is their way of reminding it to him. I would see this being dragged down in the court so that they will delay the growth of his company.

[dothebeats]

First there was a coup inside the company, installing Jihan Wu's in power, and the first thing he do is to sue his ex employee for IP theft? I think they're picking up their competition, or at least Jihan is putting his enemy one by one. And this is not the first time though, China's court already dismissed the first patent case. So why he was arrested?

Speculation until further developments on the case were to surface. IP theft, really, this works in China? Knowing how rampant plagiarism and stealing patent ideas and such in the said country, it's a wonder that there's a special case for that going on right now involving the least talked about or interesting thing for the people of China. It might be that Jihan Wu wanted to take the cake for himself, especially after Xi Jinping's comments regarding blockchain developments and whatnot to be spearheaded and lead by China.

I wonder how strong this guy's connections are for real?

[veleten]

just when you think Bitmain chilled and are prepping for the IPO :
https://www.businessinsider.com/bitmain-canaan-file-for-ipos-in-us-2019-10
it seems like Bitmain is making the news more often than not this couple of months
not sure if its the competitors or the company is having issues , but there is not a single month without some sort of a news:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitmain-ceo-ousts-co-founder-biggest-shareholder-to-save-the-ship
here is the story about an ex CEO , who was "wrongfully fired" , guess there is your another lawsuit

[audaciousbeing]

And there's more drama around Bitmain,

Yang Zuxing, CEO of Shenma Mining Machinery, was taken away by the police to assist in the investigation or involved in intellectual property disputes in Bit China.

The block rhythm BlockBeats news, recently there is news that the bitcoin mining industry executives were taken away by the police and assisted in the investigation, involving tens of millions of yuan. After blockade rhythm BlockBeats asked the insiders and confirmed that the police were taken away by the founder of Shenma Mining Machinery, CEO Yang Zuoxing.

Yang Zuoxing, used to be an employee of Bitmain, one of their best engineers who help and design S7 and S9. And it was reported that he demanded Wu to have a stakes in the company in which Jihan declined.  Yang left and then started his own company, MicroBT, and then releases their own bitcoin mining hardware Whatsminer.

Note: the link I posted above is in Chinese, I just used Google's translate.

Its not out of place to see employees being sued after leaving their former place and looking at what is going on here, its most likely the inflow going to BitMain would be seriously affected by the exit of Yang from their company and not only that but also the entry of his own business into the same market which I think is what BitMain does not want to give room for without a fight. For me, its two ways, they either want to harass him into giving up his enterprise by activating some clause which he might have signed during his employment or they are looking for ways to settle so as not to embarrass themselves any further. Either way, when you are the brainbox of an invention, the best is to check out before the breakthrough or else, you might find yourself in the same scenario as Yang.