TikTok Must Face Trade Secrets, Copyright Suit Over Source Code

TikTok Inc. failed to convince a federal judge to toss a copyright infringement and trade secrets lawsuit brought by a Chinese tech company claiming an ex-employee stole their source code after departing to work at the social media behemoth.

Beijing Meishe Network Technology Co.'s fourth amended complaint sufficiently alleged TikTok copied its intellectual property and misused its trade secrets, according to an opinion published Tuesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Judge Susan Illston said in the opinion that Meishe plausibly alleged a striking similarity to one piece of copyrighted source code after the ex-employee, ...