No. Stealing and patent infringement are separate issues. Stealing might be something like walking away with design drawings, source code, etc. This could happen at any time, including before the patent application is filed. Infringement means using the ideas claimed by the patent document.<p>Among the many possibilities, one is that the Chinese company sincerely believes that the US patent application is invalid, for instance if they think that they have discovered prior art. Also, if and when the US patent issues, its claims may bear little resemblance to the application, for instance if the Patent Office discovers prior art.<p>Disclaimer: I&#x27;m not a lawyer, but I have a handful of patents.