SME Technology Protection... 'Infringement Relief Support Team' to be Established Next Month

Supplementing the Legal Support Group Project of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups
Strengthening Expertise in Litigation
Expanding to 20 Members Through 1st and 2nd Selection Rounds

Image source = SME Technology Protection Fence website

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will establish a new 'Infringement Relief Support Team (tentative name)' next month to strengthen support for lawsuits involving technology infringement by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This aims to enhance expertise in litigation by supplementing the existing SME Technology Protection Legal Support Group project.

According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 31st, the Infringement Relief Support Team, scheduled to be officially launched next month, will first select a small number of legal experts within the currently operating Legal Support Group who have higher expertise in litigation, and plans to expand up to 20 members later. The first round of personnel selection is currently underway.

The establishment of the Infringement Relief Support Team is a measure taken due to limitations in performing litigation tasks caused by insufficient support amounts and expertise in legal advisory activities for SMEs through the existing Legal Support Group project.

Regarding the lawyer qualification requirements within the existing Legal Support Group, candidates needed to have litigation experience related to intellectual property rights or technology theft (including trade secrets and ideas) within three years prior to the selection date. However, for the new Infringement Relief Support Team, this has been strengthened to require experience in more than 10 technology theft-related lawsuits within five years prior to the selection date. The goal is to have legal experts with extensive experience in technology theft-related lawsuits perform specific tasks necessary for civil litigation.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups launched the SME Technology Protection Legal Support Group in June 2018 in collaboration with the Seoul Bar Association, Daejeon Bar Association, and the Korean Patent Attorneys Association. Currently, about 100 lawyers and patent attorneys are active in the Legal Support Group. They support legal activities to prevent unfair trade practices such as technology theft by large corporations through activities like responding to demands for technical data during transactions with large companies and reviewing technology transaction contracts.

SMEs requiring relief due to technology theft or leakage can inquire and apply through the Foundation for Large and Small Enterprises and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Cooperation. After investigation of infringement facts, they can receive support from the Legal Support Group.

While promoting improvements to the litigation support project for companies reporting technology infringement administrative investigations, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups also plans to strengthen the role of the 'Administrative Investigation Team' composed of ministry officials. A collaboration system will be established between the Administrative Investigation Team and litigation representatives to ensure that evidence and judgments secured during administrative investigations can be utilized in civil lawsuits, covering evidence submission, litigation strategy formulation, and document preparation.

Although the administrative investigation system for SME technology infringement has been in effect since December last year, the reality is that final dispute resolution still relies on civil litigation. Compared to large corporations that typically hire major law firms, SMEs face difficulties in responding to lawsuits due to cost issues. The Ministry’s administrative investigations on technology infringement are also limited to corrective recommendations and public announcements as sanctions under the SME Technology Protection Act.

The Ministry plans to support up to 40 million KRW in litigation representative matching costs for SMEs confirmed to have suffered technology infringement based on administrative investigation results through the improved Legal Support Group project.

A Ministry of SMEs and Startups official stated, "When technology infringement lawsuits have been filed in the past, lawyers hired by large corporations often belong to major law firms with high expertise in related litigation. The establishment of the Infringement Relief Support Team aims to provide SMEs with legal experts who have litigation capabilities related to technology infringement at the level of large corporations."