Samsung Heavy Industries Fined 52 Million KRW by Fair Trade Commission for Not Issuing Technical Data Request to Subcontractors

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 18th that it will impose a corrective order and a fine of 52 million KRW on Samsung Heavy Industries for requesting technical data from small and medium-sized enterprises without issuing written documents containing the relevant details.

According to the Fair Trade Commission's investigation, Samsung Heavy Industries requested 396 technical data items from 63 small and medium-sized enterprises subcontracted for shipbuilding equipment manufacturing between January 2016 and November 2018, but did not provide written documents in advance that recorded the consultations with these companies regarding important matters such as the ownership of the data rights.

The Subcontracting Act allows the original contractor to request technical data from subcontractors only when a legitimate reason is proven. However, even if there is a legitimate reason for requesting technical data, the act mandates the provision of a technical data request form to clarify the purpose of the request, ownership of rights, confidentiality matters, and to confirm procedural legitimacy in case of future disputes.

The Fair Trade Commission pointed out that in the case of Samsung Heavy Industries, although the 'legitimacy of the request' was recognized as the technical data was requested to verify whether the specifications, performance, and standards required by the client were met, the procedure of issuing a technical data request form in advance was not followed.