[Law Firm Now] Barun Law LLC Achieves Historic Final Victory in Qualcomm Fine Lawsuit Worth Over 1.03 Trillion Won

Bareun, Acting as 'Fair Trade Commission Proxy' for Over 6 Years from First Trial... Emphasizing Market Dominance Abuse
Attorney Seo Hye-sook "If Lost, Qualcomm Business Is Legitimate, Handling Case with Crisis and Responsibility"

(Back row from left, clockwise) Attorney Jeong Gyeonghwan, Attorney Seo Hyesuk, Attorney Jeong Yanghun, Attorney Lee Gippeum, Attorney Kim Yonghyeon. [Photo by Law Firm Bareun]

"The moment I confirmed the Supreme Court's ruling, I felt a deep sense of relief. This case involved Qualcomm, which holds standard-essential patents (SEPs) for mobile communications, violating its FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) commitments and abusing its market dominance in downstream markets such as the modem chipset market where it participates. The biggest concern if we had lost this case was that other SEP holders would simply imitate Qualcomm's business model."

Attorney Seo Hye-sook (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 28) of Barun Law Firm's Fair Trade Group, who represented the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) and led the six-year-long litigation against Qualcomm to victory, shared her reflections.

The KFTC's lawsuit to cancel the largest-ever fine of over 1.03 trillion KRW imposed on multinational semiconductor and telecommunications company Qualcomm ended in the KFTC's favor. This ruling is significant as the judiciary sanctioned a global company for abusing market dominance through the use of standard-essential patents.

The lawsuit began when the KFTC, in 2016, determined that Qualcomm abused its dominant market position based on patent rights while supplying modem chipsets for telecommunications, coercing unfair transactions on mobile phone manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, and imposed a record fine of 1.031 trillion KRW.

In 2017, Qualcomm assembled a defense team of lawyers from three major law firms to counterattack. The KFTC appointed Barun Law Firm and attorney Choi Seung-jae from Class Law Firm as its representatives. Intel, LG Electronics, MediaTek, and Huawei Device joined as amici curiae supporting the KFTC.

Barun Law Firm deployed attorneys including Seo Hye-sook, who led the six-year litigation from the first trial at the Seoul High Court through the Supreme Court appeal, along with Ahn Yun-woo (class 32), Jung Kyung-hwan (class 33), Jung Yang-hoon (class 38), Choi Ye-eun (6th Bar Exam), Lee Ki-ppeum (7th Bar Exam), and Kim Yong-hyun (10th Bar Exam). Jung Kyung-hwan, head of Barun’s Fair Trade Team 1, has previously led major cases such as the ramen cartel and life insurance cartel to victory alongside Seo.

The key issue in the trial was whether Qualcomm, which obtained SEPs under a FRAND commitment to license patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms to businesses wishing to use the patents, violated this commitment and abused its market dominance.

Attorney Seo recalled contemplating the consequences if they lost the case from the outset. She said, "If it is deemed lawful to participate in a market requiring one’s SEPs and prevent competitors from engaging in fair competition, it would not only collapse the standardization system itself but also make it impossible to expect any means or mechanisms to control the distortion and abuse of competition by SEP holders. I carried out this case with a sense of crisis and responsibility."

Accordingly, during the trial, Seo focused on highlighting how serious the anti-competitive harm would be if SEP holders imitated Qualcomm’s business model.

Ultimately, numerous pieces of evidence of Qualcomm’s abusive conduct, secured from the investigation stage before the fine was imposed and with the help of amici such as Intel, were accepted. The court recognized Qualcomm’s refusal to license SEPs to competitors and its unfair tying of license agreements to modem chipset supply as unfair practices.

Attorney Seo credited much of the success in this case to the support from the KFTC and amici curiae. She said, "In fact, the evidentiary part was not just the effort of the defense team but a combined effort of the KFTC and the amici," adding, "From the beginning, the KFTC deployed its best personnel during the investigation, deliberation, and trial processes, and working closely with attorney Choi Seung-jae, who has been involved in this case for years, was the greatest help."