Pharmacist Who Resigned Opens Pharmacy in Same Building... Court Orders "Business Prohibition"

Opening a Pharmacy Using the Same Information from the Previous Pharmacy
Court: "It Constitutes Trade Secrets... Violates Public Order"

A court ruling has determined that a pharmacist who worked part-time at a pharmacy and then opened another pharmacy in the same building after resigning is acting unfairly.

The Ulsan District Court Civil Division 22 (Presiding Judge Shim Hyun-wook) announced on the 21st that it accepted the provisional injunction request for "business prohibition" filed by Pharmacy A against another pharmacy newly opened in the same building.

Pharmacy A filed the provisional injunction for business prohibition after pharmacist B, who had worked part-time from April 2022 to December last year, resigned and opened a pharmacy in the same building in January this year.

The court found that B opened the pharmacy using the drug list, sales status, and other information of Pharmacy A, which B had identified while working there for nearly two years, and that this could cause damage such as a decrease in Pharmacy A's sales.

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There is an internal medicine clinic in the building, and Pharmacy A had been compiling a drug list by collecting information on the types, quantities, and unit prices of medicines prescribed by this clinic.

The court stated, "Pharmacy A has been operating its business based on understanding which medicines the clinic mainly prescribes and in what quantities, and the information obtained during a considerable period of business is not easily accessible to other pharmacies," and judged that the information used by B from Pharmacy A qualifies as trade secrets, thus accepting the provisional injunction request.

It is also known that B opened the pharmacy in a location closer to the clinic than Pharmacy A.

The court explained the reason for the ruling, saying, "It appears that B acquired Pharmacy A's trade secrets with the intention of opening a pharmacy immediately after resignation. This is against good morals and social order."

Additionally, the court added, "Until the final judgment is confirmed, if B violates the business prohibition order, B must pay Pharmacy A 3 million won per day."