Kakao Pay Sonbo vs Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance 'UI Plagiarism Allegation' Escalates to Lawsuit [1mm Financial Talk]

Kakao Pay Insurance Sends Formal Protest Letter to Samsung Fire & Marine on 26th
Kakao Pay Insurance: "Responsible Party Must Apologize and Prepare Measures to Prevent Recurrence"
Samsung Fire & Marine: "We Did Not Copy... Input of Enrollment Information Is the Same for All Insurers"

As allegations have been raised that Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance plagiarized the overseas travel insurance user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) of Kakao Pay Insurance, the conflict between the two companies is increasingly likely to escalate into a lawsuit.

On the 27th, according to Kakao Pay Insurance, the company sent an official letter to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance the day before expressing regret over the revamp of the overseas travel insurance service with an identical UI and UX. A Kakao Pay Insurance official stated, "Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance must immediately restore the process they copied without permission from our mobile subscription process," adding, "We demand a sincere apology from the person responsible at Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and measures to prevent recurrence."

Comparison of Online Overseas Travel Insurance Enrollment Pages between Kakao Pay Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance.

On the 3rd, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance revamped the online product subscription procedure, screen layout, and guidance phrases for overseas travel insurance. Comparing the screens before and after the revamp, the previous subscription process proceeded in the order of entering date of birth, entering the period, selecting the travel purpose, and providing subscription information. However, in the revamped screen, the process proceeds with country selection, period input, subscription plan selection, and DIY (direct design). Kakao Pay Insurance claims that the screen after Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s revamp is identical to its own overseas travel insurance subscription procedure. A Kakao Pay Insurance official explained, "They added stages such as DIY, country selection, and joint subscription, which we were the first in the industry to introduce, exactly the same, and even copied the layout, titles, and button phrases within the screen," adding, "The step-by-step UI, menus, design, and phrases are also no different from ours."

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance denies the plagiarism allegations. A Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance official rebutted, "We were the first to start selling overseas travel insurance through online channels," and "The insurance subscription process and input information are the same across all insurance companies."

Kakao Pay Insurance also stated that after consulting with Botam Patent Law Firm regarding this matter, they received a judgment that the three requirements of substantial similarity, causal relationship, and creative work are met, indicating a high possibility of copyright infringement. If Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance does not comply with Kakao Pay Insurance’s demands for an apology from the responsible party and measures to prevent recurrence, the conflict may escalate into a lawsuit. A Kakao Pay Insurance official said, "Kakao Pay Insurance’s mobile subscription process is a creative work developed after intense consideration of customer convenience and value creation as a new insurance company," adding, "If cases of easily copying the innovation efforts and will of latecomers continue like this, challenges and innovations by new insurance companies in the insurance industry will not be easy in the future."