"If Successful, 23 Trillion Won in Damage"...KIPO Strengthens Preemptive Measures Against Technology Leakage

From 2020 to August of this year, a total of 97 cases of suspected overseas technology leakage have been confirmed. If these attempts at technology leakage had succeeded, the estimated damage would have amounted to around 23 trillion won. The government has decided to strengthen proactive measures to prevent and block such overseas technology leakage crimes.

On the 17th, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that at the 244th Ministerial Meeting on External Economic Affairs held at the Government Seoul Office, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, the "Measures to Respond to Technology Leakage for Strengthening Global Industrial Competitiveness" were approved.

The response plan focuses on preventing national damage by blocking attempts to leak technology in advanced industrial sectors such as semiconductors and secondary batteries, and establishing a national technology protection system to prevent technology theft that hinders the growth of small and venture companies.

First, KIPO will establish a proactive technology leakage prevention system by detecting signs of technology leakage in advance through patent big data analysis, sharing this information with counterintelligence agencies, and linking it to immediate investigations.

The patent big data held by KIPO is a vast collection of advanced technological information generated by companies, research institutes, and universities worldwide, amounting to as many as 580 million cases. Above all, patent big data allows for the identification of global research and development trends and technology trends, making it possible to detect technology leakage through analysis.

Earlier, in April, KIPO was newly designated as a national counterintelligence agency in recognition of the value of the patent big data it currently holds.

The response plan also includes measures to enhance government-wide technology leakage investigations by utilizing technology experts within KIPO. Judging technological similarity is essential for technology leakage investigations. Considering this, KIPO plans to establish a technical advisory system where patent examination and trial experts support the determination of whether a technology crime has been committed upon requests from information and investigative agencies.

Additionally, KIPO explained that it will push for amendments to the "Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act (UCPA)" to finely tune the trade secret protection system, enabling pinpoint responses to increasingly sophisticated methods of technology leakage.

Pinpoint responses will allow civil and criminal remedies for trade secret infringement acts such as facilitating job changes for the purpose of technology leakage, introduce a reward system for reporting trade secret leaks, and establish punishment systems for re-leakage of trade secrets. Re-leakage of trade secrets refers to new methods of technology leakage, such as foreign companies leaking trade secrets overseas through their Korean subsidiaries.

The response plan also places emphasis on relief measures for companies suffering from technology infringement. A representative example is the promotion of the introduction of a "Korean-style evidence collection system" to improve the currently low success rate and damage awards in technology infringement lawsuits due to the inability to secure evidence.

This system allows experts designated by judges to collect and investigate materials at the site of technology infringement, and enables witness examinations between parties presided over by court staff, providing practical assistance to venture and small companies struggling with evidence collection.

To enhance expertise in trials of technology infringement lawsuits, which require highly technical judgments, the plan also promotes the concentration of jurisdiction over technology infringement cases.

Currently, the concentration of jurisdiction applies only to civil substantive cases involving patent rights, utility model rights, design rights, trademark rights, and plant variety protection rights. However, KIPO explained that in the future, the scope will be expanded to include civil substantive cases, provisional injunctions, and criminal cases related to trade secrets, industrial technology protection, and unfair competition acts. Concentrated jurisdiction trials will be held in district courts in Seoul, Suwon, Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, and Busan for the first instance, and in the Patent Court for the second instance.

KIPO Commissioner Kim Wan-ki said, "To counter increasingly sophisticated and intelligent attempts at overseas technology leakage, the government's response methods must also become more detailed. KIPO will do its utmost to establish a flawless technology protection system by early detection of technology leakage using patent data and technology experts, and swift investigations."