[Invest&Law] Law Firm Sejong Launches First 'IT&SW Specialized Team' Among Law Firms

Law firm Sejong (Representative Lawyer Oh Jong-han) launched the first-ever 'IT&SW Specialized Team' among domestic law firms and held its inaugural IT dispute seminar on the 31st of last month to commemorate this.

A Sejong official stated on the 6th, "As the information technology (IT) and software (SW) industries rapidly expand, disputes arising from large-scale public and private software development projects are increasing. To proactively respond to related legal consultations and dispute resolutions, we have launched the 'IT&SW Specialized Team.'"

The team leader is Lawyer Yoon Joo-tak (54, Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 33), a graduate of Seoul National University’s Department of Electronic Engineering. Yoon, who is also the head of Sejong’s patent team, has served as a judge at the Patent Court and as a high court judge in the Intellectual Property specialized division of the Seoul High Court.

Additionally, lawyers Kim Yoon-hee (49, Class 32), Kwon Yi-seon (43, Class 38), and Joo Seok-ho (37, Bar Exam 3rd) participate in the team along with Advisor Choi Kwang-hee, former head of the KISA Cyber Incident Response Center, and Advisor Lee Joo-hwan, former Chief Information Security Officer at Hana Bank.

At the seminar held on the 31st, major precedents from the Supreme Court and lower courts were analyzed to provide legal knowledge and strategies necessary for ordering and managing IT and SW development projects, and the issues of each dispute were categorized by type.

In the first session, Lawyer Yoon gave a presentation titled "Issues and Implications of Disputes Related to IT, SI, and SW Development." Yoon advised, "Disputes in IT and SW development are complex lawsuits requiring specialized understanding of hardware (HW) and software (SW). Experience and expertise in technical disputes such as patents and trade secrets, SW copyright disputes, and defect disputes are essential. It is necessary to prevent disputes and respond effectively by seeking help from specialized lawyers from contract formation to execution and dispute response."

Following this, Lawyer Kwon presented on "Issues and Implications of SW License-Related Disputes," and finally, on the topic of "Issues and Implications of Intellectual Property Disputes Related to IT, SI, and SW," Lawyer Yoon discussed patent and copyright disputes, while Lawyer Joo covered trade secret and unfair competition disputes.

Oh Jong-han (59, Class 18), Representative Lawyer of Sejong, stated, "With the launch of the IT&SW Specialized Team, we aim to effectively manage the potential legal dispute risks of SW companies and companies ordering SW development projects, and by providing response measures for realized risks, we will help companies secure legal stability from the early stages of their business."

Reporter Jo Han-ju, Legal Times

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.