Legislation of Korean-Style Evidence Collection System to Eradicate Technology Theft Against SMEs Pursued

Kyungcheong Foundation and Democratic Party’s Euljiro Committee Hold Legislative Forum at the National Assembly

The Kyungcheong Foundation, a public interest organization dedicated to restoring the rights of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has joined forces with the Democratic Party’s Euljiro Committee to actively pursue the legislation of a Korean-style evidence collection system aimed at eradicating technology theft by large corporations.

The Kyungcheong Foundation announced that, together with the Democratic Party’s Euljiro Committee, it held a legislative forum at the National Assembly on July 9 under the theme, “How Can We Resolve the Tilted Playing Field in Technology Theft Lawsuits?” to discuss the enactment of a Korean-style evidence collection system.

This forum was organized to prepare a legislative bill by consolidating the opinions of relevant agencies and stakeholders, based on a consensus formed through two previous forums on the need for institutional improvements to eradicate technology theft.

Participants of the Korean-style Evidence Collection System Forum for Eradicating Technology Theft are taking a commemorative photo. Kyungcheong Foundation

In the keynote presentation, Park Heekyung, attorney at the Kyungcheong Foundation, argued for the need to improve the evidence collection system to better uncover substantive truths, in her presentation titled “Limitations and Directions for Improvement of the Current Evidence System through Analysis of Technology Theft Lawsuit Cases.” Next, Seo Chiweon, attorney at Law Firm Wongok, provided an in-depth review and recommendations on the introduction of a Korean-style evidence collection system and the proposed legislation,delving into the core agenda of the bills discussed in the National Assembly.

In the subsequent panel discussion, Shin Sanggon, Director General of the Industrial Property Protection Bureau at the Korean Intellectual Property Office; Nam Jungryul, Director of the Technology Protection Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups; Hong Hyungjoo, Director General of Corporate Cooperation Policy at the Fair Trade Commission; and Yang Chanhoe, Executive Director at the Korea Federation of SMEs, participated. They expressed their support for the presenters’ direction and pledged to actively communicate during future National Assembly discussions.

Kim Namgeun, a member of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party who co-hosted the event, stated, “In reality, even when SMEs suffer from technology theft, it is not easy to prove infringement and damages in technology theft lawsuits, where the playing field is tilted. By introducing systems such as the German-style expert fact-finding system, we will do our utmost to ensure the legislation secures substantive truth in technology infringement lawsuits and levels the playing field.”