The Korean Intellectual Property Office Holds First Institutional Improvement Committee Meeting... Exploring Measures to Prevent Unfair Competition

Key Points of the Recently Revised Unfair Competition Prevention Act. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] A forum to gather expert opinions will be held to prevent unfair competition acts, such as idea theft, which have been difficult to protect against until now.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that on the 26th, it will hold the first meeting of the "Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act (hereinafter referred to as the Unfair Competition Prevention Act)" Institutional Improvement Committee at the KIPO Seoul Office.

The committee is composed of about 10 experts from academia, the legal profession, and industry, and will play a role in preparing institutional improvement measures that reflect voices from the field.

The committee will first address eight agenda items, including ▲ the introduction of corrective orders for those who fail to comply with corrective recommendations regarding unfair competition acts ▲ strengthening the data submission order system ▲ regulation of new types of unfair competition acts such as unauthorized use of celebrities' portraits or big data ▲ and improvement of the damages system for trade secret infringement.

In particular, KIPO expects that the committee will be able to conduct in-depth discussions on the need to realize damages for trade secret infringement, following the passage of a partial amendment to the Patent Act in the National Assembly plenary session on the 20th. The amendment to the Patent Act focuses on realizing damages for patent infringement.

Gu Young-min, Director of the Industrial Property Protection Policy Division at KIPO, said, "As the industrial structure changes and the market becomes more complex, the importance of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act is also increasing," adding, "The committee's purpose is to look at and review contentious issues that are likely to occur in the field from a balanced perspective and prepare improvement measures."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.