Fair Trade Commission: "Doosan Heavy Industries demanded technical data from subcontractors without written consent... Correction order and fine imposed"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 23rd that it has decided to issue a corrective order and impose a fine of 20 million KRW on Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction for violating procedural regulations to protect the technology of small and medium subcontractors by failing to provide a written request stating the purpose of the request when demanding technical data.

According to the Fair Trade Commission, from July 2015 to June 2018, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, in the process of outsourcing and receiving delivery of valves used in power plant equipment, requested four technical documents such as drawings related to valve manufacturing from two small and medium enterprises without providing a written document that specified the ownership of rights, confidentiality obligations, and compensation in advance.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction justified the request for related technical data on the grounds that it was to verify whether the valves supplied by the small and medium enterprises met the specifications, performance, and standards required by the client and to review the physical and functional compatibility with other parts. The Fair Trade Commission recognized the legitimacy of the technical data request.

However, under the Subcontracting Act, even if there is a legitimate reason for requesting technical data, it is mandatory to clearly specify the purpose of the request, ownership of rights, and confidentiality matters between both parties and to provide a written request for technical data to confirm procedural legitimacy in case of future disputes. Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction did not provide such written requests when demanding four technical documents from two small and medium enterprises.

Accordingly, the Fair Trade Commission ordered Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction to take corrective measures to prevent recurrence of the failure to provide written requests for technical data and decided to impose a fine of 20 million KRW.

A Fair Trade Commission official stated, "The obligation of the principal contractor to provide a written request for technical data is an important procedural duty to prevent unjustified data requests and arbitrary interpretations by the principal contractor, and furthermore, to prevent technology misappropriation in advance." He added, "The Fair Trade Commission will strengthen monitoring of non-provision of written requests and impose strict sanctions upon detection to ensure the establishment of the technical data request system, and plans to expand efforts to promote the system."

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