[Column] Yoon Emphasized Big-Small Business 'One Team' Start Begins with Eradicating Technology Theft

President Yoon Suk-yeol clenches his fist after delivering an encouragement speech at the '2023 Korea Small and Medium Business Conference' held on the lawn of the Yongsan Presidential Office in Seoul on the 23rd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

A phone call came in around 11 p.m. on a weekday. It was from the CEO of an artificial intelligence (AI) company recently interviewed. He called late at night to check if the real name of a large corporation he criticized during the interview was included in the article. He repeatedly pleaded, "Please do not mention the company name even as initials." Having spent a considerable portion of the interview expressing his frustration over his ideas being stolen, he suddenly switched to a defensive mode for one reason: because he is a small business.

He said that during a project with a major financial corporation, his company’s developed business model was stolen. The large corporation demanded extensive materials at every meeting but kept postponing the contract signing. Eventually, they unilaterally halted the project, citing organizational restructuring as an excuse. A few months later, the large corporation launched a similar business model. He bitterly said, "I considered a lawsuit, but the costs would exceed the compensation, and above all, I gave up fearing that being negatively labeled in the industry might jeopardize other businesses."

The issue of large corporations stealing ideas from small businesses is not new. From 2017 to 2021, over the past five years, there have been about 280 cases of technology infringement against small businesses, with damages amounting to 282.7 billion won. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups receives about 6,000 consultations annually related to technology theft from small businesses. Currently, disputes over technology are ongoing between Lotte Healthcare and Algocare, Shinhan Card and Paxmoney, LG Household & Health Care and Prinker Korea, among others. A common pattern is that these conflicts began as collaborations but ended in disputes.

If mediation between disputing companies fails, the matter must ultimately be resolved in court. However, once the stage moves to the courtroom, small and startup companies are already at a disadvantage. Small businesses, already short-staffed, cannot endure the lengthy litigation process against large corporations equipped with massive funds and strong legal teams. Small businesses must prove the damage themselves, but most of the evidence is held by the large corporations involved in the dispute, making it difficult to secure proof. It is also common for companies to refuse to submit materials citing trade secrets. In patent disputes between large and small companies over the past four years, the loss rate for small businesses has increased annually: 50% in 2018, 60% in 2019, 71.4% in 2020, and 75% in 2021.

On the 23rd, President Yoon Suk-yeol emphasized the 'one team' spirit between large and small businesses at the 'Small Business Owners Conference.' However, as long as there are companies that outwardly say "we are the same team" but secretly steal technology and ideas like predators, the 'one team' spirit remains hollow. It is time to establish fair rules to build a good team.

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