IP Newsletter | Winter 2016/17
	PATENT
	Korean Government Proposes Greater Protections for Trade Secret Holders
	The Presidential Council on Intellectual Property and other government entities have been exploring various approaches to address concerns in Korea that the current law has been ineffective in preventing technology theft from small and medium size companies.
	One measure the Korean government is now proposing is to amend the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act ("UCPA"). Specifically, the amendment would broaden protections for trade secret holders by making it easier to show that certain information is a "trade secret," and by increasing sanctions for misappropriation of trade secrets.
	Major Proposed Changes:
	Greater Ease in Qualifying Information as a "Trade Secret" Under the current UCPA, "reasonable efforts" must be used to maintain the secrecy of information to claim it as a trade secret. Under the amendment, the definition of a "trade secret" would be revised, so that no showing of "reasonable efforts" is required (i.e., it would be sufficient to simply show that information is "kept secret"). Introduction of Punitive Damages Under the amendment, where there is intentional misappropriation, a court would be allowed to grant compensation for damages in an amount up to 3 times the amount of actual damages. In calculating the damages, a court would have discretion to consider all relevant circumstances, including: (i) whether the infringer is in a superior position to the trade secret owner; (ii) the infringer's wrongful intent and degree of willfulness; (iii) the duration and number of misappropriations; and (iv) the economic benefits resulting from the misappropriation. Stronger Criminal Penalties Under the amendment, in addition to other existing criminal penalties for misappropriating trade secrets, it would also be considered a criminal act to "continue to keep a trade secret for the purpose of obtaining improper benefit or causing damage to a trade secret holder even after a request to delete or return the trade secret by the trade secret holder." Further, in certain circumstances, the amendment would substantially increase the potential criminal fines for misappropriation.
	Status
	The amendment was subjected to public comments in August 2016, and was approved in the Cabinet Meeting held on January 3, 2017. On January 18, 2017, the amendment was submitted to the National Assembly for final review and approval.
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	Eun Jin JUNG ejjung@kimchang.com Inchan Andrew KWON ickwon@kimchang.com Seung-Chan EOM seungchan.eom@kimchang.com
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