FTC issues corrective order citing Subcontracting Act violation
Determined that partner's technical information was used for sole patent
Company claimed independent experimentation and analysis; FTC rejected the claim
Protection of intangible information and fair competition remain key challenges
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to issue a corrective order to prevent recurrence and impose a penalty surcharge of 420 million won on Hansae Mobility for violating the Subcontracting Act. The decision is based on the finding that the company used automotive component technical information developed by a partner company for its own exclusive patent.
According to the FTC, the subcontractor company K derived and managed the optimal core hardness values required to achieve component strength. The FTC determined that Hansae Mobility analyzed the prototypes and inspection test reports received for quality verification and filed and registered a patent under its own name using virtually the same range of values.
Hansae Mobility argued that the values were derived through its own independent experiments and analysis. However, the FTC rejected this claim, citing the fact that the company did not directly manage those values during the development process and that the invention report cited the results of company K's sample tests. The FTC explained that this is the first case to be sanctioned by recognizing the technical data nature of intangible information.
Fair competition and new challenges are only possible when smaller companies are able to protect their research and development achievements. To ensure a trading environment where young entrepreneurs and technical personnel can trust, it is necessary to clarify rights and scope of use at the contracting stage and examine measures to prevent disputes.