SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Dongju Kwon, Changkwon Kim, Sejung Lee and Yoon Sun Kim, Yoon & Yang LLC
5.3 Initiating a Lawsuit The applicable laws do not provide any steps that a trade secret owner must take to initiate a trade secret lawsuit. 5.4 Jurisdiction of the Courts There are no limitations on the courts in which a trade secret owner may bring a claim for trade secret misappropriation. There are no special - ised courts that handle civil or criminal trade secret lawsuits. Under the Civil Procedure Act (CPA), a trade secret owner (plaintiff) may file a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit in a court having juris - diction over the place where the defendant has a domicile, where the misappropriation occurred or where the plaintiff has a domicile (Articles 3, 8, 18 and 25). 5.5 Initial Pleading Standards The CPA and other applicable laws and regula - tions do not provide initial pleading standards for civil trade secret lawsuits. In this regard, the trade secret owner may choose to file such law - suits by alleging facts on “information and belief” as in other civil lawsuits, and may additionally submit concrete evidence of misappropriation in the later stages of litigation. However, a party’s filing of the civil lawsuit would constitute a tort if it were filed in order to infringe on the counterparty’s rights or interests or to inflict harm on the counterparty without reason - able cause, and where the filing contravenes public order and morality (see Supreme Court
would also be recommendable to prevent the employee from engaging in the same type of work as their work with the prior employer for a reasonable non-compete period – ie, usually six months to two years. The foregoing efforts will help minimise the likelihood that the company will be subject to a trade secret misappropria - tion claim. 5. Trade Secret Litigation 5.1 Prerequisites to Filing a Lawsuit There are no prerequisite or preliminary steps that must be taken before a trade secret misap - propriation lawsuit can be filed. 5.2 Limitations Period Claims for trade secret misappropriation are subject to the statute of limitations. Under the UCPA, when the trade secret misappropriation continues, the right to claim injunction against or prevention of the misappropriation expires, unless the right is exercised within three years from the date on which the trade secret owner becomes aware of the misappropriator’s iden - tity and of the fact that business interests were infringed or threatened to be infringed due to such misappropriation. Such right also expires when ten years have elapsed after the date on which the misappropriation first occurred (Article 14). Furthermore, under the Civil Act, the right to claim for damages resulting from a trade secret misappropriation is also subject to three-year and ten-year statutes of limitations. The three- year period begins to run when the trade secret owner becomes aware of such damage and the misappropriator’s identity, and the ten-year period begins to run when the misappropriation occurs (Article 766).
Decision No 2011Da91876). 5.6 Seizure Mechanisms
By successfully obtaining the preliminary injunc - tion and executing the preliminary injunctive relief, the trade secret owner may obtain ex par -
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