How to Minimize Damages Liability for Trade Secret Infringement by a Former Employee

Among those reading this post, some may have left their previous employer and been accused of trade secret infringement, now facing a police investigation.

Depending on the nature of your duties, if you were entrusted with a company's confidential internal information, given its importance, companies often enter into confidentiality agreements, and you must exercise caution, as leaking confidential information to a competitor or similar business can result in punishment.

In particular, if you face civil damages liability in addition to criminal punishment, you must quickly examine the legal and factual issues involved.

You must then find and pursue ways to minimize both criminal and civil liability.

With that in mind, today we would like to help those facing a lawsuit for trade secret infringement by a former employee find ways to respond.

As attorneys with backgrounds at major law firms and in the police, with extensive experience handling intellectual property matters, LAWFIRM LEAP offers practical know-how in this post, so please take about 3 minutes to focus and read on.

Based on our experience, we can help you develop initial response strategies that work in your favor at the investigation stage. With that in mind, let us share LEAP's know-how.

01If You Are Facing a Lawsuit for Trade Secret Infringement by a Former Employee

If confidential information affecting a company's competitiveness is disclosed or disseminated, the company can suffer significant financial loss.

The Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act was enacted to establish a legal system to protect against this.

If legal liability is established, the offender may face imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to KRW 500 million.

Furthermore, if a fine is imposed and 10 times the amount obtained through the offense exceeds KRW 500 million, a fine of between 2 and 10 times the amount of property gained may be imposed.

Additionally, anyone who causes damage is also liable to compensate for that damage.

Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, Article 11 (Liability for Damages for Trade Secret Infringement) A person who intentionally or negligently infringes a trade secret and thereby causes damage to the business interests of the trade secret holder is liable to compensate for such damage.

Therefore, if you have been accused in such a case, you must first analyze the legal elements to determine whether your conduct actually constitutes a crime.

For trade secret infringement to be established, the act must have been committed intentionally or negligently, and it must involve obtaining confidential information through improper means such as threats, deception, or theft, or disclosing information obtained in such a manner.

In addition, there must be evidence that the company managed the information as confidential internally.

Therefore, if you are facing such a lawsuit, you should seek the assistance of an experienced attorney to find ways to obtain leniency based on the legal elements of the case.

First, proving that the act was not intentional can reduce the severity of the offense and increase the possibility of leniency.

Therefore, you should seek the assistance of an experienced attorney with extensive litigation experience in intellectual property matters to resolve the case.

This is by no means an easy case, as you must find ways to defend against both criminal punishment and civil damages claims.

Therefore, you should respond systematically, starting with a thorough analysis at the early stage of the case.

02How Can a Former Employee Reduce Damages Liability for Trade Secret Infringement?

In many cases involving accusations of this kind, civil damages liability is actually more significant than criminal punishment.

Therefore, defending against imprisonment while also reducing the financial burden becomes the key issue.

Depending on the circumstances, you may be asked to pay a substantial amount that could be difficult to bear, so you should work with an experienced attorney to find a resolution.

03To Reduce Damages Liability

The trade secret does not have significant economic value The company did not thoroughly manage the confidential information internally The disclosure resulted in little or no benefit The act was committed impulsively The information was not passed on to a competitor The possibility of losing one's job

Additionally, if the charge is established, you should pursue a settlement with the other party.

If you can pay financial compensation to the other party and successfully reach a settlement, expressing the other party's intent not to seek punishment can help you defend against a harsher sentence.

If legal liability is reduced, you may be able to defend against damages claims by successfully executing a settlement agreement.

However, since the counterparty is a company, negotiating a settlement can be difficult, and the amounts involved are large, so you should seek the assistance of legal counsel from the outset, rather than attempting to handle this on your own.

Since you must respond with consistent and favorable statements and evidence from the investigation stage, please discuss your case with an expert who understands the investigation process well.

The attorneys at LAWFIRM LEAP have handled a wide range of legal disputes while working at Korea's largest law firms, Kim & Chang and Bae, Kim & Lee.

As attorneys with police backgrounds, we have extensive experience in the investigation process and know-how in initial police response, so we are well positioned to develop strategies at the investigation stage and handle the trial process without error in cases like this.

With legal counsel from LEAP, who have experience at both major law firms and in the police, you can present your case clearly and comprehensively address both criminal and civil matters.

We at LEAP understand better than anyone the situation you are in and how urgent your concerns are, and we will mobilize all our knowledge and know-how to help achieve the best possible outcome.

If you have not yet found legal counsel to work with, please consider preparing for your case together with LEAP.

We will devise the best solution tailored to your situation.

Thank you for reading this long post.