Kolmar Korea won a final victory in a legal dispute with the Korea branch of Italian cosmetics ODM (original design manufacturer) company Intercos over the leak of core sunscreen technology.
Kolmar Korea said on the 28th that it won a final victory in the legal dispute with Intercos Korea and received a total of 31.2 million won in legal expenses. The amount equals the full legal litigation expense Kolmar Korea paid during the suit.
The case began in 2018 when former Kolmar Korea employees A and B, upon moving to Intercos Korea, leaked core trade secrets, including sunscreen formula data, in violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
In Jan. last year, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling that sentenced A to 10 months in prison, suspended for 2 years, and B to 6 months in prison, suspended for 2 years. The Suwon District Court later, on remand, fined Intercos Korea 5 million won.
A Kolmar Korea official said, "This lawsuit showed the principle that we will hold parties accountable to the end for technology leaks," adding, "We will continue to do our best to protect technology."