Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act Defense | Legal Advisory to a Client Seeking to File a Criminal Complaint Under the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act

The circumstances that led the client to decide to file a criminal complaint for violating the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act are as follows.

The client is the representative of Company N, which manufactures and sells agricultural machinery, general machinery, and agricultural machinery parts.

One day, when the client searched for his company on the internet, a different website, that of a company called T Agricultural Machinery, appeared instead of the client's company site, and that website advertised as though it were supplied with agricultural machinery parts by the client's company and sold them.

However, the client had never supplied parts to Company T, nor had he requested it to sell anything, and so he was simply taken aback.

Accordingly, because Company T sold its advertising by making promotions that falsely represented the goods of the client's company or that misled as to the quality and content of the goods, it violated the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, and the client therefore decided to file a criminal complaint.

However, having no knowledge of the relevant law, the client requested legal advisory from Daeryun.

🔗The Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act is a statute enacted to prevent acts of unfair competition that harm the interests of persons engaged in the same type of business by unfair means.

Over 22 years, the client's company has manufactured and sold agricultural machinery products and parts and has established itself as a brand widely known to customers in various regions across Korea who use agricultural machinery.

However, although it had never concluded a supply contract with the client or been requested by him to sell anything, it advertised as though it were supplied with parts by the client's company and sold them, while selling products that were entirely unrelated to the client's parts.

We advised the client to emphasize the fact that this was a method contrary to fair commercial practices or competitive order and that, by using it without authorization for its own business, the client's economic interests were infringed.

Where an act of unfair competition under the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act has been committed, one may, by reporting to the Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, have a corrective recommendation issued, may file a claim for damages, or may file a criminal complaint, as the client above did.

What is important in this process is to clearly establish facts such as that one's rights and interests were infringed by the act of unfair competition and that harm arose to one's economic interests.

Accordingly, we recommend obtaining the assistance of a legal expert.

Daeryun LLC, on the basis of data from numerous work cases relating to violations of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, provides solutions and assistance suited to each client's situation. If you require help, please feel free to submit a 🔗legal consultation to Daeryun.