News: LEDs
24 August 2022
Everlight convicted for misappropriating Seoul Semi’s trade secrets and technology
South Korean LED maker Seoul Semiconductor Co Ltd says that the Korean Suwon District Court Appellate Division has found Taiwan-based Everlight Electronics Co Ltd guilty of criminal misappropriation of its trade secrets and industry technology.
The court awarded criminal fines against Everlight – the maximum fine so far for a foreign company for the commission of such a crime. Three former employees of Seoul Semiconductor who left the company and went to work at Everlight were also sentenced to 1-2 years in prison, with 2-3 years of probation for trade secret and technology misappropriation.
The Korea Prosecutors’ Office criminally indicted Everlight, together with Seoul’s former employees, for criminal misappropriation of Seoul’s trade secrets and industry technology. The lower court convicted Everlight on a charge of criminal misappropriation of trade secrets, and the appellate court affirmed the lower court’s decision and also upheld a charge of criminal misappropriation of Seoul’s industry technology by Everlight.
Seoul Semiconductor alleges that some global companies still purchase cheaper copycat products that infringe its technology and sell those products under their branding, despite claiming their environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance.
“Intellectual property is the only tool that enables small businesses and entrepreneurs to survive and grow,” says Seoul Semiconductor’s founder Chung Hoon Lee. “Companies stealing such hard-earned technology should be expelled from the market,” he adds.
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