Overview of Samsung SDI’s misappropriation of technical data. [자료 = 공정위]Samsung SDI, which handed over technical data owned by domestic suppliers (subcontractors) to Chinese subcontractors without permission, was withdrawn from the Fair Trade Commission.
On the 18th, the Fair Trade Commission announced that it had imposed a correction order and a fine of 270 million won on Samsung SDI for violating the subcontracting law. The penalty for leaking technical data is 250 million won, and the penalty for violating the technical data request procedure without prior delivery of documents to the subcontractor is 20 million won.
According to the Fair Trade Commission, Samsung SDI received a request from a local partner through a joint venture in China and provided a drawing of a ‘transport tray’ owned by Company A, a domestic supplier, on May 18, 2018. As for the joint venture, Samsung SDI holds 65% of the shares and two Chinese companies hold 35% of the shares. The company to which the data was handed over was a place where the joint venture was going to supply new parts to be developed.
However, the drawing was not developed by Company A directly, but developed by Company B, another domestic operator. Company A had the drawing with Company B’s permission and handed it over to Samsung SDI at the request.
Accordingly, Samsung SDI argued that only the technical data written and owned by Company A was subject to the subcontracting law. Since the leaked drawings in this case are not subject to legal protection, they protested with the logic that it is not illegal. In fact, there has never been a case in which the Fair Trade Commission recognized the use of technology for technology that the subcontractor did not directly develop and possessed.
However, the Fair Trade Commission finally concluded that it was an illegal act. The Fair Trade Commission said, “Considering the purpose of the subcontracting law, the meaning of the legal text, and the various realities of transactions, ‘subcontractor’s technical data’ cannot be regarded as being limited to technical data prepared by the subcontractor. , and technical data possessed by permission of use, etc.”
In particular, the Fair Trade Commission said, “Considering the purpose of the Subcontracting Act to prevent the abuse of the principal contractor’s trading position, there is no need to narrowly view it as technical data owned by the subcontractor.” Since there is a high possibility of undermining the competitiveness of the industry, it is reasonable to protect even the technical data owned by subcontractors thickly,” he emphasized.
In addition, Samsung SDI entrusted manufacturing of parts related to secondary battery manufacturing, etc. to 8 subcontractors from August 2015 to February 2017, and requested a total of 16 technical data related to parts manufacturing and transportation. In this process, a written request for technical data was not issued in advance. The Fair Trade Commission judged that the 16 cases of request itself had justifiable reasons, but that it was illegal to violate the obligation to provide a written notice in advance.
With this incident as an opportunity, the Fair Trade Commission plans to conduct a fact-finding investigation into the misuse of technical data held by subcontractors.
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