[Litigation] A case where we successfully represented the appellant in an appeal regarding a non-prosecution decision related to a business leakage incident and in a damages lawsuit. Law firm Veat

Law firm Veat (hereinafter “Veat”) represented the appellant in an appeal against the prosecution’s decision of non-indictment regarding a trade secret leakage case and obtained a re-investigation order from the High Public Prosecutor's Office. Subsequently, it secured a damage compensation verdict of approximately 200 million won in a civil damages lawsuit.

1. Summary of the Case

An incident occurred in which Kim, an employee who resigned from A Co., which manufactures and sells pipe components, leaked drawings. Kim unauthorizedly leaked A Co.'s drawings, established a company of the same kind, and obtained unfair profits by selling products. Upon learning this, A Co. filed civil and criminal lawsuits against Kim, but the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence and issued a non-indictment decision.

Accordingly, A Co. entrusted this case to Veat in order to file an appeal against the non-indictment decision.

2. Criminal Prosecution and Civil Litigation Representation by Law firm Veat

(1) Contents of Criminal Prosecution

Veat meticulously detailed the impropriety of the prosecutor's decision of non-indictment in this case and actively explained the case, thereby obtaining a re-investigation order from the High Public Prosecutor's Office. Subsequently, Veat criminally prosecuted the opposing company that leaked the trade secret drawings, collected evidence through digital forensics, and actively concentrated on evidence collection by cooperating with the police to obtain a search warrant and collecting additional evidence.

Thanks to Veat's efforts, not only was an indictment by the prosecution achieved, but the court also recognized guilt, and a successful verdict of conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court.

(2) Contents of filing and winning a civil lawsuit accordingly

Accordingly, Veat filed a civil lawsuit requesting damages from Kim due to the leakage and use of trade secrets, and the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, ordering Kim and others to pay damages of 200 million won.

3. Significance of the Verdict

The case has significance not only in itself because it won an appeal against a non-indictment decision, which has a statistically low success rate of less than 10%, but also in that it has led to criminal punishment and civil damages compensation.

We are confident that this was made possible by Veat’s deep understanding of technology, and as a result of this case, Veat pledges to work even harder to protect the core technologies of many SMEs.

Thank you.

Law firm Veat