Samsung Bio 'National Core Technology Leak' Former Employee Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison

[Financial News]  A former employee in his 40s who illegally leaked internal data of Samsung BioLogics containing national core technology to the outside was arrested in court.

According to the legal community on the 11th, Judge Hong Jun-seo of the Incheon District Court's Criminal Division 5 sentenced former Samsung Bio employee A (46), who was indicted without detention for charges including violation of the Act on Prevention and Protection of Industrial Technology Leaks, to 3 years in prison and arrested him in court.

A was indicted for leaking 175 trade secrets of Samsung Bio, including standard operating procedures (SOP) amounting to over 3700 sheets of A4 paper, to the outside for ten days from early December 2022.

On the 13th of the same month, around 7 PM, he was caught trying to secretly take out 38 trade secrets amounting to about 300 sheets of A4 paper from Samsung Bio's headquarters in Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, and was handed over to the police after being caught red-handed by a security guard. It is known that the materials A tried to take out included two types of national core technologies, such as IT (Information Technology) SOP and materials analyzing guidelines from regulatory agencies of various countries.

The IT SOP is known to be a standardization document for processes for mass production of biopharmaceuticals, containing core technologies for maintaining and improving the quality competitiveness of Samsung Bio's cultivation and purification processes.

Previously, the prosecution sought a 5-year prison sentence for A at the sentencing hearing held last month.

Judge Hong stated, "The defendant committed the crime of leaking or attempting to steal the industrial technology and trade secrets of the victim company. The amount stolen is large, and (the materials) include national core technologies in the biotechnology field, so a prison sentence is inevitable," explaining the reason for the sentencing.

Regarding this ruling, Samsung Bio stated, "The technology and know-how accumulated by countless employees over more than 10 years are an important competitive edge and asset of the company," and "We will continue to respond strongly to acts of leaking or infringing on trade secrets and national core technologies."

An industry insider in the bio sector said, "This ruling is a case where charges of trade secret leakage were recognized in the pharmaceutical and bio industry following advanced industries such as semiconductors and displays," and "The court's trend of strictly punishing technology leakage crimes is expected to affect future trials of similar cases."


y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter