South Korea’s Strategy for Reinforcing Protection of Corporate Trade Secrets-Trade Secret Protection Center

Preface

In order to increase the strength of addressing issues on the infringement of intellectual property for small and medium enterprises, Korean government launched Consultative Committee for Intellectual Property Policies, leading by Presidential Council on Intellectual property and conducting with Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korean Intellectual Property Office and Ministry of Justice, to discuss how to reinforce efficiency on handling infringement of intellecual property and work on policy for intellectual property protection.

Korean government has considered trade secret as the core of corporations; however, corporations think little of it. For this reason, Korea Institute of Patent Information’s Trade Secret Protection Section, in charge of the Trade Secret Protection Center, works to avoid the outflow of business skills and trade secrets, to improve trade secret protection system, to raise awareness of trade secret protection and develops South Korea as an intellectual property power. This article aims to briefly introduce the standard management system, the diagnosis of corporate trade secret and the Trade Secret Certification Service which are schemed out by the Trade Secret Protection Center.

Explanation on Major Strategies

Trade Secret Diagnosis & Standard Management System

In an attempt to offer a diagnosis of current problems about trade secret management in corporations for drawing up suggestions for improvements, the Trade Secret Protection Center sets up a series of questions based on the five categories: organization policy management, document access management, staff management, physical management and information technology management. There are in total 32 questions with detailed sub-questions for knowing if corporations have set up regulations and if the regulations are followed; if the regulations are not followed, if they have strategy to tackle with violation. For example, the question for internet management is to examine on how corporation manages intranet and extranet. Some possible policies are to make them separated, to do authority control or to do nothing. Here is the procedure for diagnosis:

1.Preparation
Employees are asked to gather information regarding trade secret management and improvement opinions by a questionnaire.

2.Diagnosis
Get the result of how well corporation has done for trade secret management by analyzing the questionnaires.

3.Plan
Come up with solutions according to diagnosis.

4.Action
Provide suggestions with different levels of work.

Level

Description

A
(above 81 point, Excellent)

Well-formed trade secret management and great operation

B
(71-80 point, Good)

Limited strategy with law protection for trade secret outflow

C
(61-70 point, Average)

Weak strategy with a lack of law protection for trade secret outflow, management needed

D
(41-60 point, Fair )

Poor law protection for trade secret outflow, management needed badly

F
(below 40 point, Poor)

High Risk of trade secret outflow

The Trade Secret Protection Center will examine and offer staff training periodically in an effort to improve following aspects:

1.Corporation Management
(1)Avoid crucial information outflow
(2)Systemize issue handling and information authentication process

2.Organization Culture
(1)Convey the importance of information protection
(2)Decrease the incoordination among departments due to protecting key
information
(3)Build trade secret protection culture

3.Staff
(1)Provide long-term training for trade secret protection
(2)Build up ability of trade secret protection

The trade secret diagnosis is considered as a way to make trade secret the key intangible asset in corporations and even to increase the competitiveness and to create profits.

In addition to the trade secret diagnosis, the Trade Secret Protection Center further provides immature business with the standard management system which contains services with trade secret registration, level distinguishments, authority control, staff management, contract management and certification service. The primary goal of the standard management system is to help with production and maintenance of trade secret certification before issue occurs. When issue happens, the system is right here to submit certification of trade secret and guarantee to the court that nobody can access trade secrets except the possessor of the trade secret and the institution. In other words, the system is intended for following goals:

1.Efficientize Trade Secret Management
Save time, money and manpower. Manage trade secret and related information efficiently.

2.Raise Awareness of Trade Secret Protection Among Employees
Strengthen awareness and application of trade secret protection by using this system as daily work process

3.Link to the Trade Secret Certification Service
Prove the original document of trade secret with the time stamp of ownership for judicial evidences.

4.Link to Information Security Solution
Cooperate with various information security solutions, such as trade secret control and outflow block.

Trade Secret Certification Service

The Trade Secret Certification Service which is built to link to standard management system is put into practice in 2010 by Korean Intellectual Property Office. This service operates by taking the hash values from trade secret e-documents and combining them with authorized time values from trusted third-parties, thereby creating time stamps. Time stamps are then registered with the Korea Institute of Patent Information to prove the existence of original document of trade secrets, as well as and their initial dates of possession.

A legal basis is built for the Trade Secret Certification Service in 2014. Amendments of Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act indicate registration and proof of the Trade Secret Certification Service and explain that an institution with more than 3 qualified staff and required facilities is eligible to be a Trade Secret Certification Service institution. The Trade Secret Certification Service is characterized by the following properties:

1.Block Trade Secret Outflow Radically
Instead of the trade secret itself, this service only asks for hash value of e-records and the authorized time of ownership which make it more secure for corporations to manage trade secrets rather than maintaining under a third-party.

2.Various Electronic Records Available
Various types of electronic records are available in this service, such as documents, pictures and video files which could contain production process, laboratory notebook, blueprint, marketing records, financial records, selling information and customer information and contracts.

3.Institution with Credibility
It is inevitable that any piece of information could be leaked out; hence trade secret management should be executed by credible institution. For example, corporation can ask the Trade Secret Certification Service Institution to register an original document for a blueprint and get a certification. Then, the corporation can ask for new registration for modified blueprint as well. When issue occurs, the certification would be the proof of original document and time of ownership. As the Trade Secret Certification Service Institution gets legalized, the evidence of original document of trade secrets and initial dates of possession would get more convincible in court.

Conclusion

The trade secret diagnosis plays an essential role in understanding the level of trade secret management in corporations. The standard management system further provides with improvement and solution for trade secret protection based on diagnosis. In addition, legalized Trade Secret Certification Service also levitates the burden of proof on corporation. South Korea’s experience in trade secret management could be a good example for Taiwan to follow.

※South Korea’s Strategy for Reinforcing Protection of Corporate Trade Secrets-Trade Secret Protection Center,STLI, https://stli.iii.org.tw/en/article-detail.aspx?no=55&tp=2&i=171&d=6697 (Date:2025/04/04)
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The Introduction to the Trade Secret Management System Standard

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Taiwan Intellectual Property Survey Report 2023

Taiwan Intellectual Property Survey Report 2023 2024/06/27 Innovation & Intellectual Property Center, Science & Technology Law Institute (STLI), Institute for Information Industry has conducted the survey of “The Intellectual Property Survey Report” to listed companies since 2012. The Intellectual Property Survey Report 2023 on Taiwan's Listed and Over-the-Counter Companies was released in February 2024. Among the 331 publicly listed companies surveyed in 2023, the information technology sector had the largest representation, accounting for 44% (145 companies). This was followed by the manufacturing sector at 27% (90 companies), the pharmaceutical and livelihood sector at 18% (58 companies), and the industrial and commercial services sector at 11% (38 companies). Data source: Innovation & Intellectual Property Center, Science & Technology Law Institute (STLI), Taiwan Intellectual Property Survey Report 2023. Fig. 1 types of industry Based on the survey result, three trends of intellectual property management for Taiwanese enterprises have integrated with detail descriptions as below. Trend 1: Positive Growth in Intellectual Property Awareness and Intellectual Property Dedicated Department/Personnel, Budget and Projects 1. Taiwanese enterprises believe that intellectual property plays an important role More than 70% of companies believe that intellectual property can enhance product/service value, help profitability, and protect research results/core competitiveness. Specifically, 72% believe that intellectual property can enhance product/service value and help profitability, and 78% believe it can protect research results/core competitiveness. Additionally, 65% of companies believe that intellectual property can protect and enhance brand value, and 65% believe it can reduce the likelihood of disputes and infringements with others. Data source: Innovation & Intellectual Property Center, Science & Technology Law Institute (STLI), Taiwan Intellectual Property Survey Report 2023. Fig.2 The benefit of intellectual property for the company 2.Taiwanese enterprises maintain investment in the dedicated department and full time personnel for intellectual property 33% of listed companies set up full time personnel for intellectual property and over 32% of those have established dedicated department to handle its business that is higher than 35% in 2023. Data source: Innovation & Intellectual Property Center, Science & Technology Law Institute (STLI), Taiwan Intellectual Property Survey Report 2023. Fig.3 Department or personnel for intellectual property by year 3. Taiwanese enterprises plan budget for intellectual property each year 79% of enterprises have invested a certain amount of funds this year in acquiring, maintaining, and managing intellectual property. By industry, the information technology and pharmaceutical/livelihood sectors have a higher proportion of investment in related expenses, both exceeding 80% Data source: Innovation & Intellectual Property Center, Science & Technology Law Institute (STLI), Taiwan Intellectual Property Survey Report 2023. Fig. 4 fixed budget for intellectual property each year Trend 2: Taiwanese enterprises are willing to disclose their intellectual property information to the public, which can have a positive impact on the company. 1. Enterprises have a positive attitude towards disclosing intellectual property information. 72% of enterprises believe that disclosing intellectual property helps external parties objectively assess the company's value and competitiveness. This is followed by highlighting brand value (52%) and improving the internal management and control of intellectual property. By industry category, 77% of manufacturing companies believe it helps external parties objectively assess the company's value and competitiveness, which is higher than other industries. In the business services sector, 81% believe it helps highlight brand value, a significantly higher proportion. Data source: Innovation & Intellectual Property Center, Science & Technology Law Institute (STLI), Taiwan Intellectual Property Survey Report 2023. Fig. 5 Benefits of disclosing intellectual property management information for enterprises 2. The main channels for public disclosure are company annual reports, sustainability reports, and intellectual property management plans The proportion of companies disclosing intellectual property plans in annual reports reaches 72%. Additionally, approximately 39% and 38% disclose in sustainability reports or intellectual property management plans, respectively. The proportion disclosed in company marketing and promotional materials is 29%, while the proportion in English-language sustainability reports is 20%. Data source: Innovation & Intellectual Property Center, Science & Technology Law Institute (STLI), Taiwan Intellectual Property Survey Report 2023. Fig. 6 Channels for publicly disclosing corporate intellectual property management information Trend 3: Taiwanese enterprises use various types of intellectual property rights to protect their core competitiveness. 1. Trade secrets are considered crucial by enterprises but are less commonly owned forms of intellectual property Enterprises consider trademark rights, invention patents, utility model patents, and trade secrets to be more important, each with an importance score above 4. Design patents and copyrights are considered somewhat less important, each with an importance score of 3.8. However, there is a gap between the importance and the ownership rates of some types of intellectual property. The importance and ownership rates are consistent for trademarks, with an importance score of 4.5 and an ownership rate of 88%. Patents have an importance score of 4.7 and an ownership rate of 70%. Trade secrets have an importance score of 4.6 and an ownership rate of 49%. Copyrights have an importance score of 3.8 and an ownership rate of 30%. Data source: Innovation & Intellectual Property Center, Science & Technology Law Institute (STLI), Taiwan Intellectual Property Survey Report 2023. Fig. 7 Owned and Importance of Various Intellectual Properties 2. The priority of using intellectual property rights varies across different industries Patents are used to protect important assets by the largest proportion of companies, about 86%. This is followed by trademarks at 77%, trade secrets at 66%, and copyrights at 33%. By industry, the order is consistent in information services, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical/livelihood industries: patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights. In the business services sector, the order is trademarks, trade secrets, patents, and copyrights. Data source: Innovation & Intellectual Property Center, Science & Technology Law Institute (STLI), Taiwan Intellectual Property Survey Report 2023. Fig.8 which type of intellectual property rights do companies use to protect important assets The complete survey report can be accessed in the Taiwan Intellectual Property Management System (TIPS) website. The download link is https://www.tips.org.tw/body.asp?sno=BGCHDC#460

A Survey Study on the Intellectual Property Management amongst Taiwanese Companies

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This was also the first time that such a survey has been envisaged on such a comprehensive scale, covering businesses located around Taiwan with the aim being to produce an in-depth analysis into IP management in various industries including manufacturing, precision machineries, photonics, bio-medicals, info-techs, semiconductors etc. Sixty-five percent of the respondents have less than fifty employees and the overall response rate achieved was 13.1%.1 A continuing need to strengthen IP awareness is required The first section of the questionnaire dealing with IP awareness gauged respondent companies IP knowledge and understanding through a series of questions relating to IP law and practice. When asked whether formal registration was necessary to obtain a range of intellectual property rights (IPRs), over 70% of companies replied with correct answers, namely patents, designs and trademarks. However, through other questions at a more advanced level, the responses revealed a general lack of knowledge in IP law and hence a continuing need to strengthen IP awareness is required. For instance, overall 70% of companies know that obtaining patents will require formal registration, yet surprisingly even of these over 50% incorrectly thought the manners of patent utilization, such as making products, will not result in infringing others IPRs. This result arguably suggests that respondents are in the main unaware that a patent does not give the patent owner the right to exploit the patented invention himself, but rather, he has only the “exclusive right” to stop others from doing so. For another instance, whilst 32% of respondents inaccurately thought that a formal registration is required to obtain copyrights, nonetheless this does not equate to the result being a near 70% of companies have a full and correct knowledge in regard to copyright. When faced with a slightly more obscure question of who would own the copyright in commissioned work (such as website creation) in the absence of a contract, 26% of companies didn’t know and 30% answered incorrectly. On the same token, though only 10% of respondents erroneously believed that trade secrets would require a formal registration, when asked whether the company’s client list may be a trade secret, the number of correct replies (61%) drops sharply when compared to the previous one. Though intended as a question to discriminate at the upper levels of trade secret awareness, the replies are more likely to reflect a lack comprehension of the subject among Taiwanese companies. The important message arise from the overall scales in the first section of the survey is that the need for IP awareness promotion and enhancement amongst companies in Taiwan still exists. Lack of IP expertise is a major barrier In the second section of the questionnaire companies were asked a series of questions which were intended to measure the status quo through the extent of IP management practices. Perhaps one would agree that the issue of perceptions of the importance of IP to a company is greatly linked to how effective it manages them. When asked to indicate reasons as to why IP is important to their business, the replies were rather polarized. The two most popular reasons were “means to differentiate from competitors” (33%) and “to prevent infringement” (30%). The distinction between the two is clearly that the former reason is relatively active and strategic whilst the latter is perceived to be passive and defensive. On the other hand, “to retrieve the cost of R&D” (4%) and “to attract more investors” (5%) are least likely to be seen as the reasons why IP is important to them. The results may suggest that generally speaking, Taiwanese companies tended not to utilize their IP to generate revenues nor correlate them with the business strategies, but rather, see them more of a shield to avoid infringement. Companies were asked what IPRs they own and the most common ones are trademarks (21%) and utility patents (20%), with invention patents (14%) being the third on the rank. In contrast only 2% of respondent companies own copyrights. While such result may be attributed to the overall structure of the industry, it may also link to the observation that most companies not merely lack the comprehension of copyrights but may also not be aware of owning such IPR. Furthermore, it is also surprising to find that 45% of respondents do not own any IPRs. The absence of IPRs within these companies is perhaps a key indication of poor awareness and inactive management of IPRs amongst many Taiwanese companies. To measure the extent of IP management is not easy as the intensity of it differs both by sector and by size. Therefore, the task is achieved through 9 questions designed on the concept of PDCA (plan-do-check-act) process which would allow the respondents to review and find out any inadequacy in their IP management as they proceed. One would expect that those companies with effective IP management would take care to evaluate the various IPRs required at different time intervals. Whilst all of the answer choices are considered to be “important timings”, for example “when planning for new skills/products/business” and “when further investment in IP would enhance defense (such as infringement prevention); yet the results revealed that over 60% of the companies did not perform such evaluation at whatever timing. This may suggest that in general, companies in Taiwan are inadequately concerned with the evaluation process within their management of IP. Such a result may consequently make them ignoring means to prevent infringement (such as checking competitors’ IPRs and prior-art search) or pay attention to regulation updates. Effective IP management indisputably requires certain monetary inputs. Companies were asked whether they have regularly spent on obtaining and maintaining IPRs the firm owns, and remarkably only about 36% of respondents answered this question. In addition the companies were asked about how much they spent on “application fees”2,“incentives offered to inventors”, “spending on HR” and “other expense”. Only a paltry 6% of all respondent companies spent on all the abovementioned categories and mostly up to the amount of NT$100,000 (roughly USD$3300) per each. Linked with the spending on IPRs is perhaps whether companies have designated staff responsible for managing IPRs or have a separate IP department. Again, 70% of respondents replied negatively to this question and only 10% of some larger companies (with over 200 employees) have specific personnel or department designated to assume this responsibility. The results may indicate a general lack of expertise in managing IPRs as a barrier to leveraging full value of them as well as making proper legal decision in the event of IP related disputes Companies were asked how to protect their IPRs through a variety of methods of protection though the majority (over 72%) didn’t implement any of them. The most highly identified method being “protect core skills by patents”, however, only 35% of companies adopted such protection. Furthermore, roughly 76% of the companies did not conduct training in IP issues for employees, and over 75% did not attempt to assess the efficiency of their management of IP. The explanation to the above is conceivably a general lack of IP expertise due to inadequate monetary inputs as well as perceived high costs for IP specialists within the company. The results ultimately reflect an inefficient execution of IP management in the massive Taiwanese companies. Most companies have only limited resources The final aspect of IP management that has been surveyed is the hardships occurred and accordingly the resources sought to solve them. When asked what are the major difficulties in the process of managing IP, the most common answers were “high expenditure on filing and maintenance” (18%), “lack of professional advice” (15%) and “regulatory complexity” (15%). These results are arguably all related to the facts already discussed in the afore-mentioned paragraphs. In general, the survey revealed that most companies have only limited resources and therefore highly demand external aids such as government funding or projects to help soften the hardships and improve their management skills. Accordingly, “unifying resources for enhancing IP management through a mutual platform” (22%) and “facilitate industry peer networks” (21%) being the most popular resources sought. Furthermore, 14% of the respondents indicated their urge to receive “on-site expert assistance”, and a remarkable 90% of the respondents have never been aware of the TIPS (Taiwan Intellectual Property Management System) project, which is one initiated by the government to help companies set up a systematic IP management system. As a result, efforts to promote the TIPS project should be further devoted as the initial step to assist companies strengthen their IP awareness and management skills. Conclusion The results of the survey present the status quo of IP management amongst the companies in Taiwan which is proportionally consistent with their IP awareness as well as hardships and resources sought. The present study shows what one might expect, that is larger companies tend to be more IP aware and have greater resources to manage their IPRs, whilst the rest of others (especially SMEs) are in the main inadequately aware of IP, which is crucial to enhance active IP management within and throughout their firms. While various resources are highly demanded, perhaps the government should firstly take steps to promote that awareness within and throughout their organizations. Linked with this is the second important point which is that further promotion of the TIPS project should be aimed at not only enhancing IP awareness but also assisting companies to better manage their IPRs. IP management is essential to preserve IP created by companies and the TIPS system would enable companies to foster and strengthen key aspects of IP management such as conduct training in IP issues for employees, evaluate various IPRs required, etc. Some of the complementary measures as such expert consultations and TIPS networks or seminars would also help to alleviate some of the hardships encountered in the process of managing IP. On the other hand, like the “Survey on Business Attitudes to Intellectual Property” being conducted yearly in Hong Kong since year 2004, it is suggested that the present survey research or the alike to be continually carried out to assist promoting IP awareness within Taiwan industry. Finally, we would like to thank everyone who contributed to this survey research and hope that it provides valuable insight into the goals originally proposed. 1.The survey resulted in 157 replies from which 26 of them were nullified by false or incomplete answers. 2.Application fees” include fees occurred from exploring inventions up to application and maintenance, which also include attorney fees.

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