Partial amendments to the "Act on the Prevention of Leakage and Protection of Industrial Technology," passed by the National Assembly on November 13, 2025, were promulgated on December 2, 2025, and will take effect on June 3, 2026 (the "Amendments"). The Amendments are expected to significantly strengthen the protection of industrial technology and related trade secrets in litigation and compliance practice.
As previously explained in our November 2025 legal update (Link), the Amendments (i) expand industrial technology protection to include core strategic technologies in the materials, parts, and equipment sectors (such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and displays); (ii) clarify and expand the court's authority for orders to submit materials in industrial technology litigation, thereby strengthening their effectiveness in infringement litigation; and (iii) extend the scope of confidentiality orders to trade secrets, ensuring broader information security in litigation. These changes are expected to enable more effective prevention of, and legal remedies against, industrial technology infringement.
Strengthened Submission Order Regime
In industrial technology infringement litigation, key evidence of infringement is typically under the control of the alleged infringer, making it challenging for rights holders to meet their evidentiary burden. Under the former submission order regime, the lack of clear procedures and meaningful sanctions for non-compliance meant that such orders were rarely sought or effectively utilized in practice.
The Amendments introduce an in camera review procedure in industrial technology infringement litigation, clarify that a party may not refuse submission solely because the materials constitute industrial technology or trade secrets, and authorize the court—where a party fails to comply with a submission order—to infer the opposing party's factual assertions to be true. Once in effect, these measures are expected to facilitate rights holders' access to technical documents, design drawings, process data, sales records, and similar materials held by alleged infringers, and to encourage more active reliance on in camera review and adverse inference remedies where submission is refused.
Expanded Confidentiality Measures
Previously, confidentiality orders applied only to industrial technology, creating a risk that trade secrets could be disclosed during litigation. The Amendments now extend the scope of confidentiality orders to trade secrets. With this change, even sensitive trade secret information required for proving misappropriation in the course of litigation can now be protected through confidentiality orders.
Following implementation of the Amendments, rights holders are expected to be able to pursue effective relief even where infringement is suspected but evidence is difficult to obtain, by proactively leveraging submission orders and confidentiality orders.
Implications for Businesses
These enhanced measures for rights holders will inevitably increase both the procedural burden and the potential legal exposure for companies facing allegations of industrial technology infringement. Companies should therefore review and, where necessary, reinforce their ongoing compliance systems.
More broadly, Korea is joining other jurisdictions in strengthening protection of critical technologies through expanded legislation and rigorous enforcement. Our firm will continue to closely monitor related legislative developments and policy trends and will provide timely updates on significant issues and their practical implications.
