영업비밀로서의 직무발명

A Study on Employee Invention System as a Trade Secret

To be protected as a trade secret on Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Law, a trade secret should be useful information, which is not known to the public, has an independent economic value, and has been maintained in secret by considerable effort. On the other hand, Employee Invention System has some problems in using employee invention as a Trade Secret, because the system balances employee's interests and employer's assuming application for a patent required to disclosure to the public. This paper examines these problems from the viewpoint of an employer who uses the employee invention as a Trade Secret.