아이디어 탈취 금지에 대한 부정경쟁방지법의 의미와 한계

Meaning and Limitations of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act for the Prohibition of Illegal Use of Ideas

In July, the “Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act” (the “Unfair Competition Prevention Act”), which prohibits cheating of ideas, has been implemented. In the Article 2 (1) of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, illegal use of ideas was included as a new type of unfair competition practice, so the unfair competition law provides for the protection of ideas or technology deception that were difficult to protect through the Unfair Competition Prevention Act in the past. This led to the legislative outcome of amendment of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act to protect small business and venture businesses from unfair competition and to foster industry. However, it is controversial that the area of protection of “ideas” that are difficult to be protected by the intellectual property right system. With prohibited Unfair competition would not be ultimately the industry fostered. Because it is up to the policy decision to decide what kind of industries to be grown. Intellectual property deserves protection, but it does not necessarily protect all knowledge. Excessive protection can be another unfair competition, which can shrink the industry. Attention to the protection of ideas and expanding the scope of application will be caused another unfair competition that restricts free competition. In the end, it is necessary to consider the purpose and scope of a patent law or a trade secret when protecting ideas that are not subject to the protection of ideas, patent requirements, or trade secrets in the public domain. The specific requirements of this clause should be specified through future judgments.