Company Accused of Leaking 'Samsung Curved Edge Technology' Found Guilty in Second Trial

The corporation Toptec and its employees, who were prosecuted for selling Samsung Display's edge panel technology?which implements curved corners on mobile phone screens?to China, were all found guilty in the second trial. This overturned the unanimous not guilty verdict from the first trial.

On the 8th, the Criminal Division 2-3 of Suwon High Court (Presiding Judges Lee Sang-ho, Wang Jeong-ok, Kim Gwan-yong) sentenced former Toptec CEO Mr. A to three years in prison for violating the Industrial Technology Protection Act and other charges. Three executives were sentenced to two years in prison, and three employees received one-year prison sentences. Two other employees who were also prosecuted were fined 10 million won each. Under the joint penalty provision, two companies including Toptec were each fined 100 million won.

The appellate court stated, "Contrary to the first trial's judgment, this technology qualifies as 'advanced technology' as announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and thus cannot be considered public information," adding, "The defendants had an obligation to maintain trade secrets by contract or tacit agreement but disclosed them to Chinese companies."

They were prosecuted on charges of leaking industrial technology and trade secret materials related to flexible OLED edge panel 3D lamination, which they received from Samsung in April 2018, to company B that they established, and then transferring some of it to two Chinese companies.

Between May and August of the same year, they also produced 24 units of 3D lamination equipment at company B using drawings received from Samsung, exported 16 units to Chinese companies, and attempted to export 8 more units.

The first trial acquitted them, stating, "The information specified as trade secrets in the indictment was either disclosed through patents or known within the same industry, and a significant portion was developed or proposed by Toptec," and "Even if Toptec independently used the information to manufacture and sell equipment, it cannot be considered illegal."

The 3D lamination technology involved in the leak dispute is a smartphone display designed with curved edges, also known as 'edge design,' and is a technology for manufacturing edge panels. Samsung reportedly invested six years, 38 engineers, and 150 billion won in research and development of the related technology.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.