Big companies found guilty of stealing technologies of smaller counterparts in South Korea will have to pay up to 10 times in punitive damages, the government said on Monday.

The government and the ruling Democratic Party are seeking to revise the related law to up the punitive fines on technology theft and infringement on intellectual rights of small enterprises to up to 10 times against losses from current three times.

The protection regulation was first introduced in 2011.

The government and the ruling party has also decided to apply the strengthened regulation on compensation for damages to other laws including mutual cooperation law, patent law, unfair competition prevention law, and industrial technology protection law.

Big companies that are suspected of stealing technology from smaller enterprises will be required to prove otherwise. Currently, only the victims had to prove their rights have been infringed.

Woo Won-shik, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party, said technology theft not only hurts to the patented company but also undermines the economy in the age of fourth industrial revolution.

To ensure multiple protections against theft, small and mid-sized ventures do not have to share documented details and files of their patented technologies with bigger suppliers when signing a deal and also can demand confidentiality agreements.

By Yoon Won-sup and Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]