부정경쟁방지법 제2조 제1호 (카)목이 규정하는 성과물 이용 부정경쟁행위에 관한 연구

Article 2(1)(Ka) [hereinafter, “(Ka)”] of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act [hereinafter, “Unfair Competition Act”] is significant in that it introduced the areas already protected by civil law as Unfair Competition Act, and was created by legislative determination to protect new types of achievements that have been difficult to protect in the rapidly changing modern society despite concerns of overlap or conflict with other intellectual property rights. Recent Korean Supreme Court rulings can be of great significance in that they have faithfully interpreted (Ka)’s independent requirements without taking a strict stance (“special circumstances”) on its controversial relationship with other types of intellectual property or other types of fraud, namely its complementarity. Unlike other intellectual property rights, Unfair Competition Act adopted an “Act Regulation Method” that regulates misappropriation of achievements, so it is necessary to focus on whether it is “against Fair Commercial Practices or Competition Order” which is a key requirement in (ka). In particular, dividing the product labeling and technology sectors into the field and judging whether the requirements are met by considering the characteristics and practices of the corresponding field will reduce concerns of abuse and harmonize with other intellectual property systems. It is expected that the interpretation of the requirements of (Ka) will become richer and more concrete in the future.