Samsung Ordered to Pay Inventor W6 Billion (US$5.5m)

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/11/30/2012113001163.html

  • A court has ordered Samsung Electronics to pay a former employee W6 billion (~US$5.5m) in compensation for patented technologies he invented while working for the electronics giant
  • The former worker, identified only by his surname Chung, filed the lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court in 2010, seeking a total of W18.5 billion (~US$17m) in compensation.
  • He worked there until 1995 and developed image-compression technologies for high-definition TVs. His inventions led to 10 local patents and 28 overseas patents…
  • Samsung made W62.56 billion (~US$57m) in profit from 2000 to 2007 from Chung’s patents,
  • Legal experts hope the landmark ruling will have a positive effect on spurring innovation at Korean companies. “There are cases where companies do not inform their staff about the rewards they are entitled to for new inventions,” said one patent attorney.

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