What is the trade secret & industrial technology leak damages calculator?
This calculator estimates the damages a company can claim when its core technical or business information is leaked and used by a departing employee, a supplier, or a competitor in South Korea. It applies the damage-estimation methods of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act (Article 14-2) and the Industrial Technology Protection Act (Article 22-2). It computes the infringer’s profit, a reasonable royalty, and a development-cost-based value side by side so you can compare the most favorable claim strategy at a glance.
A 2024 amendment (trade secrets) and a 2025 amendment (industrial technology) raised the enhanced (punitive) damages cap for willful infringement from 3x to 5x. Beyond the 5x civil damages, this tool also shows the criminal exposure that almost always runs in parallel with a trade-secret case — Article 18 of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act and Article 36 of the Industrial Technology Protection Act.
Korea-based calculator
This tool is based on Korean Unfair Competition Prevention Act and Industrial Technology Protection Act rules (2026 basis). It is intended for people estimating damages for a trade-secret or technology-leak dispute in Korea. It is a simplified estimate, not legal advice, and it does not replace review by a Korean lawyer, court decisions, prosecution, or expert appraisal of the specific case.
Who this is useful for
- Manufacturers whose drawings, process data, or source code were taken by a former employee
- Ordering companies whose supplier used a recipe or design under an NDA without permission
- Firms and institutions hit by overseas leaks of national core technology or industrial technology
- Legal teams running a criminal complaint and a civil suit in parallel
- Attorneys estimating the claim amount (suit value) and litigation cost in advance
Damage-calculation methods (Unfair Competition Prevention Act Art. 14-2)
The hardest part of a trade-secret case is proving the amount of loss. Korean law therefore lets the court presume the loss from the infringer’s sales, profit, or the royalty that would normally be paid, even when the holder cannot prove its own damage directly. This calculator runs three methods plus a reference indicator.
1. Infringer’s profit presumption (Art. 14-2(2))
The profit the infringer earned is presumed to be the holder’s loss: infringing revenue x operating margin x contribution rate. This is the method used most often in practice, and it is strongest when the infringer’s sales and accounting records can be obtained.
2. Reasonable royalty / license fee (Art. 14-2(3))
A reasonable royalty rate for using the trade secret is applied to the infringing revenue. Even when the other methods are hard to prove, this amount is a guaranteed minimum floor. It suits a holder that licenses its technology rather than manufacturing itself.
3. Development-cost-based value (reference)
The actual R&D or build cost invested in the trade secret, multiplied by the contribution rate. This is not a statutory damage method, but it corroborates the economic value of the secret and the criminal gain amount. It is useful for early-stage or R&D-heavy technology where no sales have yet occurred.
4. Court-assessed reasonable amount (Art. 14-2(5))
When loss clearly occurred but the exact figure is extremely difficult to prove, the court may fix a reasonable amount from the whole record and evidence. This calculator shows the median of the infringer-profit and royalty methods as a reference for that discretionary figure.
Up to 5x enhanced (punitive) damages for willful infringement
If trade-secret or industrial-technology infringement is found to be willful, the court may award up to five times the actual loss. For trade secrets, the cap was raised from 3x to 5x by an amendment in force February 20, 2024 (Art. 14-2(6)); for industrial technology, by an amendment on January 21, 2025 (Art. 22-2(2)). In practice, however, courts rarely grant the full 5x and usually settle around 2x to 3x.
Eight factors the court weighs when setting the multiplier
- Whether the infringer held a dominant position
- Degree of intent / awareness of the risk of harm
- Scale of harm suffered by the holder (or the target institution)
- Economic benefit the infringer gained
- Duration and frequency of the infringement
- Any criminal fine imposed for the infringement
- The infringer’s financial condition
- The infringer’s efforts to remedy the harm
Enhanced damages apply only to willful infringement, not to negligence or gross negligence. Sending a warning letter or certified mail (내용증명) to notify the infringer is therefore a key strategy: it preserves proof of willfulness and strengthens the enhanced-damages claim.
Parallel criminal punishment — Art. 18 and Art. 36
Trade-secret and technology-leak cases usually involve criminal punishment alongside civil damages, because a prosecutor’s search and seizure can secure leak evidence that is hard to obtain in a civil suit. This calculator shows the expected sentence based on the track (trade secret or industrial technology), whether the leak was overseas, and whether national core technology was involved.
Criminal punishment by type (2026)
- • Trade secret, overseas leak: up to 15 years imprisonment or up to KRW 1.5 billion fine (Art. 18(1))
- • Trade secret, domestic: up to 10 years imprisonment or up to KRW 500 million fine (Art. 18(2))
- • National core technology, overseas: 3+ years imprisonment plus up to KRW 6.5 billion fine (Art. 36(1))
- • Industrial technology, overseas: up to 15 years imprisonment or up to KRW 3 billion fine (Art. 36(2))
- • Industrial technology, domestic: up to 10 years imprisonment or up to KRW 1 billion fine (Art. 36(3))
For trade secrets there is a special fine rule: if ten times the gain from the violation exceeds the fine cap (KRW 1.5 billion overseas / KRW 500 million domestic), the fine is set at two to ten times the gain. For industrial technology, criminal proceeds are confiscated or collected, and attempted overseas leaks are also punishable.
Three requirements of a trade secret
To claim damages, the information must first qualify as a “trade secret.” Article 2(2) of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act requires all three of the following.
- Non-public: not publicly known and not generally obtainable
- Economic value: has independent economic value (actual or potential business value)
- Secret management: kept secret through reasonable efforts — access control, confidentiality agreements, document marking
The requirement most often disputed in practice is secret management. Without access control, confidentiality agreements, “confidential” document marking, and export control, the information may fail to be recognized as a trade secret, so maintaining a management system in advance is essential.
Limitation period and litigation cost
A damages claim must be brought within three years of learning of both the loss and the wrongdoer, and within ten years of the infringing act (Civil Act Art. 766). Litigation cost consists of the court stamp fee (Stamp Act Art. 2), service fee, attorney fees, and appraisal fees; trade-secret cases in particular incur substantial technical, accounting, and digital-forensic appraisal costs. Because a winning party can shift much of the stamp and service fees to the losing side, the net recovery can be higher than shown.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Can I really recover five times the loss?
A. Five times is only the statutory cap. The court sets the multiplier from eight factors, and in practice awards usually land around 2x to 3x.
Q. What if I do not know the infringer’s sales?
A. Use the reasonable-royalty method and the development-cost value. In litigation you can seek a document production order or fact inquiry to obtain the sales figures, while defending the claim amount with the guaranteed minimum until then.
Q. Should I file the civil suit or the criminal complaint first?
A. In practice a criminal complaint is often filed first or in parallel, because search-and-seizure evidence makes the civil case much easier to prove.
Q. Can I use this result directly in court?
A. This is a reference tool for estimating a range. The actual amount depends on the manner of infringement, evidence, and expert appraisal, so confirm the claim figure with a Korean lawyer.