Photo = Samsung Electronics

[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Jisun] A US court has reprimanded a former Samsung Electronics executive who filed a patent lawsuit against the company, accusing him of illegally leaking company secrets for use in the lawsuit.

According to industry sources on the 24th, the US Eastern District Court of Texas dismissed a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Synergy IP, a patent agent company founded by former Samsung executive vice president An Seung-ho, and patent holder Statin Takyia LCC against Samsung Electronics related to wireless earphones and voice recognition technology.

According to the ruling released on the same day, the court determined that An and Jo, the former senior vice president, filed the lawsuit through "serious illegal acts" and "unfair means."

The ruling explicitly stated their illegal actions as "dishonest, unfair, deceitful, and abhorrent" and mentioned that "they used Samsung's confidential information, causing irreparable damage to Samsung."

An, an engineer-turned-American lawyer, retired in 2019 and founded Synergy IP in 2020. The following year, in 2021, he filed a patent lawsuit against Samsung.

The court concluded that An and others illegally stole Samsung's confidential information to file the patent lawsuit. According to the ruling, they conspired with a former Samsung patent official to steal important confidential information related to Takyia before and after the lawsuit.

The court found that An's use of Samsung's internal confidential information to advance the lawsuit violated his duty of loyalty to Samsung as a lawyer and infringed on the privileges of lawyer and client. It also pointed out that An and Jo received benefits from studying in the US during their time at Samsung Electronics, gaining qualifications as US lawyers.

According to the ruling, there were also attempts at perjury and evidence tampering, such as denying facts obtained through illegal means during testimony, installing anti-forensic apps, and attempting to coordinate testimonies.

 

 

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