KOLMAR Korea Wins Final Ruling in Sunscreen Formula Trade‑Secret Case Against Intercos
Creatrip Team
a month ago
KOLMAR Korea has won a final ruling in a long-running case over alleged theft of its sunscreen formulation and trade secrets. The Supreme Court earlier confirmed the guilt of two former KOLMAR employees who joined Intercos Korea (the local arm of Italy’s ODM firm Intercos) after reportedly taking core UV‑blocking (sunscreen) formulation data and know‑how. In the remand trial, the court found Intercos Korea violated the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act and ordered it, along with one former employee, to reimburse KOLMAR for legal costs totaling 3.12 million won. Sentences for the two employees were previously upheld—suspended prison terms—and Intercos Korea received a fine. The case highlights how crucial formulation ingredients and stabilization techniques are in the functional cosmetics sector, and has renewed calls to strengthen industrial technology protection amid criticism that penalties have been too light.
