This photo, taken on April 7, 2020, shows the outdoor signage of LG Electronics Inc. at the company’s headquarters in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean tech giant LG Electronics Co. has been accused of avoiding proper compensation for inventions.
Some 60 current and former LG employee reportedly filed a lawsuit against the company in 2018 for failing to pay for a number of inventions.
Among those inventions include smartphone software that LG sold or transferred to a number of multinational corporations after 2013 without notifying the inventors or compensating them for their inventions.
South Korea’s Invention Promotion Act requires an employer to pay special compensation to an employee who has a patented invention that is transferred to the employer.
The current and former employee found out in 2018 and 2019 that their inventions had been handed over to a different company.
When they asked to be compensated, the company took a passive stance which prompted them to file a lawsuit.
Another standing issue is how poorly LG is addressing the lawsuit. A law firm representing current and former employee claimed that the company has even described the inventions as “trash” during the course of litigation.
The law firm also claimed that the company has also failed to cooperate with the lawsuit, rejecting calls to submit essential documents needed to estimate compensation for the inventions.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
