SEOUL, October 27 (AJP) - A South Korean appeals court on Wednesday upheld a three-year prison sentence for a former Samsung Electronics executive convicted of leaking company secrets to support a patent lawsuit against his former employer.
Ahn Seung-ho, who oversaw Samsung's patent operations for nine years before leaving in 2019, was taken into custody after the Seoul High Court upheld his conviction for violating trade secret protection laws.
After leaving Samsung, Ahn established a patent management firm and was accused of conspiring with a company insider to obtain confidential documents for use in a U.S. patent infringement lawsuit against the tech giant.
In 2021, Ahn and audio technology firm Tekiya sued Samsung in the United States, alleging infringement of patents related to audio recording technology. A U.S. court dismissed the lawsuit in May 2024, finding that the use of Samsung's confidential information in bringing the case was improper.
The Seoul High Court rejected Ahn's claim that he had not intentionally disclosed trade secrets, finding no grounds to overturn the lower court's three-year sentence. Unlike the first trial, when Ahn remained free on bail despite receiving a prison term, the appeals court revoked his bail and ordered his immediate detention.
Two former Samsung employees involved in the case received heavier sentences on appeal. A former Samsung Display patent filing manager was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to forfeit about 530 million won ($400,000), while a former Samsung Electronics intellectual property employee accused of leaking documents to Ahn received a three-year term.
Both were taken into custody.
The court said tougher punishment was warranted for conduct that betrayed an employer for personal gain, noting that the two defendants had failed to adequately compensate for the damage caused.
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