South Korea launches unfair competition committee to manage IP disputes
23 April 2026
The Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) has announced the launch of the “Unfair Competition Prevention Act Improvement Committee,” convening its inaugural meeting on the same day.
The committee comprises 10 private-sector intellectual property experts drawn from academia, the legal profession and industry. About 20 participants, including KIPO deputy commissioner Yeon-woo Jung and committee members, attended the launch.
During its first session, the committee reviewed recent developments and key issues surrounding the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, alongside major international approaches to unfair competition and trade secret protection.
KIPO initiated the committee in response to a growing number of IP disputes that are increasingly difficult to address under the current legal framework, particularly in the context of rapid digital transformation and the rise of artificial intelligence. Persistent concerns have been raised about the law’s ability to keep pace with emerging forms of infringement, such as AI-generated digital personas replicating celebrities’ likenesses and voices, unauthorized distillation of AI models, and the extraction of training data without consent.
At present, the Unfair Competition Prevention Act combines the regulation of unfair competition practices and the protection of trade secrets – two areas with distinct objectives – within a single statute. Stakeholders have called for a review to improve clarity, enhance public understanding and strengthen legal predictability.
Moving forward, the committee will assess gaps in the existing framework and develop a blueprint for a modernized IP protection regime that reflects evolving technological and market realities. Key focus areas include evaluating the structural adequacy of the current law, identifying new domains requiring protection in digital, platform and AI environments, and exploring measures to improve enforcement and predictability in industrial contexts.
“In the AI era, national competitiveness depends on how effectively we protect and fairly utilize intangible assets such as ideas, data, brands and trade secrets,” said Jung.
- Excel V. Dyquiangco
