– Korean courts order Intercos Korea to bear full legal costs, affirming both civil and criminal liability
SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Kolmar Korea has secured a decisive legal victory in a long-running dispute over the illegal leakage of proprietary sun care technologies involving Intercos Korea, the Korean subsidiary of Italian cosmetics ODM company Intercos. Following the Supreme Court’s final guilty ruling, the courts have further ordered the losing party to bear the full cost of litigation, underscoring the seriousness of technology misappropriation and the accompanying legal responsibility.
Kolmar Korea recovered a total of KRW 31.2 million in legal costs from Intercos Korea and a former employee, representing the full amount of civil litigation expenses actually incurred in connection with the case.
The dispute originated when a former Kolmar Korea employee, identified as A, who had worked at the company for approximately 10 years, transferred to Intercos Korea in 2018 and unlawfully removed multiple core research and development materials, including proprietary sunscreen formulation data and new product development information. Investigations later revealed that another former employee, B, who also joined Intercos Korea around the same time, participated in the leakage of trade secrets.
In January 2024, the Supreme Court of Korea finalized guilty verdicts against both former employees. Subsequently, in October 2024, the Suwon District Court ruled that Intercos Korea had violated the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, imposing a fine of KRW 5 million.
A Kolmar Korea spokesperson commented, “This ruling represents the firm application of our principle that technology leakage must be held accountable to the very end. We will continue to take all necessary measures to protect our core technologies and R&D assets.”
Kolmar Korea is widely recognized for its world-class sun care research and development capabilities. In 2022, the company established a dedicated research organization, the UV Tech Innovation Lab, and currently holds more than 100 patents related to UV protection technologies. Last year, Kolmar Korea developed the world’s first stabilization technology for a hybrid composite sunscreen that combines mineral and chemical UV filters. The company has also been a pioneer in global sun care markets, having become the first company in Korea to obtain U.S. FDA OTC certification for sunscreen products in 2013.
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