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Lee & Ko held a seminar on the “Analysis of Key Competition Law Precedent” focusing on key Korean competition law court precedent from the second half of 2022 to the first half of 2023. Lee & Ko’s experienced competition law attorneys analyzed key court case law and its legal and practical implications for companies and related industries. 

In Session 1, Mr. Byong Ki Chung presented collusion cases such as the alternator collusion and currency swap bid rigging cases, discussing issues such as the Supreme Court’s attitude towards the scope of bid rigging and whether the timing of leniency applications to foreign competition law authorities is considered the cessation of the illegal conduct, among others.

In Session 2, Lee & Ko lawyer presented abuse of dominance and unfair trade practices precedent including cases on the abuse of SEPs in the telecommunications market, the tying of sales of patent licenses and engineering services for LNG carriers and self-preferencing by an online platform, and examined issues such as the Supreme Court’s position on the legitimate exercise of patent rights and the application of competition law and the unreasonableness of restrictive trade practices, among others.

In Session 3, former High Court Judge, Ms. Su Jin Jung, presented precedent involving unfair inter-affiliate support and benefits, discussing important precedent from the Supreme Court and Seoul High Court on whether indirect transactions through 3rd parties constitutes unfair inter-affiliate support and the provision of unfair advantages, among others. 

In Session 4, former Korea Fair Trade Commission official, Ms. Ju Eun Shim, presented cases on subcontracting and other laws such as the Supreme Court’s decision on the scope of damages for providing false and exaggerated information on the rate of profitability for franchise businesses and examined the criteria for determining the misappropriation of technology and methods for calculating penalties under subcontracting laws.

On November 15, 2022, Lee & Ko held an online seminar on the ‘Analysis of Key Competition Law Court Precedent from the Second Half of 2021 and the First Half of 2022.’

During the online seminar, experienced attorneys specializing in competition law analyzed the implication of key competition law court precedent during three sessions. 

In the first session, Mr. Byong Ki Chung discussed ‘Key Court Precedent in Collusion,’ where he presented five major cases including the 2014 Korean Medical Association Strike, the Korean Pediatricians Association Moonlight Children’s Hospital and Animal Feed collusion cases and on two other cases involving shareholder derivative litigation. Mr. Chung examined the topics of anti-competitiveness of group action in the medical services market, the criteria for deciding whether actions by business associations are prohibited, prior to the revision of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (“MRFTA”), whether the exchange of information between competitors could be permissible prior to the revision of the MRFTA, shareholder derivative litigation for collusion (involving the CEO), the criteria for determining the liability of management (including outside directors) for compensatory damages and the need for establishing internal compliance controls.

In the second session, Ms. Miji Lee discussed ‘Key Court Precedent in Unfair Trade Cases’ examining the Supreme Court’s first ruling on corporations providing unreasonable benefits to special parties (family members of conglomerate owners), and future enforcement trends and precautionary measures for practitioners.  

In the third session, Lee & Ko lawyer discussed ‘Further Key Court Precedent’ providing an analysis on the Supreme Court’s first ruling on exclusions for the application of the ‘Act on Fair Transactions in Large Retail Business’ and examined in detail the criteria for determining whether there is a superior bargaining position. Ms. Han then presented on the ‘Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising Act,’ explaining the criteria for judging false advertising for ads involving discounts and the meaning of the Supreme Court precedent on the exclusion period.

Lee & Ko will hold its Antitrust and Competition Group’s Webinar Series every Thursday from June 10th for a total of 10 sessions.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (“MRFTA”). Many changes are expected this year in the field of Antitrust and Competition, such as the implementation of the Amended MRFTA. 

In light of this, the Antitrust and Competition Group in Lee & Ko organized an opportunity to introduce key issues that can be applied directly to the practice, including the latest trends such as ‘Regulation on Platforms’.

Lee & Ko’s Antitrust and Competition Group head Hwan Jeong stated, “This year, the trend in competition law enforcement is changing and the civil and criminal fields related to the competition law are expected to be vitalized.” Moreover, “the topics of these webinars are all applicable to all corporate workplaces, so we expect that they will be very informative.”