Kolmar wins trade secret case against Intercos

South Korea’s leading cosmetics original design manufacturer Kolmar Korea said Wednesday it recently won a lawsuit against Intercos Korea, the Korean subsidiary of Italian cosmetic firm Intercos that was accused of transferring trade secrets of Kolmar’s sun care technology.

On Oct. 18, the Suwon District Court imposed a 5 million won ($3,700) fine on Intercos Korea for violating the trade secret protection law. The ruling was finalized after the company chose not to appeal.

The allegations against Intercos Korea involved recruiting a former Kolmar employee to illegally obtain Kolmar's sunscreen technology. The employee, who worked at the sun care research and development team until 2018, joined Intercos just one week after resignation and is believed to have transferred hundreds of confidential documents via Google Drive.

Since then, Intercos saw a significant increase in sun care product sales. Until 2017, the company had no UV protection product lines.

“Intercos Korea is now proven guilty of misappropriating Kolmar’s sun care technology," a Kolmar official said. "Hopefully, this serves as a warning to prevent similar cases affecting Korean companies with world-class technologies.”