Unauthorized distribution of illegal copy software, criminal punishment from March

2020-01-20 19:11:13

Software piracy has increased from 3448 in 2016 to 13,579 in 2018, raising the voice of protection.

As part of this, from March of this year, if you sell software that exploits the patent invention of others, you will be punished for patent infringement.

SW was not included in the object of protection under patent law, so it was protected by patent only when it was distributed offline in recording media such as USB.

Since 2005, the KIPO has revised the patent law to prevent unauthorized distribution of software containing patent inventions online. From the new year, penalties will be imposed for unauthorized distribution of software.

The revised law punishes sellers who illegally distribute SW even though they know that they infringe patents.

Personal use or good use at home is not an infringement.

The Office of Intellectual Property Office has sought to reasonably protect SW, which is regarded as a core technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analysis, and mentioned strengthening of technology protection for startups and SMEs.

Piracy software is one of the most vulnerable targets. According to the data of the state of illegal piracy detection published by Democratic Party's Kim Young-joo from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Copyright Protection Service, 139 public institutions have been caught for the past six years.

Agencies, municipalities and related agencies were included.

Cho, Sun-sun, attorney at YK Corporate Law Group, said, “At the beginning of the 4th Industrial Revolution, voices for patent infringement punishment and protection against software piracy are rising.

Since software is used in various fields such as cars and kiosks as well as computers, it is necessary to be careful about the damage caused by indiscriminate piracy and to respond appropriately through law firms and lawyers when piracy and distribution are recognized.

Companies and public institutions need to educate and raise awareness of the use of pirated software. ”