Last year, the Korean courts allowed seizure of 6 patent and 2 trademark rights in the Republic of Korea, to enforce reparation by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the wartime enslavement of Koreans for their workforce. Media reported on October 29 of this year that the Daejeon District Court had served notification in September to MHI to respond or face the sale of said intellectual property to pay the repatriations declared.
If MHI fails to give an acceptable response by November 10, 2020, it will lose these properties as the government tries to gain 100-150 million Won (about US$89k-133k) per victim (or family of a victim) of the slavery imposed by Mitsubishi’s manufacturers leading up to or during World War II, when Japan’s empire included the Korean Peninsula and severe measures to wipe out Korean culture and replace it with a Japanese one.
It hardly bears saying that government-enacted repatriation is a heated and painful issue. The effect of this confiscation of IP on Japanese investment in South Korea (at least for those who are implicated in past crimes) could have far-ranging effects on economic relations and development between the two prominent nations.
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Contact: Taro Yaguchi
Sources
Yonhap News Agency. “韓国地裁 三菱重工に「公示送達」＝資産売却の手続き [Korean district court serves notice to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, meaning procedures to sell assets].” https://jp.yna.co.kr/view/AJP20201029002700882 October 29, 2020. Accessed November 6, 2020.
Header image by 준원 서 from Pixabay.
Article revised on November 9, 2020.
