A court ruled that Samsung SDI should pay about 100 million won (some $83,300) in compensation and delayed damages to a researcher who left the company 20 years ago in the name of contributing to the invention of lithium-ion polymer batteries.
According to legal circles on Aug. 4, the Civil Affairs Agreement Department 63-3 at the Seoul Central District Court ruled partially in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Mr. A, a former employee of Samsung SDI, against the company, asking the company to pay 53.16 million won in compensation and the money for a delay in damages.
From 2000 when Samsung SDI took over the right for the invention from A, the amount to be paid to A is about 100 million won if the delayed damage of an annual 5 percent is added for about 20 years until the ruling is made.
A, who joined Samsung SDI in 1995, took charge of developing lithium-ion polymer batteries and contributed to Samsung SDI's application for two domestic patents.
The technology has been used by Samsung SDI to mass-produce and sell lithium-ion polymer batteries since October 2000.
A, who resigned in July 2000 before Samsung SDI began mass-producing the products, filed a lawsuit in 2017, asking the company to pay job invention compensation for profits earned from the invention.
A claimed that Samsung SDI's total sales of lithium-ion polymer batteries are all profits earned through its invention, and that his contribution to invention is 60 percent, adding that 8.8 billion won in total is appropriate as compensation for job invention.
On the other hand, Samsung SDI responded that the profits earned from the invention were limited to 600 billion won, excluding sales and management costs, from sales of lithium-ion polymer batteries in countries where patents were registered, and that the job invention compensation of 310,000 won was appropriate because A's contribution to the invention was only 1%.
The court ruled in favor of A, saying, "The act of selling lithium-ion polymer batteries in countries where Samsung SDI has not registered patents can also be seen as using inventions, and sales related to this matter are related to inventions."
