영업비밀과 근로자의 경업금지

Abstract

Trade secret means any technical or operational information useful any production and sale methods and other business activities, which is not known to public, has an independent economic value, and has been maintained in secret by considerable effort. The employee obtains the trade secret in the course of employment. and if employee discloses the obtained trade secret to the outside world, the company faces the fatal trouble in management. If the employee violate the Unfair Competition Prevention and Protection of Trade secret Act. However companies should not forbid illegally their employees from transferring to another company, prohibit them of competitives transaction, or force them to make a secret oath. The trade secret should be interpreted in detail to protect the employee human rights. Also courts more clearly employee's duty of non-competition boundary or prohibited business model. Furthermore, we need to discuss the likelihood that protecting trade secret may interfere with the constitution-guaranteed basic rights such as the freedom to choose an occupation and the right to know. Finally, it discusses the issue of what happens when the protection of trade secret conflicts with fundamental human rights and proposes an approach to avoiding such conflict.