Former KT&G Researcher Sues Company for Unpaid Invention Bonus

According to N.News, a former researcher at South Korean tobacco company KT&G has filed a lawsuit against the company, demanding payment for a development bonus for a job invention. The researcher claims to have invented the world's first rolled cigarette type e-cigarette technology but did not receive proper compensation. The first trial of this civil litigation case will be held on the 17th, and the amount of the lawsuit may increase to tens of billions of Korean won during the trial process.

According to reports, in 2005, the employee began researching and developing a heated tobacco product e-cigarette while working as a researcher at KT&G. In July of that year, he submitted a patent for the heating element. However, further research was terminated, with the employee claiming that his proposal was not adopted by the company. He left the company in 2010 due to restructuring, stating that KT&G inherited his invention but did not obtain permission for many of the technologies, despite applying for some technical patents.

In April of this year, the employee filed a lawsuit with the court, claiming to be the original developer of the "heating-type e-cigarette" and seeking compensation. KT&G had only paid a prepayment of 20 million Korean won (14,000 USD) from March 2021 to March 2022, along with a monthly technology consultant salary of 6.25 million Korean won (4,600 USD). The requested compensation amount is based on the loss incurred by the employee due to their technology not being patented overseas. He pointed out, "Since KT&G failed to obtain patents overseas, other global companies have been launching heating-type e-cigarettes in Korea since 2017 and profiting from it.

KT&G responded by stating that they have already compensated the employee appropriately and pointed out that these patents are not being utilized in the products currently being manufactured. They also mentioned that products sold by other international companies do not use the related technology.

However, the employee's claim amount has set a new record for the highest civil claim amount ever filed domestically. The initial lawsuit amount is 100 billion Korean won ($73.53 million), and the court service fees alone have already surpassed 300 million Korean won ($220,000).

The employee plans to increase the claim amount to several trillion Korean won based on the progress of the lawsuit. If it is increased to 2.8 trillion Korean won (2 billion US dollars), it will reach 30% of the company's equity. However, it is not ruled out that the court may resolve the dispute through mediation without a final judgment.

If mediation is unsuccessful, the court may issue a mediation decision by force through its authority.