Former Samsung Electronics Vice President Ahn Seung-ho, who headed the company's Intellectual Property (IP) Center, has been sentenced to three years in prison and taken into custody during his appeals trial for leaking internal Samsung materials and using them in a U.S. patent infringement lawsuit.

The 3rd Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Lee Seung-han) sentenced Ahn to three years in prison, the same as the first instance, on charges including the leakage of trade secrets under the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act.

The court revoked Ahn's bail and ordered him to be taken into custody.

Previously, the first-instance court sentenced him to a prison term while allowing him to remain out on bail.

As in the first trial, the court rejected Ahn's claim that he had no intent to leak trade secrets.

Dismissing the appeals filed by both Ahn and the prosecution, the court stated, "There are no circumstances to change the sentencing following the original judgment, and the original sentence cannot be deemed to have exceeded a reasonable scope."

Lee, a former head of the filing group at Samsung Display who was tried alongside Ahn, was sentenced to four years in prison and an additional forfeiture of approximately 530 million won.

Another individual surnamed Lee, a former employee of Samsung Electronics' IP Center charged with leaking internal materials to Ahn, was sentenced to three years in prison.

Both individuals received heavier sentences than in the first trial and, unlike the initial ruling, were taken into custody in court.

The court pointed out, "There is a need to send a strong social warning against betrayal actions that inflict damage on one's own company for private gain," adding, "From the first trial through the appeal, they have consistently made unconvincing excuses and shown no remorse."

Taking into account factors such as the failure to sufficiently restore the damage caused to the victims for both individuals, the court accepted the prosecution's argument that the initial sentences were unduly lenient.

Ahn, who oversaw patent operations at Samsung Electronics for nine years, left the company in 2019 to establish a non-practicing entity (NPE) and was put on trial on charges of conspiring with internal Samsung employees to steal critical confidential data.

Using the leaked confidential data, Ahn and audio equipment maker Tek야 (Tekia) filed a patent infringement lawsuit in 2021, claiming that Samsung Electronics had unauthorizedly used Tek야's audio recording device patents and other technologies.

In May 2024, a U.S. court dismissed the lawsuit filed by Tek야 and others, ruling that initiating the litigation by exploiting internal Samsung secrets was improper.

Earlier, the first-instance court ruled all related charges guilty, determining that documents such as Samsung Electronics' pending issue reports concerning Tek야, which Ahn had leaked, constituted trade secrets.

(Photo: Yonhap News)