Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is again on the defensive trying to avoid loss of multiple patents and trademarks in the Republic of Korea (South Korea), against victims of MHI’s forced labor up to 1945 Korean Daejeon District Court approved seizure of an additional four MHI Korean patents. The total seizure inventory is now ten patents and two trademarks.

MHI been engaged in a fight for its intellectual property in the Republic of Korea (ROK; South Korea) for years now, and in spite of recent promising signs of further reconciliation between ROK and Japan, the courts are siding with Korean plaintiffs, victims of MHI’s forced labor up to 1945, and against Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Japan asserts that all claims over such forced labor have been settled with the Korean government since 1965, but citizens of the ROK with grievances have been reluctant to let go. ROK President Moon even voiced willingness to have Korean corporations help cover damages that have been awarded to the victims or relatives of victims of MHI’s colonial era labor practices–but of course, the court approval sits better with some Koreans. The total damages the Korean courts want to give the plaintiffs is valued at US$ 521,000. MHI has not commented on the developments.[1]

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Source

[1] Jon Herskovitz and Shinhye Kang. “South Korean Court Ups Mitsubishi Patent Seizures in Labor Case.” Bloomberg. April 6, 2023. Accessed April 20, 2023.

Header image (Expo Bridge in Daejeon, South Korea) by 준원 서 from Pixabay