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South Korea’s Top Court Orders Ironmace to Pay Nexon 5.76 Billion Won for Trade-Secret Misuse

The ruling underscores stronger protection for confidential game development work in Korea’s gaming industry.

Overview

  • The Supreme Court finalized a judgment that requires Ironmace to pay Nexon 5.76 billion won, or about $3.87 million, in damages.
  • Justices upheld findings that Ironmace acquired and used Nexon’s trade secrets, while rejecting Nexon’s separate copyright claim.
  • The case stemmed from Nexon’s allegation that former staff took source code and data from its in‑development P3 project to help create Dark and Darker.
  • Lower courts first set damages at 8.5 billion won and then reduced the award on appeal to 5.76 billion won, which the top court left in place.
  • Nexon welcomed the outcome in a statement that framed the decision as a rebuke of profiting from another company’s assets.