(1) Any current or former employee of the Korean Intellectual Property Office or the Korean Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board who divulges or pirates confidential information he or she has become aware of regarding an invention claimed in a pending patent (including an invention claimed in a pending international patent application) in the course of performing his or her duties shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than five years, or by a fine not exceeding 50 million won. <Amended on Apr. 20, 2021>
(2) Where any current or former professional examiner divulges confidential information about other persons, which he or she has learned in the course of performing his or her duties, he or she shall be punished by imprisonment with or without labor for up to two years, or by a fine not exceeding 10 million won. <Newly Inserted on Apr. 20, 2021>[This Article Wholly Amended on Jun. 11, 2014]