Fair Trade Commission: Lucentblock materials 'hard to classify as technology'

NXT Consortium freed from conditional preliminary license restriction

Market launch targeted for fourth quarter

Nextrade's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. [Yonhap]
Nextrade's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. [Yonhap]

The Korea Fair Trade Commission has cleared Nextrade (NXT) of allegations that it stole technology from a startup, allowing the NXT Consortium — which holds a preliminary license for a fractional-investment over-the-counter exchange — to accelerate its bid for a full operating license.

Nextrade said Thursday that the Fair Trade Commission notified the company June 2 that it found no evidence NXT had used technology belonging to Lucentblock or taken any action to interfere with Lucentblock's business operations.

The case began in January, when Lucentblock filed a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission alleging that Nextrade had misappropriated its technology during the preliminary licensing process for the fractional-investment OTC exchange. The Financial Services Commission responded in February by granting the NXT Consortium a conditional preliminary license, with the condition that the full licensing review would be suspended if the Fair Trade Commission launched a formal administrative investigation into the alleged misuse of technology.

The Fair Trade Commission subsequently conducted an on-site investigation at Nextrade in April, examining whether the company had improperly used Lucentblock's technology or obstructed its business activities.

According to Nextrade, the commission determined that the materials provided by Lucentblock were hard to classify as technology and that no evidence confirmed Nextrade had used them. The commission also concluded that Nextrade had no purpose or intent to interfere with Lucentblock's business operations.

Because Nextrade's use of the materials could not be established, the commission further found that no causal link existed between Lucentblock's failure to obtain a license and any action by Nextrade.

"With the Fair Trade Commission's investigation results removing the obstacles to licensing, the NXT Consortium plans to move forward with greater speed on business preparations and the full license application," a Nextrade official said.

The NXT Consortium aims to open the market in the fourth quarter and plans to incorporate a legal entity, tentatively named NexChange, while securing investment approval, hiring specialized personnel, building a trading system, establishing a market-operation regime and obtaining a full license.

The consortium also plans to leverage the existing trading platform of member company Music Cow to improve transaction convenience and stability, and to grow the fractional-investment market by introducing a range of investment products, including music royalties.


moon@heraldcorp.com