Samsung Biologics has officially asked the latecomer Lotte Biologics to stop talent poaching amid ongoing disputes over whether three ex-Samsung employees leaked Samsung’s trade secrets to Lotte, Yonhap News reported on Thursday. 

Samsung Biologics has sent three packs of certified mail to Lotte Biologics, demanding the latter immediately halt activities to scout employees from the former. The last one was sent in early January, the news report said.  

Certified mail is not legally binding but it can be reference materials in legal disputes later.  

Notably, Lotte Biologics CEO Richard Lee is a former Samsung Biologics executive who worked at Samsung Biologics from 2011 to 2021. 

The two companies began to clash in 2022 as Lotte Biologics started its biopharmaceutical business in earnest. 

Samsung Biologics filed an application for an injunction against three people who moved from Samsung Biologics to Lotte Biologics, accusing the latter of stealing trade secrets. 

In July 2022, the Incheon District Court partially upheld Samsung’s request. 

Then, three months later in October, the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office dispatched investigators to Lotte Biologics’ head office in Lotte World Tower in Seoul. 

The probe into the three employees is ongoing.