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Application Requirements
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Patent and Utility Model Application
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Filing Requirements
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1. Name, address and nationality of applicant.
- The applicant must be the inventor, or the successor in title of the inventor.
- If the applicant is a company, the name and official title of a representative of the company
and the legal address of the companyheadquarters should be disclosed.
- Where the applicant is other than the inventor, an assignment is not required be submitted
in Korea.
2. Name, address, and nationality of the inventor.
3. Specification in Korean
- It should include a detailed description of the invention, claims, an abstract and drawings.
4. Power of Attorney
- It should be executed by the applicant or a representative of the applicant company.
- It is possible to base it on a General Power of Attorney on file with the Korean Intellectual
Property Office.
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Conventional Priority
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1. The applicant must claim the conventional priority within 1 year of the filing date of the priority application at the filing date. The country, filing date, and filing number of the priority application must be disclosed at the filing stage.
2. A certified copy of the foreign application must be filed within 16 months from the priority date. (This requirement is waived for Japanese applicants.)
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Korean National Phase Entry of a PCT Application
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The term for entering into the national phase in Korea is 31 months from the international filing date (or priority date, if any) regardless of weather the International Preliminary Examination has been requested. When entering the Korean national phase of a PCT application, it is best to forward us a copy of the cover page of the WIPO publication of the corresponding PCT application. Once the PCT international publication number is known, all of the necessary application information can be obtained locally.
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Examination
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When entering the Korean national phase of a PCT application, it is best to forward us a copy of the cover page of the WIPO publication of the corresponding PCT application. Once the PCT international publication number is known, all of the necessary application information can be obtained locally. The term for entering into the national phase in Korea is 31 months from the international filing date (or priority date, if any) regardless of wether the International Preliminary Examination is requested or not.
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Design Application
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Filing Requirements
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1. Name, address and nationality of applicant.
- The applicant must be the inventor, or the successor in title of the inventor.
- If the applicant is a company, the name and official title of its representative and the legal
address of the company headquarters should be disclosed.
- Where the applicant is other than the inventor, an assignment is not required be submitted
in Korea.
2. Name, address, and nationality of the inventor.
3. One set of drawings or photographs of the design.
- It must include the front elevation, rear elevation, top view, bottom view, right side view,
left side view (if not symmetrical), and a perspective view.
- The drawings or photographs should be on sheets of good quality white paper.
4. Written description of the design.
- It must be a succinct statement of the features of the design.
5. Power of Attorney.
- It should be executed by the applicant or a representative of the applicant company.
- It is possible to base it on a General Power of Attorney on file with the Korean Intellectual
Property Office.
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Conventional Priority
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Conventional priority may be claimed within six months of the earliest priority date at the filing date. A certified copy of the foreign application must be filed within 3 months of the filing date.
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Examination
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Currently, the Design Protection System in Korea is in transition from a substantial examination system to non-substantial examination system. For some short-term life-cycle products, applicants may obtain the registration within 3 or 4 months of the filing date. The unexamined design registration can be invalidated through a Post-Grant Opposition or an Invalidation Trial.
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Trademark Application
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Filing Requirements
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1. Name, address and nationality of applicant.
- If the applicant is a company, the name and official title of its representative and the legal
address of the company headquarters must be disclosed.
2. Trademarks including drawings or photographs (symbol marks).
- The drawings or photographs should be on sheets of good quality white paper.
- For word marks, a simple description suffices.
3. Description of the designated goods or services.
- It must be a list of goods or services under the International Classification System (NICE).
- It is possible to file a multiple class application.
4. Power of Attorney.
- It must be executed by the applicant or a representative of the applicant company.
- It is possible to use a General Power of Attorney on file with the Korean Intellectual Property
Office.
5. Actual Use
- The actual use of a trademark in any country is not a prerequisite for filing an application.
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Description of Designated Goods or Services
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Designated goods or services must be clearly specified in detail using common names for goods and services. Generic names or inclusive names are not permissible. For example, the Examiner often objects to goods designated with a title name of a subclass of goods of NICE that encompasses several items of the subclass.
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Conventional Priority
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A conventional priority may be claimed within six months of the earliest priority date at the date of filing. A certified copy of the foreign application must be filed within 3 months of the filing date.
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Examination
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Examination takes about 1 year. The publication period for opposition is 30 days. A trademark registration is effective for ten years, and it can be renewed every ten years. A renewal application to extend the term of a trademark registration should be filed in the year prior to the expiration date. Please be advised that a registered trademark is vulnerable to cancellation by a cancellation trial if it has not been consecutively used for three or more years since its registration.
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General Power of Attorney
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The General Power of Attorney system, effective since January 1, 1999, simplifies the process of empowering Korean patent attorneys by eliminating the need to file powers of attorney every time a new application is filed. By not specifying the application, the applicant can empower one or more patent attorneys to handle all future applications. While the system is especially convenient for the frequent applicants, non-frequent applicants may also take advantage of its benefits. And since the applicant maintains the right to cancel or change the designated attorneys at any time, there are no disadvantages for the applicant. The general power of attorney is not effective for the applications that are already on file.
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Official Fee Discount for Individual Applicants
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KIPO offers a 70% discount in official fees only to an applicant who is an inventor and is not an incorporated company. If any one of the applicants is a person other than an inventor, the discount will not apply to the application even if the other applicants are inventors.
The discount applies to the following official fees: (i) for filing a patent, utility model or design application, (ii) for requesting examination, and (iii) for 1st through 3rd annuities.
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