Restoration of priority will not be accepted.
Korean Industrial Property Office
English: Korea Intellectual Property Office, abbreviation: KIPO
Website: Korean Intellectual Property Office (kipo.go.kr)
Korean Invention Patent Search: Integrated Search < SEARCH - KIPRIS Patent Information searching service
Filing Language: Korean Necessary documents:
- Exterior Design Picture (Six Views)
- A Brief Description
Attachments (if any):
- Power of Attorney
- Priority certification document and its Korean translation
- Declaration of Ownership/Certification of Employment/Assignment of priority
- Assignment for Patent Right Transfer
- via Paris Convention : 6 months from earliest priority date.
- Hague Agreement route: 6 months from earliest priority date.
- Grant fee: The applicant should pay the annual fee for the first to third year within 3 months after receiving the notification of granted decision
- Annuity: Begin to pay year by year from the 4th year, overdue payment can be made within the 6-month grace period after the due date, but a penalty shall be paid, and the amount of the penalty shall not exceed twice the granted fee.
- Grant fee: The applicant needs to pay the granted fee within 3 months after receiving the notification of the granted decision, and pay the annual fee for the first to third years at the same time.
- Annuity: The annual fee will be paid year by year starting from the fourth year from the filing date. The amount of the annual fee depends on the number of Claim, and the annual fee can also be paid. If the annual fee is overdue, it can be paid within the 6-month late payment period after the due date, but a 200% penalty must be paid at the same time.
- via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
- via Nationalization of PCT : 31 months from earliest priority date.
- via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
- via Nationalization of PCT : 31 months from earliest priority date.
KIPO adopts two examination systems, the Substantive Examination System (SES) and the Partial Substantive Examination System (NSES), for designs, and the applicant has no right to choose the examination route. The Partial Substantive Examination System (NSES) is for items that are popular, easy to imitate and have a short life cycle, such as food, clothing and men's clothing (category 2), travel goods (category 3), textiles, man-made and Natural panel materials (Class 5), packaging (Class 9), decorative articles (Class 11), stationery and office equipment, artists and teaching materials (Class 19). For some designs that have been substantiated, the applicant can obtain granted within 1-2 months from the date of submission of the application, and can enjoy new procedures such as combination design and post-granted opposition. The applicant can decide whether to disclose the design at the time of granted. After paying a certain confidentiality fee, the design can be requested not to be disclosed for 3 years. There are 32 levels in the Locarno classification system, but only 31 levels are used in Korea.
If the following situations occur 12 months before the patent application/priority date by the inventor, applicant or assignee:
- By correspondence, or publicly at national or international exhibitions
Disclosure due to malicious disclosure by a third party
The novelty grace period can be enjoyed, and the applicant needs to submit corresponding evidence support when submitting the application.
KIPO conducts formality examination and substantive examination of utility model patent applications, but only needs to meet the standards of novelty and practicality, and does not require inventive step.