Filing Flow (Korea)
 
Points to Note
  • The deadline for entering the National Phase is 31 months from the earliest priority date (as opposed to the standard 30).
  • A Korean translation of the application must be submitted at the time of filing (within 31 month national phase entry deadline).
  • If amendments were filed at the international stage, a Korean translation of these must also be submitted at the time of filing.
  • The deadline for submitting a request for substantive examination for a patent is 5 years (3 years for a Utility model patent) from the date of International filing. (For China and Japan this deadline is 3 years.)
 
Filing

Korea has adopted the first-to-file system, i.e. the principle that where two parties apply for a patent for the same invention, the first to file will be granted the patent.  Accordingly, we advise you not to make the invention public before filing a patent application.

  For applicants wishing to enter the National Phase on the basis of a PCT application, the appropriate documentation must be submitted to the Korean Intellectual Property Office within a period of 31 months from the priority date.

  Applicants will need to submit an application to enter the National Phase to the Korean Intellectual Property Office.  An application consists of a translation of the patent description, claims, abstract, and figures as they were originally filed on the date of international filing; along with an official application form and power of attorney (if necessary).  If an amendment was filed at the international stage, it must also be translated and submitted at this time.  It is important to note that the Korean regulations on translation differ from the Japanese and Chinese systems: both of which allow a two month extension on the submission.  Under the Korean system a Korean translation of the specification must be submitted at the time of filing. 

If you simply inform us of your PCT application and publication numbers, we will compile the necessary documentation for the application on your behalf. 

 
Formality Examination
Application documents submitted to the KIPO will be checked as to whether they are in good order.
 
Publication of Unexamined Application
The KIPO will publish the content of an application in the Patent Office Gazette 18 months from the filing date of priority application.
 
Request for Examination

Under the Korean system, patent applications do not automatically undergo a substantive examination.  An examination will be carried out only for those applications for which the applicant or a third party has filed a request for examination with payment of the examination fees.  Any application for which a request for examination has not been filed within a period of five years from international filing (three years for a utility model application), will be automatically regarded as withdrawn.
 
Substantive Examination
The examination will be carried out by the examiners of the KIPO, who will decide whether or not the claimed invention should be patented. An examination will check whether the application fulfill the requirements prescribed by law, i.e., whether or not there are any reasons for refusal.  These requirements include the following:
  1. Whether the claimed invention is based on a technical idea which utilizes a law of nature
  2. Whether it has any industrial applicability
  3. Whether the technical idea existed before the filing of the current application
  4. Whether the claimed invention could have been easily arrived at by a person skilled in the art
  5. Whether the applicant is the first to file
  6. Whether the claimed invention is liable to contravene public order and morality, and
  7. Whether the descriptions in the specification conform exactly to the requirements for patentability.
 
Notification of Reasons for Refusal
If the examiner finds reasons for refusal, a notice to this effect will be sent to the applicant.  An applicant who has received a notification of preliminary rejection shall be given the opportunity to submit either a written argument claiming that the invention differs from the prior art to which the Notification of Preliminary Rejection refers, or an amendment of the claims in the case that this would nullify the reasons for rejection
 
Argument or Amendment
An applicant who has received a notification of refusal shall be given the opportunity to submit either a written argument claiming that the invention differs from the prior art to which the Notification of Preliminary Rejection refers, or an amendment of the claims in the case that this would nullify the reasons for rejection.
 
Decision to Grant a Patent / Decision of Refusal
As a result of the examination, the examiner will make a decision to grant a patent as the final assessment of the examination stage if no reasons for refusal have been found.  The examiner will also make the same decision if the reasons for refusal have been eliminated by an argument or amendment.  On the other hand, if the examiner judges that the reasons for refusal have not been eliminated, a decision of refusal (the final assessment of the examination stage) will be made.  If the examiner finds reasons for refusal, notification will be sent to inform the applicant of these reasons.
 
Registration
Provided that the applicant pays the registration fee of the first three years’ annuities within 3 months (9 months at a doubled rate of fees) of receiving a notice of decision to grant a patent, the patent right will come into existence.  It is not until this time that the invention acquires a patent number.  Once a patent has been officially registered, a certificate of patent will be sent to the applicant.
 
Publication of Patent
The contents of the patent right as entered in the register will be published in the Patent Registration Gazette, an online resource for researching existing applications and patents and accessing patent and utility model resources.