How long is the protection period of Korean invention patent application

1-2 years

For the design of partial substantive examination, multiple designs can be included in one design application, but the designs must belong to the same class in the international design classification.

10 years

• 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.

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.

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.

20 years

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.