no
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.
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.
- via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
- via Nationalization of PCT : 31 months from earliest priority date.
A 12-month novelty grace period is available if the design is disclosed by the applicant or the applicant's agent.
KIPO conducts formality examination and substantive examination of invention patent applications. Only after the application documents meet the conditions of formality examination, KIPO will assign the patent to the application number. Publication is completed within 18 months from the filing date/priority date. The applicant/interested party shall submit a substantive examination request no later than 5 years from the filing date. Once an examination request is made, it cannot be withdrawn, and KIPO conducts examination in the order in which the examination requests are filed. Patent applications that meet the grant conditions will be granted.
- The average time for partial substantive examination design granted is 1-2 months.
- The average time for substantive examination of design granted is 10-12 months.
10 years
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.
yes. It is possible to change the patent type from utility model to invention within 30 days of receiving the grant/rejection decision, and pay the corresponding fee.
no