Amendments to Korean IP Laws
On January 3, 2007, Korean Patent Act, Utility Model Act, Design Protection Act and Trademark Act were amended and they will be effective from July 1, 2007. The major amendments are as follows:
1. Amendments to Patent Act and Utility Model Act
1. Loosening of statement requirements for specification
Under the current law, the purpose, the constitution and the effect of invention must be stated in the specification. However, this requirement will be abolished and the way of statement will be provided by the enforcement rule.
2. Late submission of claims
Claims will be allowed to be submitted until the early publication (18 months from the priority date) of the application.
3. Concrete statement of reasons for rejection
The reasons for rejection will be stated concretely according to each claim when a Notice of Submission of Argument is issued against two or more claims.
2. Amendments to Design Protection Act
1. Secret design
The demand for a secret design will be allowed from the application date to the payment date of the registration fee.
2. Abandoned or rejected design applications
All applications which are abandoned or rejected will be regarded as retroactively extinguished in applying a first to file rule.
3. Exception of non-substantial examination
Any designs which are easily created by domestically widely known shapes, patterns, colors or a combination thereof will be rejected.
3. Amendments to Trademark Act
1. Enlargement of Protection
Colors, holograms and motions which are visibly recognizable will be protected in addition to signs, characters, devices and three-dimensional shapes or any combination thereof and any combination of colors with any of them.
2. Change of application
The change of application among a trademark application, a servicemark application and a collective mark application, and the change of application from a renewal application and an application for supplementary registration to a trademark application will be allowed.
3. Extension of opposition term
The opposition term will be extended from 30 days to two months from the publication date.
4. Protection of known trademark
Any trademark which is known to consumers in Korea or in foreign countries as a trademark of a certain person will be protected.
5. Statutory license by prior use
When a trademark is recognized to domestic consumers as a trademark of a certain person at the time of filing an application for other trademark, the owner of that trademark may continue to use its trademark.
DATE :
13-05-18
