Date:  2009-07-13
Source: KIPO
 
The enforcement of the revised Patent Law starting July 1 is expected to greatly reduce the number
of unregistered patents rejected due to procedural flaws. 

In the briefing titled 'Turning Korea into a power in intellectual property (IP) by improving the
patent system,' Commissioner Jung-Sik Koh of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) commented,
"the revised Patent Law has many step-by-step supplementary clauses that support the acquirement of
patent rights for outstanding inventions." 

To be more specific, the condition for allowing amendments on an invention to acquire a patent has
been mitigated. In cases where the registration of a patent is rejected, applicants can use the
newly-introduced reexamination system to have another opportunity without going through the Intellectual
Property Tribunal, and even if the reexamination gives a final judgment of rejection, claims that can be
registered separately as patents can become independent patents. 

In addition, KIPO will have the authority to correct minor errors in description, and the fine for
delayed payment of patent fees will be reduced to reduce the time and cost burden on the applicants. 

The enforcement of the revised Patent Law is expected to greatly boost the possibility of patent
acquirement for private inventors and SMEs without the capacity of managing patents for themselves. 

Major patent systems will also be innovated to reinforce national competitiveness and raise the level
of the system to meet the standards of advanced countries. 

For the first time in the world, KIPO is planning to introduce a super-speed examination and judgment
system starting in October to support the 'low-carbon & green growth policy.' 

‘Green’ technologies, which receive financial aid for R&D from the government, etc by minimizing
the emission of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, will be examined within one month from the date
of application. The results of the examination will be given within four months from the date of
application. Compared to the period of more than three months for preferential examinations and six months
for ordinary examinations, the period above is very short. 

The super-speed examination and judgment system is expected to support Korea's leadership on the world's
‘green market’ by granting proper rights to the fruits of ‘green technology’ R&D as expeditiously as
possible. 

Projects of upgrading the examination standards for patents into the global level will also be promoted
in full scale to realize high-quality examination services that are recognized by the world. KIPO will
actively reflect external opinions from the industrial and academic fields into the office's examination
standard, as well as develop a user-friendly web service to raise the convenience of users in and out of Korea. 

Document formats used during patent applications will become identical with those used in the US, Japan,
and the EU starting January 2010. Applicants will be relieved from the inconvenience caused by different
formats between major patent offices. They will also enjoy reduced costs for filing applications to
the patent offices of the US, Japan, and the EU. 

Commissioner Jung-Sik Koh asserted, "By improving the patent system, KIPO will continue to press
forward with its efforts to lead the IP5 (Korea, the US, Japan, China, and Europe) system and support
the 'war on speed' regarding R&D for green growth."