| Items |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Shortened Period to File a Request for Substantive Examination |
The period for filing a request for examination is shortened from
five (5) years to three (3) years after the filing of a patent application to accelerate the
confirmation of a patent right. |
March 2017 |
| New Patent Cancellation System |
Anyone can file a request to cancel a patent registration from its patent registration date
within six (6) months after the publication of registration of the patent in order to prevent unqualified patent. |
March 2017 |
| Possible Request of Submission
for Examination Result of a Foreign Country |
When examining the application claiming Paris convention priority
based on the 1st foreign application, the examiner may request the submission of an examination result as well as the
technical references cited therein by the examiner of the 1st foreign country. |
March 2017 |
| *Also, applied to the application filed before
March 1, 2017 if claiming Paris convention priority |
| Extended Grace Period for an
Exception to Loss of Novelty as well as Extended Timeframe for Claiming the
same (in Design application) |
A Grace Period for an Exception to Loss of Novelty is
extended to twelve (12) months from a public disclosure of the design. Exception to loss of
novelty can be claimed before Notice of Allowance. |
September 2017 |
| *Under the previous Korean
Design Protection Act, the Grace period is six (6) months and claiming the
exception was available either of when filing an application or when filing
an opinion against an Office Action. |
| Limited Withdrawal Period for Request for
Correction During a Patent Invalidation Trial |
Request for correction shall only withdraw within
one month of requesting for correction or within the period of submitting a
written opinion for the notice of refusal for correction. |
March
2017 |
| *Under the old law, withdrawal of a request for
correction was allowed at any time. |
| Possible Request for Suspension of Procedure by Litigant parties |
The suspension of court procedure can be requested by litigant parties until related
trial decision made by the appeal board is confirmed. |
March
2017 |
| *Previously, the suspension of the court
proceeding can be made by ex-officio decision only. |
| Introduced Criminal Penalties for Copied Design |
Criminal penalties of copycat design infringement (i.e. any act of imitating the appearance of another party’s
product) will be introduced to prohibit indiscreet copy. |
July
2017 |
| *Revisions to the Unfair Competition Prevention
and Trade Secret Protection Act |
| Strengthened Civil and Criminal Penalties for
Infringement of Trade Secret |
Maximum amount of fine will be increased in
order to protect a trade secret effectively, and a
denial of a demand for the return of the trade secret is subject to criminal
penalties. |
July
2017 |
| *Revisions to the Unfair Competition Prevention
and Trade Secret Protection Act |
| Increased Fines for Violating
Trademark Act |
The trademark act will be stronger by increasing
fine for offences of perjury, false indication, and fraud. |
September 2017 |
| *(Article 232 Offence of Perjury) Imprisonment
for not more than five years or by a fine not exceeding 10 million won → Imprisonment for not more than
five years or by a fine not exceeding 50 million
won |
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