Q. What are the requirements for filing a patent application in Korea?

A. Essentially, the requirements are (1) a Power of Attorney, (2) a specification, a set of claims, drawings as necessary and (3) the inventor/applicant/ priority data.

Q. What type of invention is patentable in Korea?

A. The invention must have industrial applicability, novelty and inventive steps, and must be described as a product, a process for manufacturing or a method.

Q. What types of inventions are not patentable in Korea?

A. Below is a list of unpatentable inventions in Korea:

   - Scientific and Mathematical Theory
   - Nonobjective Idea
   - Data Base for Mere Presentation of Information
   - Business Method Which Includes Purely Mental Activity
   - Unexecutable or Incomplete Invention That Cannot be worked Repeatedly
   - Invention Liable to Contravene Public Order or Harm Public Health
   - Surgical Operation or Medical Cure for the Human Body
      But, a Method for diagnosing the human body is patentable, if the method does not include
             a step affecting the human body directly and non-temporarily, or if the method
             does not include a step of clinical diagnosis on the human body.
          * The clinical determination means the thought process for determining a disease or
             health condition based on medical knowledge or experience.

Q. What type of claim draft is allowable?

A. In general, the same types of claims that are allowed in Japan and the U.S. are also allowable in Korea, and claims may be drafted as combination-type or as Jepson-type. Multiple-dependent claims, however, may not refer to other multiple-dependent claims. Omnibus claims are also prohibited.

Q. Are patent applications automatically examined upon filing?

A. No. A patent application is examined only upon requesting examination. By law, an automatic withdrawal of the application occurs if no request is made during the five-year  period following the Korean filing date or, in the case of a PCT application, the international filing date. This term cannot be extended.

Q. How long does it take for a patent application to be examined?

A. Recent trends show that the examination period for a newly filed patent application is about 24 months. This period is measured from the filing date of the Request for Examination until the issuance of examination results, which are basically in the form of a Notice to Submit Argument (a rejection) or a Decision to Grant (allowance).