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| A summary of the Amendment to Korean Patent Law(effective as of July 1, 2007) |
The following is a summary of the Amendment to the Korean Patent Law to be effective as of July 1,
2007.
1. A more flexible format of the detailed description of specification
Depending on the diversity and complexity of the invention, there are instances where the detailed
description of the invention cannot sufficiently state the purpose, construction and effect of the invention
in such a manner that the invention can be carried out by a person having ordinary skill in the art to
which the invention pertains.
In order to resolve such problems, the revised patent law states that instead of specifically
distinguishing the purpose, construction and effect of the invention, the inventor can now use his/her
own expressions to easily state the invention in a manner that a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains can easily work the invention.
2. The late filing of the patent claim
Since the previous law states that the patent claim(s) must be filed on the filing date of the application,
an inventor cannot have sufficient time to effectively define the patent claim(s). According to the revised
law, it is to be possible to file the claim(s) within 18 months from the filing date of the application as
follows:
(1) The claim(s) shall be filed within 18 months from the filing date of the application or the earliest filing date of the application(s) based for claiming the priority right in the patent application(s).
(2) When an applicant receives the notice that there is a request for an examination by a person other
than the patent applicant, the applicant must submit the claim(s) within 3 months from the receiving
date of the notice of the examination request. However, on all cases the claim(s) shall be submitted within 18 months from the filing date of the application or the earliest filing date of the application(s) based
for claiming the priority right in the patent application(s).
(3) The patent applicant cannot request an examination on a patent application where the claim(s) have not yet been filed.
(4) In case the claim(s) is not filed by the applicant by 18 months from the filing date of the patent
application or an applicant does not submit the claim(s) within 3 months from the receiving date of the
notice of the examination request by a person other than the patent applicant, then the application is
regarded to be withdrawn.
3. The requirement of patent claim
The requirement of patent claim mentioned in the previous law that "the claim(s) shall define only the
features indispensable for the constitution of the invention" has been deleted. As a result of revising the
Patent Law, it is to be possible to specify the patent claim(s) by the structure, method, function,
materials or combinations thereof that define the subject matter of an invention.
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