Enforcement of Preferential Examination for Designs Related to Fourth Industrial Revolution
- Enforcement Decree of Revised Design Protection Act enforced from January 2, 2018 -
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced the revised Design Protection Act enforced from January 2, 2018 to raise corporate competitiveness by giving rights early through preferential examinations* for design registration applications utilizing technology related to the fourth industrial revolution such as AI (Artificial Intelligence), IoT (Internet of Things), etc. *Preferentially examining design registration applications regulated by Article 6 of the Enforcement Decree of the Design Protection Act over other design registration applications
KIPO has continuously expanded the subjects for preferential examination according to changes in governmental policy or the industrial environment, and 15* items are currently regulated as subjects for preferential examination. This revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Design Protection Act was also performed so as to be able to increase corporate competitiveness by providing prompt examination services for design registration applications of related fields. * Article 6 of Enforcement Decree of Design Protection Act (Reference 1)
Generally, examination duration for design applications is greater than 5 months after the filing of the application, but if a preferential examination is requested, a notice as to whether or not a design registration may be granted can be received within 2 months. Accordingly, applicants such as corporations can raise corporate competitiveness by the early securing of design rights so that they can promptly proceed with production and sale of products.
According to this revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Design Protection Act, applicants such as corporations that want to receive a preferential examination may submit an explanation or document to KIPO certifying that a design application utilizes technology related to the fourth industrial revolution, along with a request for preferential examination.