Substantial Examination(Request for Examination)
A patent application will be taken up for examination only if a request for examination is made either by the applicant or by any interested party within 5 years (3 years in case of an utility model application) from the filing date of the application. If no request for examination is made within this five-year period (3 years in case of an utility model application), the patent application is deemed to have been withdrawn. Once a request for examination has been duly filed, it cannot be withdrawn. A patent application is taken up for examination in the order of filing the request for examination thereof.
Accelerated Examination
According to Article 61 of the Patent Act, the Commissioner of KIPO may have a particular category of patent application examined ahead of other patent applications.
KIPO's Regulation Concerning the Procedure for Handling Requests for Accelerated Examination provides that applications eligible for such expedited examination are limited to the following categories:
(1) In case it is considered that an invention has been commercially worked by a person who is not the applicant, after his application has been laid-open; and
(2) In case the application is one of the kinds of applications stipulated in the Presidential decree and regarded as urgent and
(ⅰ) It relates to goods for defense industry and processes for the preparation thereof, as defined in the Special Measures Act Relating to Defense Industry.
(ⅱ) It relates to facilities for the prevention of environmental pollution or a process thereof
(ⅲ) It is directly involved in the promotion of export as evidenced by export records, a letter of credit, a request for validating patent rights from the buyer of expected goods, or documents related to the adoption of international standards.
(ⅳ) It is made officially by an employee of the central government, a local government(including application filed by exclusive organizations for technology transfer and commercialization, which were established in national and public school)
(ⅴ) Patent applications that the KIPO Commissioner and the heads of patent offices in other countries agreed to examine on a priority basis
(ⅵ) Applications about which anyone requests one of the KIPO-approved agencies(namely the Korea Institute of Patent Information/WIPS Co., Ltd./the Korea IP Protection Technology Institute Co., Ltd./and the IP Solution Co., Ltd.) to conduct the prior art search and asks the agency to forward the search results to the KIPO commissioner.
(ⅶ) And so forth
A person who desires an accelerated examination of his application must submit a written request together with a statement explaining the necessity thereof in detail and any evidence supporting the statement.
Deferred Examination
If necessary, applicants can have the examination deferred for up to six months from the date of the examination request.
Instead of specifying a preferred date, applicants can get first action from KIPO within three months of the preferred examination date provided the preferred date is at least 18 months after the date of the examination request and within five years of the application date.
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