Our industrial design team is highly experienced in all aspects of the registration and maintenance of industrial designs, and will advise you on how to protect your design rights. We have successfully protected designs of clients that are not registered in Korea, by establishing their well-known status.
Further, we can prepare high quality design drawings to meet stringent Korean drawing requirements.
Our attorneys at law in the team provide a comprehensive range of advice and services relating to litigation, enforcement and transactional matters, including licensing.

Draft Amendment of the Korean Design Protection Act (Promulgated by the Government in September 2012)

1.  Expansion of Registrable Designs

According to the draft amendment, two dimensional visual designs, e.g., graphic designs, can be registered as designs, as in the Locarno Agreement. Under current law, design registration is limited to the designs of three dimensional articles.

2.  International Filing and Registration under the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Design

Korea plans to join the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs by January 1, 2014. The Hague Agreement allows an applicant to register an industrial design in a plurality of countries by filing one application in one language with the WIPO. If Korea joins the Hague Agreement, an international applicant may apply for design registration in Korea through the above system by designating Korea as a country it wishes to receive design protection.

3. Extension of the Design Right Term

According to the draft, a design right commences on the design registration date and lasts until 20 years from the filing date of the design application. Currently, a design right lasts for 15 years from the date of design registration.

4. Expansion of the Multiple Design Application System

According to the draft, a design application may include up to 100 different designs, regardless of whether the application is subject to substantive examination or non-substantive examination, provided that all of the articles fall within the same class of the International Classification of Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification). Further, even if only some of the designs included in the multiple design application are subject to refusal, the remaining designs can be registered. Under the current law, a multiple design application is allowed only when the application is subject to non-substantive examination, and the possible maximum number of designs included therein is 20.