South Korea Expands Refund Scheme for Patent Examinations

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that the Patent Act has been revised to provide for an improved system for the refund of examination fees. The revised Patent Act became effective as of May 18, 2015.


According to the Patent Act before it was revised, an applicant is entitled to a refund of the filing and examination fees as well as fees for claiming priority only where the applicant expressly abandons or withdraws the patent application within one month from the filing date of a patent application.


The revised Patent Act now allows examination fees to be refunded also where an applicant expressly abandons or withdraws a patent application prior to receiving a first Office Action including follows:


(1) A Notice Requesting Consultation issued for violation of the first-to-file rule where two or more applications claiming the same invention were filed by the same applicant on the same date; (2) An Office Action; or (3) A Notice of Allowance.


However, the applicant is not entitled to a refund of the paid examination fees after Results of Prior Art Search conducted by an institution designated by KIPO have reported to KIPO. Issuance of this Report can be confirmed on the e-filing website of KIPO.


The revision applies to all patent applications that are abandoned or withdrawn on or after May 18, 2015.