Updates on the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) fee structure, effective 1 August 2023

If you have patents or trade marks in Korea or are considering filing or transferring them, you should be aware of the official fee update effective as of 1 August, 2023.

These changes are noteworthy as they are not simply inflationary increases applied uniformly. Instead, while fees for filing and prosecution have slightly risen, those for maintaining and transferring rights have been reduced. It seems that KIPO is using these fee changes to pursue policy objectives rather than just to raise revenue.

It appears that KIPO is using these fee adjustments to subtly guide the behaviour of applicants and IP right holders. This includes steering them away from practices that KIPO aims to reduce (e.g., filing multi-generation divisional applications) and toward actions that they wish to encourage or facilitate (e.g., holding and transacting IP).

Summary of Main Changes:

• Patent renewal fees have been reduced by 10%.
• Divisional application fees are now higher for the 2nd divisional application and subsequent ones.
• The fee for requesting an examination has increased by 10%.
• Trade mark (TM) filing, registration, and renewal fees have been lowered, but additional fees are now imposed for more than 10 items in one class (previously 20 items).
• There has been a decrease in the fees for recording the transfer (assignment) of patents and trade marks.
  

Should you have any further inquiries regarding these KIPO fee changes, please get in touch with your usual Mewburn contact or email Hojae Lee, a qualified Korean patent attorney at our firm, at hojae.lee@mewburn.com. 

Detailed Changes:

I. Patents

1. Patent Registration Fees (1 to 20 years) (about 10% reduction)

• The reduction in the registration fees is applied to cases where the Notice of Patent Grant is issued on 1 August, 2023, or later.
  
  
• The reduction in the annuity fees is applied to cases where the deadline for paying the annuity fees is 1 August, 2023, or later.
  

2. Patent Divisional Application Fees

• Regardless of the numbers of previous divisional applications, the numbers of divisional applications will be counted as of 1 August, 2023, for the updated fees. 

3. Increase in Fees for Requesting for Examination of Patent Application

• The updated fees are applied to a patent application filed on or after 1 August, 2023 (For PCT cases entering the Korean national phase, the updated fees are applied to cases in which the PCT filing date is 1 August, 2023, or later.)

II. Trade marks

The official fees of filing application, registration, and renewal have been reduced by KRW 10,000 per class/per mark. 

Meanwhile, for each item of goods designated in excess of 10 items in one class, an official fee of KRW 2,000 per item will be added.  (Previously, additional official fees were applied to the items in excess of 20 items in one class.) 

The updated official fees are applied to the trade marks that are filed for registration and requested for renewal from 1 August, 2023.  

In detail, the official fees for trade mark matters are adjusted as follows: 

III. Decrease in Fees for Recordation of Transfer (Assignment) of Patent and Trade mark

• The updated fees are applied to the cases in which the date of filing a Deed of Assignment with KIPO is 1 August, 2023, or later.
• Registration Tax and Stamp Tax are separate.