KIPO Operates Separate 'Patent Term Extension Team' for Pharmaceuticals

On the 13th, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that it will operate a separate "Patent Term Extension Team" within the Chemical and Life Sciences Examination Bureau to strengthen expertise in patent term extension tasks in the pharmaceutical field.

The patent term extension system is a procedure that extends the duration of a patent right for a certain period when the patent cannot take effect due to product approval processes such as pharmaceuticals and pesticides.

In the case of major pharmaceuticals, whether the patent right is extended has a significant impact on both the new drug developers holding the rights and the generic companies entering the market.

For the same reason, patent term extension applications require reviewing many and complex documents related to pharmaceutical approvals, unlike general patent applications, leading to continuous calls for a dedicated team specializing in examining these applications.

In particular, due to the high policy demands such as legal system maintenance and interpretation related to patent term extension, consultations with related agencies like the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and civil complaint responses, it was necessary to separate these tasks from general examinations, which is why the dedicated organization was newly established and is being operated.

Seo Eul-su, Director of the Chemical and Life Sciences Examination Bureau at KIPO, said, "We expect that operating the dedicated team will secure consistency and expertise in examining patent term extension applications for pharmaceuticals," and added, "KIPO will use the operation of the dedicated team as an opportunity to enhance examination expertise and improve the patent term extension system for pharmaceuticals to a level comparable to advanced countries."

Meanwhile, the patent term extension system was introduced in 1987 to extend and compensate patent rights within a maximum of five years, considering the long periods required for approvals such as clinical trials and product licensing for pharmaceuticals and pesticides.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.