Patent Registration Fee Reduced by 10%... "First Across-the-Board Cut in 20 Years"

Patent registration fees will be reduced for the first time in 20 years. Patent registration fees are a type of charge paid to initially register a patent (setting registration fee) or to maintain the registered rights (annual registration fee). The reduction in patent registration fees is expected to somewhat ease the burden on companies.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is reducing patent registration fees by a uniform 10% for the first time since 2004. Through this, companies and others are expected to reduce their economic burden by 40 billion KRW annually and 200 billion KRW over the next five years, according to KIPO. Provided by KIPO

On the 27th, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that it will promulgate and implement the revised "Rules on the Collection of Patent Fees" on the 1st of next month, which includes these changes.

The core of the revision is a uniform 10% reduction in patent registration fees for years 1 through 20. Until now, KIPO has pursued policies to partially reduce patent registration fees only for socially and economically vulnerable groups such as individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This is the first time since 2004 that patent registration fees are being uniformly reduced for all patent customers.

KIPO expects that with the 10% reduction, companies and others will save 40 billion KRW annually and 200 billion KRW over the next five years in patent registration fees. Furthermore, with the reduced burden, companies will have more capacity to increase the number and duration of patents held, allowing them to focus on technological innovation.

The revision also includes a 10,000 KRW reduction per class in fees at the trademark application and registration stages for small business owners and self-employed individuals. Accordingly, the trademark application fee will decrease from 62,000 KRW to 52,000 KRW, the setting registration fee from 211,000 KRW to 201,000 KRW, and the renewal registration fee from 310,000 KRW to 300,000 KRW.

Additionally, to address the issue of registering unused trademarks or goods that restrict actual business operators' rights acquisition and trademark selection scope, the basic number of designated goods will be adjusted from 20 to 10. The surcharge imposed for violations will remain at 2,000 KRW per item.

Comparison Graph of Patent Registration Fee Before and After Reduction. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

KIPO will also implement measures to prevent the abuse of excessive patent and trademark applications through the revision. A representative example is the imposition of progressive surcharges to prevent abuse of the patent divisional application system, which has been used to simply prolong the application status or delay examination processing.

For instance, under the current rules, applicants pay only the application fee regardless of the number of times they file divisional patent applications. However, from the time the revision is implemented, progressive surcharges will be imposed as follows: 1st divisional application (1x application fee), 2nd (2x), 3rd (3x), 4th (4x), and 5th or more (5x).

Lee In-sil, Commissioner of KIPO, said, "We hope that the reduction in patent registration fees will lower the cost burden of patent registration and maintenance for companies, thereby promoting technological innovation and enhancing competitiveness in the market. KIPO will continue to do its best to provide the world's best patent administration services."

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