Display Patent Examination Period Shortened by Over One Year

The examination period for display patents is expected to be shortened by more than one year.

On the 31st, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that starting from the 1st of next month, for one year, patent applications in the display field that are researched, developed, or produced domestically will be designated for prioritized examination.

Through this, the average examination period for patent applications in the display field is expected to be around 3.9 months.

Considering that the examination period for display patent applications was 15.9 months before being designated for prioritized examination, this means the examination period will be shortened by more than 12 months.

However, prioritized examination can only be applied to applications directly related to display materials, components, equipment, manufacturing, or design technologies. For example, applications that apply display-related technology to other fields, such as vehicles including display devices, do not qualify for prioritized examination.

Additionally, to be eligible for prioritized examination, the applicant must be a company producing or preparing to produce display-related products or devices domestically, or the application must be related to the results of national research and development projects on display technology.

The designation of prioritized examination for patent applications in the display field was made based on the revised Special Act Enforcement Decree enacted last November.

Considering the intensifying international patent disputes in the display field, the purpose of revising the Special Act Enforcement Decree is to support domestic companies in acquiring patents (rights) quickly.

Based on the Special Act Enforcement Decree, the display field is the second area designated for prioritized examination following semiconductors last year.

Since prioritized examination became available last November, the average examination period for semiconductor patent applications has been 1.9 months.

Considering that the usual patent examination period is around 12.7 months, this is 10.8 months faster, and even 0.6 months ahead of the 2.5 months initially expected by KIPO.

KIPO has decided to extend the designation period for prioritized examination of semiconductor patent applications by one year, which was set to expire on the 31st of this month, to continue these effects.

Also, the requirement to assign semiconductor-related patent classifications (CPC) for prioritized examination applications will be removed to alleviate inconveniences in the field. Through this, semiconductor-related applications directly related to materials, components, equipment, manufacturing, or design technologies will also be eligible for prioritized examination.

Kim Ji-su, Director of the Patent Examination Planning Bureau at KIPO, said, “Advanced industries such as semiconductors and displays are our country’s core economic resources and national security assets. KIPO will actively support examination to secure competitiveness and protect technology in advanced industries with the recognition that ‘the competitiveness of advanced industries is the competitiveness of the nation.’”

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