'Ultra-Fast' Examination for Export Patents and Trademarks: "Completed Within One Month"

The examination period for export-related patents and trademarks will be shortened to within one month.

The Intellectual Property Office announced on October 1 that, starting from the 15th, it will provide ultra-fast examination support for patent, utility model, and trademark applications related to overseas expansion.

With the ultra-fast examination, applicants will be able to receive the first examination results for patent and utility model applications within one month, and for trademark applications within 30 days.

Provided by the Intellectual Property Office

Even with expedited examination, it typically takes two months to receive the first examination results for patent and utility model applications, and 45 days for trademark applications. Therefore, the ultra-fast examination can significantly reduce the time burden compared to expedited examination.

The eligible applications are limited to those related to exports among the existing expedited examination targets.

For patents and utility models, applications eligible for ultra-fast examination include those for export promotion expedited examination, as well as advanced technologies such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and secondary batteries, provided that the application is a treaty priority basic application. A treaty priority basic application refers to a system where, if an applicant submits an identical application to a foreign patent office within one year of filing with the Intellectual Property Office, the filing date in Korea is recognized as the filing date in the foreign country.

This year, the Intellectual Property Office will include 500 cases each for patents and utility models in the ultra-fast examination pilot program, and plans to support up to 2,000 cases each per year (a total of 4,000 cases for patents and utility models) next year.

For trademark applications, ultra-fast examination can be requested for trademarks of products already being exported (or scheduled for export) at the time of application, as well as for treaty priority basic applications or basic applications under the Madrid Protocol for international applications. There is no limit on the number of cases.

In particular, to help domestic companies continue exporting through improved technologies rather than one-off exports, the Intellectual Property Office explained that even if there is no direct export record, ultra-fast examination can be requested for patent and utility model applications based on improvements to products that have been exported within the last three years.

Additionally, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies selected for export and overseas dispute-related support programs over the past three years-such as the Global IP Star Company Fostering Project, the IP Risk Response Capacity Enhancement Project for Export Challenge Companies, the Patent Dispute Response Strategy Support Project, and the K-Brand Dispute Response Strategy Support Project (applicable only to trademarks)-will also be eligible to apply for ultra-fast examination of patents, utility models, and trademarks.

Through these measures, the plan is to establish a comprehensive support system that covers everything from export strategy development to securing intellectual property rights for domestic companies.

Meanwhile, if a company obtains a domestic patent quickly through the ultra-fast examination, it can use the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program in countries such as the United States, China, and Japan to obtain local patents more quickly based on the domestic patent. This is expected to help domestic companies entering overseas markets effectively protect their core technologies abroad.

The PPH is a system that allows for expedited examination in a second country when a patent has been granted in the first country under a bilateral agreement. Currently, Korea operates PPH programs with 39 countries.

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