The business of patents and trademarks in Korea is under the jurisdiction of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO).
01 Trademark application conditions
1. Single country application
2. Designating Korea as one of the applying countries through the Madrid trademark.
02 Materials required for filing of trademark application
1. Company application: Copy of certificate of incorporation
Individual application: ID card copy with front and back.
2. Applicant's name and address with Chinese and English
3. A clear graphical representation of the trademark
4. Classes of trademark applications and goods / services (According to Nice Classification)
5. Power of attorney
03 Application time
The application period for Korean trademarks is about 10-12 months. Generally, the announcement will be issued within 9-10 months. The announcement period is 2 months. If there is no objection, an authorization notice will be issued, and a certificate will be obtained after payment.
04 Application
• Application
After submitting the required documents, the Trademark Office will issue an application receipt.
• Formal examination
Review the submitted documents and whether the fees are paid. If there is a problem that the fee is not paid, a correction notice will be issued within 1 week of submitting the application. The correction period is 1 month.
• Substantive examination
Substantial examination takes place about 6 months after the formal examination, and the trademarks of commodities issue notices of review opinions or announcements 9-10 months from the date of application, and service marks are usually 1-2 months later than trademarks of goods. The time limit for replying to the review opinion is 2 months, which can be extended to 4 months.
The announcement period is 2 months. During this time, anyone can file an opposition to the trademark within the time limit.
• Registration and announcement
After the announcement period, the official will issue a notice to approve the certification. At this time, the applicant must pay the certification fee within 2 months. The trademark registration certificate will be issued after payment of the fee.
★Notices:
1. Korea adopts one applicant and one code system. So, when applying for Korean trademarks, it is recommended that companies use the address information on the business license, and individuals use the address on the ID card. If there is a subsequent name / address change, the "change" procedure is required, and a notarial certificate must be provided for the change procedure.
2. It could request accelerated examination for trademark application in Korea, and must provide reasons for accelerated examination and pay the fee for accelerated examination. (The reasons for possible acceptance of the accelerated review: the applicant is already using or is preparing to use the trademark in the designated goods and services or prevents the third party from using the trademark, etc.)
3. The trademark is valid for 10 years from the date of registration and could be renewed for 10 years before the expiry date. The renewed date starts 1 year before the expiration.
4. After the trademark registration has not been used for three consecutive years, anyone can propose "abolition" of the trademark, so that the trademark registration is revoked.
05 Madrid trademark application process
1. After the applicant submits the application to the original country, the intellectual property bureau of the original country submits the application to WIPO for examination.
※Because Taiwan isn't an agreement or negotiated country for Madrid trademarks, Taiwan companies or individuals who want to apply for Madrid trademarks need to have the trademark of one of the Madrid Agreement countries as the basic case (usually based on China) before applying.
※Notice: if the basic case is rejected, Madrid trademark registration cannot register.
2. If the application meets the requirements, WIPO will register the trademark in the international register book and publish it. Then, WIPO will notify the office of each designated Party for examination. Generally speaking, since Malaysia receives the application, the time required for registration is 18 months (Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement). The international trademark right is valid for 10 years.
★Notice:
The electronic receipt sent by WIPO after the formal examination isn't representative of the successful registration of the trademark. It's the proof of the successful submission of the trademark application. And cannot be equivalent to the trademark registration certificate issued by the national or regional Intellectual Property Office.
