1. Patent registration fees (1-20 years) reduced by ‘10%’

The registration fees required for initially registering a patent (patent registration fees) or for maintaining registered rights annually (annual registration fees) will be uniformly reduced by 10%. Trademark application and registration stage fees will also see significant reductions.

In the case of patent registration fees, there will be a 10% reduction across all periods (1-20 years). As a result, it is expected that inventors and companies will see an annual reduction in economic burdens of approximately 40 billion won and a total reduction of 200 billion won over the next five years. Commissioner Lee In-sil expressed her expectation that “the reduction in patent registration fees will lower the cost of patent registration and maintenance for companies, promoting technological innovation and enhancing competitiveness in the market.”

2. Progressive 2.

22. Progressive 'additional fees’ imposition to enhance high-quality ‘examination competitiveness'

Measures are being implemented to prevent the abuse of excessive patent and trademark applications and improve examination efficiency. First, in order to prevent the misuse of the patent divisional application system beyond its intended purpose and as a means to merely maintain application status and delay examination, a progressive additional fee system is being introduced, taking into account the European Patent Office’s practices.

As a result, the current additional fees, which were applied regardless of the number of divisional applications, will now be imposed progressively as follows: 1 time (1× the application fee) → 2 times (2×) → 3 times (3×) → 4 times (4×) → 5 times or more (5×).

While South Korea has been more lenient than other major countries in granting exemptions for fee reductions, the authorities are reducing the annual number of exemptions per right from the current 10 cases to 5 cases, as this could lead to examination burdens due to subpar applications.

To deter the misuse of patent applications, examination fees, which have been set significantly lower compared to other major jurisdictions like the European Union, the United States, China, and Japan, are being adjusted to more realistic levels, including the basic fee (KRW 166,000) and an additional fee (KRW 51,000 per claim).”