Amount of punitive damages available for willful infringement of registered designs to be increased

On January 21, 2025, an amendment to the Design Protection Act that increases the amount of punitive damages available for willful infringement of registered designs was promulgated. The amendment will take effect on July 22, 2025.

The amendment increases the punitive damages limit from three times the actual damages to five.

By increasing the damages available for intentional infringement, the amendment aims to allow victims of design infringement to be more adequately compensated for losses, while providing a more meaningful deterrent to infringing activity.

The enhanced punitive damages provision will apply to acts of infringement that occur after the amendment enters into effect.

IPTAB now able to grant design registrations in certain cases

As of January 1, 2025, IPTAB examiners can directly grant a design registration when they reverse a refusal decision issued by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) if no issues requiring review by KIPO's examination bureau remain and no new grounds for refusal have been identified. 

Prior to this practice change, if the IPTAB overturned a refusal decision, the design application had to be sent back to the examination bureau for further examination. With this change the registration process will be accelerated by one to two months if the above criteria are met since re-examination by the examination bureau is no longer required in such cases.