The Design Examination Guidelines were amended as of November 28, 2025, in accordance with the amendments to the Design Protection Act which became effective on the same date. The notable practice changes are as follows.
1. New rejection grounds for designs subject to partial examination
Design applications filed in Korea undergo either substantive examination or partial-substantive examination, depending on the designated Locarno class. Previously, a design subject to partial examination would be registered as long as it met the formality requirements and was not a design that could easily be created from one that is widely known in Korea by a person with ordinary skill in that particular design field.
Under the amended Design Protection Act, an application subject to partial examination can also be rejected if it obviously lacks novelty or conflicts with a senior design. The purpose of this amendment was to prevent the partial design registration system from being abused; by sending a warning letter after registering a design lacking novelty or after re-registering a design which had been invalidated, for instance.
The revised Guidelines provide the following examples of when the new rejection grounds may be issued.
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the refiled design is identical or similar to one whose registration was canceled based on an opposition. |
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the refiled design is identical or similar to one currently undergoing trial or litigation proceedings, or to one whose invalidity was confirmed through such proceedings. |
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when the same applicant files multiple applications for identical or similar designs, or when a party files duplicate applications for a design that is identical or similar to another's design, in violation of the first-to-file rule. |
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in other cases where the examiner determines that the applied-for design lacks novelty or violates the first-to-file rule. |
2. Additional opposition period for parties who receive an infringement notice
The opposition period for a design registered after partial examination is three months from the publication date of the registered design. Under the amended Act, an opposition may now also be filed within three months of receiving a notice of infringement, for up to one year after the publication date. This additional period aims to offer additional protection against imitation designs that are registered after partial examination.
According to the amended Guidelines, a party "receives an infringement notice" under the following circumstances:
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when the party has been notified of the alleged infringement by the design rights holder or its agent in the form of a certified letter, written warning, complaint, application for provisional disposition, etc. |
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when the party has received a notice, a warning, or a request for an explanation from an e-commerce or content distribution platform in respect of a rights infringement report. |
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when the examiner deems it necessary to recognize the party as the recipient of a design right infringement notice. |
3. More flexibility for titles of partial designs
Previously, the title of a partial design had to be the name of the entire product (e.g., 'cup'). However, under the amended Guidelines, if the part to be registered can be identified based on a comprehensive review of the application and the drawings, the name of that part may be used as the title.
- Acceptable examples: cup, cup handle, part of a cup
- Unacceptable examples: cup corner, cup edge, center of a cup, top of a cup, bottom of a cup
