In order to obtain design rights protection in South Korea, it is necessary to first register the design with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). At present, the design patent protection system in South Korea is transitioning from the substantive examination system (SES) to the non substantive examination system (NEES)

1、 Required documents for application

(1) The names, addresses, and nationalities of the applicant and designer, and if the applicant is a legal entity, the name of the legal representative should also be included;

(2) The power of attorney signed by the applicant (the original power of attorney must be provided, signed by the applicant or the applicant's legal representative, and does not require notarization);

(3) Appearance design pictures or photos, brief description of appearance design, including the following:

a) Product name using exterior design;

b) Explanation of exterior design and key points;

c) Exterior design images: must include a perspective view, front view, rear view, left view, right view, top view, and bottom view.

(4) The priority proof material (requesting priority) should indicate the priority number and priority date, and submit the priority proof document.

2、 Application process

(1) The non substantive examination system applies to products such as clothing, bed sheets and bedding, blankets, curtains, office paper, packaging paper, packaging containers, fabrics, and printed materials (products with short life cycles and strong popularity). Except for the above products, the appearance design application of other products must undergo substantive examination, and KIPO will automatically initiate the substantive examination of the appearance design application.

(2) Examination period: For substantive examination of design applications, it takes 8-10 months from the submission of the application to the receipt of the authorization decision notice or examination opinion notice.

(3) Protection period: The protection period for both substantive and non substantive designs is 15 years from the registration date.