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IP Newsletter | Fall 2018
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TRADEMARK, DESIGN & UNFAIR COMPETITION
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Now Easier for Korean Design Applications to Claim Priority to Chinese Applications, and Vice Versa |
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Prior to September 2017, a Korean design application claiming priority to an earlier foreign application needed to submit a priority document certified by the government of the foreign country. However, when the Design Protection Act (DPA) was amended as of September 22, 2017, one of the changes was to ease the requirements for proving priority claims for design applications. This was somewhat clarified in a subsequent Enforcement Regulations of the DPA, which indicated that any alternative option for proving priority claims would apply only to countries with a system in place to electronically exchange priority documents with KIPO. |
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On July 20, 2018, KIPO announced China as the first country to meet the requirements of the amendment and Enforcement Regulations, and further clarified that the Enforcement Regulations will apply specifically to countries who have agreed with WIPO to deliver priority documents through the WIPO Digital Access Service. Thus, an applicant filing a design application in South Korea with a priority claim based on an application in China can now simply indicate the priority application details, including the application number and application filing date, together with the WIPO digital access code issued in China, instead of submitting a certified priority document. The same will apply to design applicants in China with a priority claim in South Korea. This is expected to substantially ease the process of establishing priority claims in both countries. |
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The U.S. is understood to be planning to implement a similar system by the end of this year for design applications with priority claims in foreign countries using the WIPO Digital Access Service. If this change is made, then the amended DPA will cover priority claims in Korean applications based on U.S. applications as well as Chinese applications. |
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For more information, please visit our website: www.ip.kimchang.com
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