We wish this letter finds you doing well in everything.
As you may be aware, the Free Trade Agreement between Korea and United States of
America (KORUS FTA), ratified as of March 15, 2012, led to wide-scale amendment to
Korean Patent Act including the Korean Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. Please refer to the
following changes to the Korean IP practice this year (2014) and changes to be made in 2015.
· Filing Patent Application in Foreign Languages
As of January 1, 2015, a conventional application can first be filed in a language other than
Korean (currently, English and Japanese are the only languages accepted under the new law).
This is beneficial to foreign applicants as applications can be filed in a timely manner,
especially applications with deadlines fast approaching. A Korean translation can be
supplemented afterwards within the due date specified below. This allows the applicants to
establish favorable patent strategies.