Patent application process amended The Korean National Assembly recently made amendments to the Patent Act and the Utility Model Act, which came into effect on March 3 2006. The amendments make three specific changes that will immediately benefit applicants filing in Korea. Saturday is no longer a working day for the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). Saturdays were previously considered working days by KIPO, and so due dates falling on a Saturday were not carried over to the following working day, Monday. This was in contrast to many countries that observe a five-day work week, and at times caused international applicants to inadvertently miss due dates. Making Saturday a non-working day will make the filing process in Korea more familiar to international applicants, and help eliminate needless oversights. Selling, or offering to sell, products related to an invention anywhere in the world is now a patent-barring event. Applicants should be aware of this when filing in Korea. Previously, only acts of sale, or the offer to sell, products related to an invention within the territory of Korea were held to be patent barring. This amendment reflects the loss of novelty incurred by the sale or offer to sell anywhere in the world, but a six-month grace period is provided, allowing applicants to file an application within six months from first marketing or selling the invention to maintain novelty. The deadline for entering the national phase for PCT applications in Korea has been extended from 30 months to 31 months. International applicants often saw Korea as inflexible, compared with neighbours China and Japan, who allow two-month extensions for submitting translations. This extension will provide PCT applicants more time to consider national phase entry and to submit the necessary translation. The implementation of these amendments will make Korean IP practice more accessible to international applicants, and so continue to aid the flow of technology in and out of Korea. © 2006 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. " Written by David Hunjoon Kim and Donggyun Kim of YOU ME Patent & Law Firm Appearing in the June issue of Managing Intellectual Property.