Industrial designs · Republic of Korea
Design registration in Korea, filed online.
Order a Korean design application in minutes: name your product with KIPO's official product names, upload your drawings or a 3D model of up to 1 GB, and see every fee before you order. From $300 per application, reported in English.
Order online
Pick the KIPO product name, upload drawings, photos or a 3D model, claim priority, and track the filing with a private link. A Korean patent attorney confirms every order within one business day.
Our fees
| Filing, per applicationFormality review of the drawings, filing and reporting. Designs in a different Locarno class go in a separate application. | $300 |
| Each additional design in the same applicationMultiple-design application, same Locarno class, up to 100 designs | $150 |
| Your drawings or 3D model, filed as they are | No charge |
| Drawings prepared by us, per designFrom your 3D CAD files, photos or sketches, sent to you for approval | $150 |
| Priority claim | $50 |
| Expedited examination request | $250 |
| Office action: written argument against a refusal | $200 |
| Office action: amending the drawings or description | $150 + KRW 4,000 |
Official fees are added at cost. The online order shows the full quote before you submit.
KIPO official fees per design
| Application — substantive examinationAll other Locarno classes | KRW 94,000 |
| Application — partial examinationLocarno classes 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 11 and 19 | KRW 45,000 |
| Priority claim | KRW 18,000 |
| Expedited examination | KRW 70,000 |
| Registration, years 1 to 3, paid on allowanceKRW 25,000 per year | KRW 75,000 |
Electronic filing, Rules on the Collection of Patent Fees in force 27 February 2026. Individual applicants who are also the designers get 70% off the application fee, whatever their nationality.
Example
One chair (Locarno class 6, substantive examination), filed from your own drawings: $300 + KRW 94,000. With drawings prepared by us from a 3D CAD file: $450 + KRW 94,000. Three colourways of a handbag (class 3, partial examination) in one application: $600 + KRW 135,000.
Substantive or partial examination
KIPO examines most designs against earlier designs before registration. Products in Locarno classes 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 11 and 19 — foodstuffs, clothing, bags and personal belongings, textile piece goods, packages and containers, jewellery, stationery and printed matter — go through partial examination: no prior-design search, a lower official fee and faster registration. The KIPO product name you choose decides the class, so the order form lets you search KIPO's official names in English or Korean.
What Korea protects
- The shape, pattern and colour of a product, or a combination
- Partial designs: only the part you claim, in solid lines
- Graphical user interfaces, icons and image designs
- Up to 100 designs of the same class in one application
- 20 years from filing; a 12-month grace period for your own disclosure
What we need from you
- Applicant name and address, and the designers' names and addresses
- For each design: the product name and drawings, photos, or a 3D model (STEP, IGES, OBJ, STL)
- For a priority claim: the earlier application, and its certified copy when you have it
- A signed power of attorney (we send the form after filing)
Protecting the brand as well? Trademark filing in Korea → · Technical features: Patent filing in Korea →
Questions about designs in Korea
How much does it cost to file a design in Korea?
With us, $300 per application plus $150 for each additional design in the same application, and KIPO's official fee of KRW 94,000 per design (KRW 45,000 for products under partial examination). There is no drawing fee when your drawings or 3D model can be filed as they are; drawings prepared by us are $150 per design.
What is partial examination of designs in Korea?
Products in Locarno classes 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 11 and 19 (foodstuffs, clothing, bags and personal belongings, textile piece goods, packages and containers, jewellery, stationery and printed matter) are registered without a search of earlier designs. The official fee is lower and registration is usually faster; third parties can still challenge the registration afterwards.
How long does a Korean design registration last?
20 years from the filing date. The registration fee for the first 3 years (KRW 25,000 per design and year) is paid together on allowance, and annual fees follow from the 4th year.
Can several designs be filed in one Korean application?
Yes. Up to 100 designs in the same Locarno class can be filed as one multiple-design application. Designs in different classes go in separate applications. Official fees are charged per design either way.
Can I file a 3D model instead of drawings?
Yes. KIPO accepts a 3D model file as the drawing of a design (for example STEP, IGES, OBJ or STL). We check that your model shows the product alone and can be filed as it is; there is no drawing fee.
I have already shown the design publicly. Can I still file in Korea?
Usually yes. Korea has a 12-month grace period for the designer's or applicant's own disclosure. We claim it when filing; keep evidence of when and where the design was first shown.
Can I claim priority for a Korean design application?
Yes, within 6 months of the first filing in a Paris Convention or WTO country. The certified copy of the earlier application can follow up to 3 months after the Korean filing date.
Should I file directly in Korea or through the Hague system?
Both work. A direct filing lets us prepare the drawings and the product name to KIPO's requirements from the start, which avoids many of the objections raised against international registrations designating Korea.
Do foreign applicants need a Korean attorney to file a design?
Yes, unless they have an address or place of business in Korea. We act as your representative from filing to registration and report in English.
Instructions or questions about a Korean matter?
A Korean patent attorney replies to every enquiry. All information is kept strictly confidential.