After a patent application is filed, KIPO issues its first action (a notice of preliminary rejection if there are grounds for rejection, or a decision to grant if there are none) after about a year and a half at the earliest and two years at the latest, so it takes a long time, two to three years, to learn whether a patent will be granted.
The most commonly used grounds for requesting accelerated examination have been: 1) proof that the invention is being worked or prepared for working; 2) an application filed by a company holding a venture business certificate; and 3) a prior art search commissioned from a specialized search agency.
Where requirements 1) and 2) were not met, many requests for accelerated examination were filed under requirement 3). However, as shown below, KIPO saw an excessive increase in accelerated examination requests and began distinguishing them by ground. For accelerated examination based on a prior art search commissioned from a specialized agency, the deadline for starting examination has been extended to 8 months from the decision to grant accelerated examination.
This appears to reflect the reality that, with the number of cases assigned to accelerated examination growing excessively relative to the limited number of examiners, it has become practically difficult to meet the accelerated examination deadlines.
This change applies to requests for accelerated examination filed on or after June 23, 2021. Therefore, if you are considering accelerated examination for an application already filed, or for an application to be filed soon, it would be advisable to file the request before June 23 if possible.
However, this change applies only to requirement 3), a prior art search commissioned from a specialized agency. If you can 1) prove that the invention is being worked or prepared for working, or 2) are a company holding a venture business certificate, a request for accelerated examination on that ground will still be subject to the existing 4-month deadline for starting examination, even after June 23.
Individuals, startups and SMEs considering accelerated examination should take the above into account when setting their filing strategy.
LNB IP Law Firm