Korea: Filings on a beer coaster? KIPO plans liberalisation of application formats according to PLT

The Korean Patent Office (KIPO) is currently working on a comprehensive reform of the Korean Patent Law. The main objective is to bring the existing legislation in line with the requirements of the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) which KIPO plans to join until 2013.

The draft bill which was presented on 22 July 2011 stipulates that filings may be accepted also in foreign languages and in different formats including theses or simple notepads. The patent law reform is expected to enter into force in late 2012.

For further information, please refer to KIPO news of 20 July 2011 (in Korean only)