General Information | Patents of Invention
Trade & Service Marks | Industrial Designs | Domain Names
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General Information

Area: 122,370 sq. km.
Population: 24,051,218 inhabitants (estimated 2008).
Capital: Pyongyang, with 3,255,388 inhabitants.
Language: Korean.
Currency: Won.

GENERAL REMARKS

Industrial development is concentrated on heavy industry: electricity, metallurgy, machine building and chemicals, plus textiles and food processing.

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Patents of Invention

LEGAL BASIS

• Law on Inventions, in force since May 13, 1998, amended on March 11, 1999 .
• Implementing Regulations of March 2000.
• Detailed Regulations of October 2000 under the Regulations of March 2000 for the Implementation of the Law on Inventions, amended in November 2010.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, Stockholm Act, since June 10, 1980.
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since July 8, 1980.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (no legalization);
• Specification in English for translation into Korean;
• Formal drawings;
• Priority document, if priority is claimed and if the patent application is filed directly without going through a PCT International Phase;
• Assignment deed, if applicant is not the inventor (no legalization);
• Assignment of priority rights, if applicant is different from applicant for priority application (no legalization).

REMARKS

National Phase of PCT: under Chapter 1: 30 months; under Chapter II: 30 months.
Validity: issued after a formal and full examination - valid for 20 years.
Annuities: accumulated and to be paid upon the grant of the patent and each year thereafter.
Opposition: may be filed by any person within three months from the date of publication of the application in the Official Gazette of Patent Applications and within six months from the date of publication of the grant in the Official Gazette of Granted Patents.

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Trade and Service Marks

LEGAL BASIS

• Law on Trademarks of 1999.
• Implementing Regulations of June 1999.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, Stockholm Act, since June 10, 1980.
• Madrid Agreement,Stockholm Act, since June 10, 1980.
• Madrid Protocol, since October 3, 1996.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (no legalization);
• Certificate of Nationality of the applicant (e.g. a certified extract from an official Register or a Certificate of Incorporation, or a notarized Attestation of Domicile);
• 5 prints (also for word marks); if colors are claimed: 10 supplementary prints in color;
• Priority document, if any.

REMARKS

Kinds of protection: verbal, pictorial and other designations or their combination. Service marks are registrable.
Classification: International.
Obligation to use the registered mark: compulsory, a mark may be cancelled from the register when the registered mark has not been used for a period of five years.
Duration - renewals: 10-year period after the filing date or last renewal date.
Opposition: possible.

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Industrial Designs

LEGAL BASIS

• Law on Industrial Designs of 1999.
• Implementing Regulations of June 1999.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, Stockholm Act, since June 10, 1980.
• Hague Agreement, since May 27, 1992.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney;
• Drawings or photographs of the design (2 copies);
• A description of the design including the usefulness and originality of the design;
• If priority is claimed: certified copy of priority document.

REMARKS

Duration - renewals: after formal examination: 5 years from the filing date. Two additional 5-year periods possible.
Opposition: possible.

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Domain Names

LEGAL BASIS

• There are no published regulations on domain name registration under the .kp country code top-level domain name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. More information will be provided in a future release.

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If you wish more detailed information concerning intellectual property protection in this territory please contact us or order Katzarov’s Manual on Industrial Property®.

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