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

General Information

Area: 122,370 sq. km.
Population: 23,900,000 inhabitants (estimated 1997).
Capital: Pyongyang, with 2,400,000 inhabitants.
Language: Korean.
Currency: Won.

GENERAL REMARKS

With the establishment of the Democratic Republic, all industries were nationalized and land distributed among the peasants. The Korean War destroyed most of the country's resources, and in 1957, the first of two plans were launched to restore production and lay the foundations for future industrial development. Nevertheless, about half the working population is still employed in agriculture. Industrial development is concentrated on heavy industry: electricity (production of 50 bil. kWh in 1993), metallurgy, machine building and chemicals, plus textiles and food processing. Despite the fact that the country is rich in minerals, North Korea suffered from an ailing economy and severe food shortages.

TOP OF PAGE

Patents of Invention

LEGAL BASIS

• Law on Inventions of May 1998.
• Implementing Regulations of March 2000.
• Detailed Regulations of October 2000 under the Regulations of March 2000 for the Implementation of the Law on Inventions.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial Property (Stockholm Act), since June 10, 1980.
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since July 8, 1980.

FILING REQUIREMENTS (to be sent to resident agent for filing an application)

• Power of Attorney (no legalization);
• Inventor's declaration (no legalization);
• Specification in English for translation into Korean: 2 copies;
• Formal drawings, 3 copies;
• 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 on the Official Gazette of Patent Applications.

TOP OF PAGE

Trade and Service Marks

LEGAL BASIS

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

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since June 10, 1980.
• Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks (Stockholm Act), since June 10, 1980.
• Madrid Protocol, since October 3, 1996.

FILING REQUIREMENTS (to be sent to resident agent for filing an application)

• 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 (even 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: not provided for.

TOP OF PAGE

Industrial Designs

LEGAL BASIS

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

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since June 10, 1980.
• The Hague Agreement for International Deposit of Industrial Designs, since May 27, 1992.

FILING REQUIREMENTS (to be sent to resident agent for filing an application)

• 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: none.

TOP OF PAGE

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.

TOP OF PAGE

More

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

TOP OF PAGE