1. Documentations  

  1)  Specification (detailed description of the present invention, claim(s) etc) and Abstract of the invention
  2)  Drawings (in case of  machinery or device invention)
  3)  Name(s) and Address(es) of an inventor(s)
  4)  Name(s) and Address(es) of an applicant(s)
  5)  Power of Attorney
  6)  Priority document, if priority is claimed.

2. Registration Requirements
  1)  Industrial Applicability - There are many interpretations regarding the industrial applicability but, in general, it means that the idea of the present invention shall be embodied to a concrete technological output and utilized for an industrial purpose. An invention relating to a method of a medical diagnosis or to a device such as a typhoon-prevention apparatus, which can be practiced for a study but cannot be realized, is not considered as a patentable invention.

  2)  Novelty - The Patent Act prescribes the novelty requirements in a negative way by providing in Article 29 (1) (refer to http://www.kipo.go.kr/ehtml/eInfIndex.html) that the following inventions are not patentable:

A. Inventions which were publicly known or worked in Korea prior to the filing of the patent application therefor; or
B. Inventions which were described in a publication distributed in or outside of Korea prior to the filing of the patent application therefor

  3) Non-obviousness - A patent may not be granted to an invention which, prior to the filing of the patent application  therefor, could easily ('extremely easily' in case of a Utility Model Application) have been made by a person having an ordinary knowledge in the art where such invention falls by utilizing the inventions falling within the category of items in the above Novelty.

  4) First-to-File Rule - Double patenting is not allowed under the Korean Patent Law.  If two or more patent  applications are filed for the same invention, only the first-filed application will be granted a patent (Article 36 (1) : refer to http://www.kipo.go.kr/ehtml/eInfIndex.html).  The first-to-file  rule also applies to a case where there is a confliction between patent and utility model  application. If two or more patent or utility model applications for the same invention are filed on the same date, only the person agreed upon by all the applicants may obtain a patent for the invention.  If no consultation is possible or no agreement is reached, none of the applicants may obtain a patent for the invention (Article 36 (2): refer to http://www.kipo.go.kr/ehtml/eInfIndex.html).

  5) Public Order and Customs - An invention shall not violate public order and customs.  Even if an invention satisfies all  of the above stated requirements, if it breaks the public order, customs and public  sanitation, the invention cannot be patented.

When the patent applicant receives a Notice to Allowance from an examiner, the applicant should pay the registration fee to the KIPO.  The fee shall be paid within three (3) months from the date of receipt of such notice as a lump sum payment for the first 3-year registration. And from the 4th year, the patentee has to pay annuity fee by the due date.  The annuity fee payment can be extended for 6 months from the due date but the amount will be doubled. If the patent applicant fails to pay the registration fee within the 6-month grace period, the application is considered being abandoned.  Upon the payment of the registration fee, patent rights under the Patent Law will be established.