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Albright IP Limited
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Emily Warwick
Emily Warwick
14:56 27 Jul 22
My experience with Albright IP has been flawless from start to finish. I... have never filed a patent before so I was learning everything as I went along. They have been helpful in every way possible and gone the extra mile to ensure I was kept in the loop and happy as everything was going through each step of the way. I cannot express enough how pleased I am with their service. I had the pleasure of working with Will, Abigail, and Adrian. I would recommend Albright IP to anyone looking to file a patent application.read more
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Simon Mills
13:22 06 Jul 22
Super helpful advice, and really friendly service. Highly recommend... Albright for IP advice and services.read more
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Luke D.
11:25 23 May 22
Was a pleasure to work with Will and Melissa on a patent draft and filing.... Will took the time to understand both my software product and the commercial motivations behind the patent filing. They were extremely responsive to questions and clarifications throughout the process (availability isn't everything, but it certainly helps!).They were also very clear regarding fees, and set out a very helpful visual timeline and cost breakdown on the whole patent application process at the pre-sales stage. This emphasis on making sure I understood all aspects of the work, and having documentation to help with that, is something I didn't see with any of the other patent services I was talking to at the time. This clear communication continued throughout our interactions.Would recommend Albright IP to anyone looking to patent an invention. The patent they filed for me was for a software invention.read more
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Recent changes to the Korean Patent Act

by | Aug 17, 2011

The Korean Patent Act and the Korean Utility Model Act were revised in May 2011, making it mandatory for patent or utility model applications to disclose information on prior art related to the invention.

Up until 01 July 2011, when filing a patent application at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, there has been no requirement to disclose information on prior art related to the invention in the patent specification. Nevertheless, it had been customary under Korean patent practice to describe background art in the specification, and the lack of such disclosure can often be regarded as failure to provide adequate information and fulfill the description requirements for the specification.

As of 01 July 2011, an application filed on or after this date at the Korean Intellectual Property Office is required to disclose information on prior art related to the invention in the patent specification. The same also applies when filing for a Korean Utility Model on or after the same date. Failure to meet this requirement will result in the application being rejected during the examination stage.

The Korean Patent Act has been revised and requires that “the specification must describe ‘background art of the invention’”. Furthermore, to meet this requirement the prior art disclosed must relate to the invention as disclosed in the claims. The disclosure may include references to specific prior art documents, such as the publication number of a patent, or in the case of other publication, an author, title, publisher or date.

According to the Examination Guidelines of the revised Korean Patent Act, there is no requirement to detail or describe the content of any cited prior art. It is sufficient to only reference prior art documents providing the cited prior art documents contain adequate background information related to the invention.

Nevertheless, when referencing prior art, it is advisable to include a brief description of the cited documents. In cases where the invention is related to an entirely new inventive concept and as such no related prior art is available, background art related to the main technical feature of the invention may be mentioned.

For any application filed on and after 01 July 2011, objection will be raised if the patent specification does not disclose any prior art related to the invention. The applicant can address the objection by filing amendments and adding relevant prior art information to the specification. However, care should be taken as to not introduce added matter, which is impermissible, to the application.

Applications filed before 01 July 2011 will not be affected by this recent change. Furthermore, failure to reference relevant prior art in the patent specification does not constitute a ground for invalidation after grant of the patent.

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