According to this bulletin from Lee International IP & Law Group in South Korea, Korean patents filed on or after March 2012 may be entitled to Patent Term Adjustment if they issued more than 4 years after the filing date and more than three years after a request for examination was filed.
Patent Term Adjustment Under Article 92(2) of the Korean Patent Act
Like the U.S. Patent Term Adjustment statute, Article 92(2) of the Korean Patent Act calls for deductions from a PTA award for applicant delay, but it appears that KIPO even will count the time between an Office Action and a timelyfiled response as “delay” if the response included any claim amendments, and also will count as delay every day between the date a Notice of Allowance is mailed and the date the issue fee is paid. The PTA available under this statute is similar to an award of PTA for “B” type delay in the U.S., since every day after the four/three year period counts as KIPO delay.
Unlike PTA for U.S. patents, patent owners must request a determination of PTA, and must do so within three months of when the issue fee is paid.
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