Lee International

On September 15, 2026, an amendment to the Patent Act was promulgated to relax the requirements for restoring a patent application or a patent that has lapsed due to failure to timely pay issuance fees or annuities (collectively, “Patent Fees”).  Currently, restoration is permitted only where the failure to pay was due to “a reasonable cause.”  Under the amended Act, restoration will be permitted unless the Patent Fees were intentionally left unpaid. 

Under the current Patent Act, if an applicant or patentee fails to pay the Patent Fees within the six-month additional payment period (“Grace Period”), the lapsed patent application or patent may be restored only upon a showing of a reasonable cause for the failure to pay.  Under the amended Act, unless the Patent Fees were intentionally left unpaid, the applicant or patentee may request restoration within one year from the expiration of the G race Period by paying the prescribed fees.  Accordingly, the amendment is expected to significantly expand the availability of restoration where a payment deadline was missed due to an inadvertent error or oversight.

However, the effect of a restored patent application or patent will not extend to acts of practicing the invention by a third party during the period from the day following the expiration of the Grace Period until the date on which the prescribed fees are paid.   In addition, a person who, in good faith, has practiced the invention or made preparations to practice the invention for business purposes in Korea during that period will have a non-exclusive license within the scope of the invention practiced or prepared for practice and the relevant business.

The amended Patent Act will take effect on March 16, 2027, six months after its promulgation.  The amended restoration provisions will apply where the Grace Period expires on or after the effective date. Accordingly, the relaxed restoration requirements will not apply retroactively where the Grace Period expired before the effective date.

Corresponding amendments to the Korean Utility Model Act and Design Protection Act have also been promulgated in line with the amendment to the Korean Patent Act, similarly relaxing the requirements for restoring lapsed utility model and design rights.