Request for Examination in Korea: the 3-Year Deadline and the Claim-Fee Lever

Korea, like Japan and China, examines patents only on request. Handled well, this is a budgeting tool; handled carelessly, it is either wasted money or — in the worst case — a deemed-withdrawn application. Here is how it works.

The deadline: 3 years from the filing date

A request for examination must be filed within 3 years of the filing date — for PCT national phase cases, that means the international filing date, not the date you entered Korea. Miss it and the application is deemed withdrawn, with no examination ever taking place. We docket this deadline free of charge on every case we file.

The fee — and why claim count matters so much

The official fee is ₩166,000 (base) + ₩51,000 per claim. Because it scales with every claim, the claim count you inherited from your PCT or home application directly prices your Korean examination:

The lever: amend before you request. Claims can be trimmed by voluntary amendment before the examination request, and the per-claim fee is then computed on the reduced set. A US-style set of 30 claims trimmed to a Korean-appropriate 10–15 routinely saves USD 400–750 in official fees alone — usually more than our entire handling fee (USD 180). Annuities are also claim-count-sensitive (₩12,000 per claim per year in years 1–3), so the savings compound after grant.

Defer or request early?

• Defer (our default advice): keeps cash flow flexible, lets the market or parallel prosecution (e.g., the EPO/USPTO file) inform whether Korea is worth examining, and preserves the trimming option.
• Request early when you need enforceable rights fast — e.g., an infringer is active in Korea. Korea's expedited examination can then deliver a first action in 2–5 months and grant in as little as 4–6 months from filing — see our fast-track examination guide.

What happens after the request

A first Office Action within roughly 1–2 years is the norm — Korean examiners reject first and negotiate second, so a first rejection is expected procedure, not bad news. Our Office Action responses are handled at USD 200–500 with a hard cap, precisely so this stage stays budgetable.