MPEP Section 1840.02, The Korean Intellectual Property Office as an International Searching Authority
Executive summary:
This document contains Section 1840.02 ("The Korean Intellectual Property Office as an International Searching Authority") of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (the "M.P.E.P."), Eighth Edition, Eighth Revision (July 2010). This page was last updated in January 2011. You may return to the section index to find a particular section. Alternatively, you may search the MPEP using the search box that appears on the left side of every page of BitLaw--you may restrict your search to the MPEP on the search results page.
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>1840.02 The Korean Intellectual Property Office as an International Searching Authority [R-5]
Since January 1, 2006, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) has been available as an International Searching Authority for PCT applications filed by U.S. nationals or residents in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as receiving Office or in the International Bureau (IB) as receiving Office. The choice of International Searching Authority, either the KIPO, the European Patent Office (EPO) or the USPTO, must be made by the applicant on filing the international application.
The international search fee for the KIPO must be paid to the USPTO as a receiving Office within one month from the time of filing the international application. The search fee for the KIPO is announced weekly in the Official Gazette in United States dollars. The search fee will change as costs and exchange rates require. If exchange rates fluctuate significantly, the fee may change frequently. Notice of changes will be published in the Official Gazette shortly before the effective date of any change.
If the KIPO as the International Searching Authority considers that the international application does not comply with the requirement of unity of invention as set forth in PCT Rule 13, the KIPO may invite applicants to timely pay directly to it an additional search fee in Korean won for each additional invention.<