Patent Filing and Prosecution Costs in Korea
A Korean patent budget should cover translation, filing, examination, prosecution, registration, and annuities. Specification length, claim count, technical complexity, filing route, and examination history are the principal variables. Exchange-rate changes also affect portfolios budgeted in a currency other than Korean won.
Korean translation
A foreign-language application generally requires a Korean specification. Translation charges may depend on source-word count, target-word count, pages, technical field, formulas, tables, sequence listings, and the filing schedule.
The estimate should state whether it includes attorney review of the claims, formatting, drawing-text review, terminology alignment, and questions concerning the source document. The Korean text affects later amendments and interpretation of the claims.
Professional fees
Professional fees may include pre-filing review, claim adaptation, filing formalities, priority documentation, the examination request, examination responses, examiner interviews, re-examination, appeals, allowance reporting, and registration. A filing estimate should distinguish substantive review from form preparation and submission.
MOIP official fees
MOIP's fee schedule, last updated on February 10, 2026, lists the following common patent fees:
| Official fee item | MOIP fee |
|---|---|
| Electronic patent application | KRW 46,000 |
| Request for substantive examination | KRW 166,000 + KRW 51,000 per claim |
| Request for re-examination | KRW 100,000 + KRW 10,000 per claim |
| Request for preferential examination | KRW 200,000 |
| Annual fee, years 1 to 3 | KRW 13,000 + KRW 12,000 per claim, per year |
| Annual fee, years 4 to 6 | KRW 36,000 + KRW 20,000 per claim, per year |
For a 10-claim application, the examination-request fee is KRW 676,000. The annual fees for years 1 to 3 total KRW 399,000 if all 10 claims are registered. These amounts exclude professional fees and other official charges.
Examination and prosecution
Examination responses create the greatest budget uncertainty. A matter-level estimate may use separate assumptions for allowance without a substantive response, one or two substantive responses, and complex prosecution involving an interview, re-examination, appeal, or divisional application.
The appropriate reserve depends on the technology and the quality of the incoming specification. Software eligibility, inventive step, written support, and translation issues may require additional work.
Registration and annuities
The budget should include registration and the first three annual fees, later annuities, recordals, certificates, and any annuity-agent charge. MOIP's schedule increases annual fees as the patent ages, and the number of claims continues to affect the amount.
Filing route and timing
A PCT application generally enters the Korean national phase within 31 months from the priority date and requires a Korean translation. For a direct filing claiming Paris Convention priority, the priority period for a patent is generally 12 months from the first application. The applicable date and filing requirements should be confirmed for each matter.
Late instructions may increase translation cost and reduce the time available to resolve inconsistencies or missing documents.
Matter-level budgeting
The estimate should list translation, filing professional fees, filing and examination official fees, expected examination-response costs, any interview or appeal reserve, registration and first-three-year fees, and a stated contingency.
Applications should first be grouped by route, technology, specification length, and claim count. A prosecution assumption can then be applied to each group. Portfolio-wide averaging before this classification obscures material differences between cases.
Cost controls
- Review the claim count before requesting examination.
- Provide editable source files and consistent terminology across the patent family.
- Identify commercially important features before the first examination response.
- Use standing instructions for agreed routine formalities.
- Require approval before professional fees exceed a defined threshold.
- Review low-value pending matters before major prosecution or annuity expenditure.
A claim should not be deleted solely to reduce official fees if it protects a material alternative. Coverage, divisional options, and enforcement value remain substantive considerations.
Official references
Related guidance
- Korean Patent Counsel Fees and Hidden Costs
- South Korea IP Counsel RFP Checklist
- Korean Patent Portfolio Management: Deadlines and Costs
This article provides general information and does not constitute legal advice. Official fees and filing requirements may change and should be confirmed for each matter.
