Customer-Tailored Patent Fee Payments Ushered In
03 October 2012
The Korea Intellectual Property Office is expected to diversity the methods of patent fee payment, according to lawyers at YP Lee, Mock & Partners. The new method of payments include credit card installment payments, a prepayment discount of annuity payment, a five-year installment payment of trademark registration and a new “fee mileage” system.
“Now that customer can choose from a wide selection of patent fee payment, they are expected to be less burdened and face fewer inconveniences in making payments,” said the lawyers at YP Lee, Mock & Partners. “In addition, the diversified payment system will contribute to the promotion of the protection of customer rights by preventing any additional payment or forfeiture caused by the extended period of payment.”
YP Lee, Mock & Partners provided detailed descriptions of the new tailored fee payment system on its website.
Under the fee mileage system, some portions of patent fees paid to KIPO will turn into “mileage” which will be deducted from the patent fee amount to be paid. Targeted customers: Individuals applicant codes in Korea and abroad or any domestic SMEs.
The current lump sum-based credit card payment will allow two or three-month interest free installments, reducing customer burdens. The credit card payment for foreign customers will be improved by allowing them to pay some PCT international applicant fees through credit cards issued by foreign banks.
Customers paying their years of annuity payments on a lump-sum basis will have special benefits, and an annuity payment prepayment discount system will be introduced, aiming to reduce customer burdens of checking the annuity payment deadline every year. Customers who make an advance lump-sum payment of three years in annuity payment will benefit from a 5% discount on the total amount of annuity payment.
Customers currently have had to pay 10 years of trademark registration fees on a lump-sum basis. However, when the installment payment of trademark registration fees is introduced from June 2010, customers can pay the first ratio of trademark registration fees while applying for the registration, with the second ratio being paid before the trademark terms are terminated, within five years.
Finally, the existing trademarks term renewal application system shall be improved and simplified from June 2010, allowing customers to extend their patent term without any assessment period if they pay trade registration fees within the renewal period and submit the renewal registration application form. Under the new application system, the current renewal registration application fees will be abolished and renewal registration fees are to be paid while applying for trademark renewal registration.
KIPO, which is run based on patent fees paid by customers, will put forth every effort to deal with any difficulties or inconveniencies stemming from patent fee payment and create customer-oriented payment system, the YP Lee, Mock & Partners lawyers said.
