Under the previous Korean Design Protection Act, if a design was published prior to the filing date, claiming an exception was available when the design application was filed within six months from the published date by stating an intention to claim the exception at the time of filing the design application.

 

However, pursuant to the revised Korean Design Protection Act effective from July 1, 2014, even though the applicant does not state the intention to claim the exception at the time of filing the design application, the exception to loss of novelty can be claimed even after filing the design application: (1) when filing an Opinion against an Office Action, (2) when filing a Reply to an Opposition against a design registered by partial examination, (3) when filing a Reply to an Invalidation Trial against a design registration.