The purpose of petty patent registration is to protect creative inventions that are not complex or that require only minor innovation but are new and can be applied in industry and have greater usefulness. Those who wish to register for a petty patent must follow the procedures specified by the Department of Intellectual Property, including submitting various supporting documents, paying the relevant fees, and complying with the officials' instructions. These procedures include various details and steps, which are set forth hereunder.
1. If the official considers the application and finds a correctable defect in the application, the official shall notify the applicant or his patent agent/ patent attorney of the part needing correction. The applicant shall finish the correction within 90 days from the notification reception date. After 90 days, if no corrections have been submitted by the applicant, it shall be assumed that they have abandoned the application, according to Section 27, except in cases when the Director-General extends the period for correction, as deemed appropriate owing to any necessity;
2. If the applicant requests an additional amendment, after the applicant corrected the application, the applicant must submit the corrected application and the fee to the Department of Intellectual Property or the provincial office of the Ministry of Commerce. The corrected application shall enter the consideration and initial inspection processes respectively, similarly to the re-submission of the application;
3. In case of application submission via the website or the Internet/ e-patent filing system of the Department of Intellectual Property, the inspecting official shall check the completeness of information and details in the patent/ petty patent application, request or other applications based on information and details appearing in the e-patent filing system (e-Filing). The inspection of the application submitted via the Internet shall be in accordance with the Notification of the Department of Intellectual Property, Re: Principles and conditions for submission of patent/ petty patent application, requests, or other applications via the e-patent filing system (e-Filing), dated March 5, 2018;
4. If the application is correct, or the corrections have been completed, the official shall notify the applicant to pay the registration and publication fees within 60 days from the notification date. If the applicant does not pay the fees after the second notification, the applicant shall be deemed to have abandoned the application. As for the publication, the registration application shall be announced in the petty patent publication book.
Information as of 4 April 2023
Source: Digital Government Development Agency
Tel. +66 2612 6060