Revisions to the Korean Design Protection Act (“KDA”) and its regulations went into effect on November 28, 2025. The salient features of the changes are summarized below.

▶Use of "Part Name" as Article Name for Partial Design Allowed 

The requirements for indicating the article name of a partial design have been relaxed. Applicant may now use the name of a part of an article as the title of the design article.

Previously, even when seeking protection for only a part of an article, the applicant was required to designate the entire article as the article name. Thus, for a design limited to claim only the "handle of a cup", the article name could only be stated as "cup". Following the amendment, applicant may freely choose either "cup" or "cup handle" as the article bearing the design. 

▶Simplification of Design Application Requirements

The required items in the design application form have also been streamlined. 

First, the requirement to indicate whether the application concerns a partial design has been removed, as such can be readily determined from the drawings and description.

In addition, the column indicating the "gist of creation" has been eliminated.

▶Strengthened Examination for Partial Examination Filings

The partial examination system for certain short lifecycle products was originally introduced to expedite examination by truncating the review of several substantive requirements—particularly novelty and earlier-filed design conflicts based on prior design searches—and by conducting examination mainly on formalities. However, concerns have been raised as some applicants attempted to exploit this system by re-registering well-known or previously canceled/expired designs for articles subjected to the partial examination system.

With the amendment, even applications eligible for partial examination may still be rejected by the examiner when clear lack of novelty or an obvious earlier-filed design conflict is identified. 

▶Broadening of Opposition Period after Partial Examination

The effectiveness and availability of the opposition system for designs registered after partial examination has been significantly strengthened.

Previously, oppositions could only be filed within three months from the date of registration publication, which often limited the practical use of the system. Following the amendment, any entity who receives a notice of infringement may file an opposition within three months from the receipt of the notice, provided that the opposition filing is still made within one year from the publication date.

▶Introduction of the Design Right Transfer Claim System

A new mechanism has been introduced that enables the true creator of a design to directly recover design rights that were improperly registered by an unauthorized entity.

Under the previous KDA, if a third party wrongfully registered another’s design, the rightful owner first had to invalidate the design right before filing a new application. Under the amended system, the rightful owner may now seek a court order to have the design right transferred directly into its own name.