Design Protection Act Lawyer
Design Protection Act Lawyer | Registration, Infringement, and Invalidation Explained
A "design" under Korean law is the shape, pattern, color, or combination thereof of an article (or part of an article) that creates an aesthetic impression through sight (디자인보호법 제2조 제1호). To be registered, a design must be novel and not easily conceivable from existing designs (디자인보호법 제33조). Disputes typically arise in three forms: a rights holder suing a competitor for making or selling a similar-looking product, a defendant petitioning to invalidate the plaintiff's design registration, or a party contesting KIPO's refusal of a design application. Because "similarity" is judged from the perspective of an ordinary consumer rather than a strict technical comparison, outcomes are highly fact-specific.
Design Protection Act | What Makes a Design Registrable — and What Can Invalidate It
Design registration is not automatic. KIPO examines each application against several statutory requirements, and the same requirements are later re-examined when a competitor files an invalidation trial. Understanding these requirements up front helps both applicants and defendants assess their exposure.
A design must be tied to an 'article' — a shape, pattern, or color (or combination) applied to a physical product that appeals visually (디자인보호법 제2조 제1호). Purely functional shapes dictated solely by the article's function generally fall outside protection, which becomes a key defense in infringement cases.
A design must not have been publicly known, publicly worked, or described in a publication before the filing date, whether in Korea or abroad (디자인보호법 제33조 제1항). Prior public disclosure — including the applicant's own product launch without a grace-period filing — is one of the most common grounds cited in invalidation trials.
Even a technically novel design can be refused or invalidated if it could easily have been created by combining or modifying publicly known designs (디자인보호법 제33조 제2항). This is a frequent battleground because it involves a judgment call about what a designer of ordinary skill would find obvious.
Where two or more applicants file similar designs, only the first-filed application can be registered, and identical same-day filings require the applicants to agree on who proceeds (디자인보호법 제46조). This makes filing timing itself a strategic and sometimes disputed issue.
A registered design can be invalidated through a trial before KIPO's Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board if it did not meet the requirements above at the time of registration, among other grounds (디자인보호법 제121조). This is the primary tool for a defendant sued for infringement to challenge the validity of the plaintiff's right.
A Registered Design Is Not Automatically Bulletproof
Registration by KIPO creates a presumption of validity, but it does not foreclose a later invalidation challenge. In practice, infringement lawsuits and invalidation trials are often litigated in parallel, with the outcome of one affecting the other.
Design Protection Act | How Infringement and Similarity Are Actually Judged
Most disputes that reach our office start with a simple question: does the other party's product look similar enough to matter? Korean courts and KIPO apply a structured — but still fact-heavy — test to answer that.
The 'Ordinary Observer' Standard
Similarity between two designs is assessed from the perspective of an ordinary consumer viewing the overall visual impression, not by mechanically comparing individual features side by side (디자인보호법 제2조 제1호 관련 판례 법리). Courts tend to give more weight to the dominant, easily noticeable parts of the design — such as the front-facing shape of a product — than to minor details on the back or bottom.
Scope of the Registered Design
The protected scope is defined by the drawings and description submitted at registration, including any claimed 'partial design' covering only part of an article (디자인보호법 제2조 제1호). A common defense strategy is arguing that the accused product falls outside the specific shape shown in the registration drawings, even if the general concept is similar.
Remedies Available to the Right Holder
A design right holder can seek an injunction to stop manufacture, sale, or import of the infringing product, along with destruction of the infringing goods and tools used to make them (디자인보호법 제113조). Damages can also be claimed, and the Act provides several methods for calculating loss, including the infringer's profits (디자인보호법 제115조).
Design Protection Act | Challenging a Design Registration Through Invalidation
If you are accused of infringing a registered design, one of the most effective responses is to examine whether the registration should have been granted in the first place.
Building a Prior Art Search
The core of most invalidation petitions is finding a prior design — a product, catalog, patent drawing, or online listing — that predates the registered design's filing date and looks substantially similar (디자인보호법 제33조 제1항). Because online marketplaces and design databases are searchable, this evidence-gathering stage often determines whether a petition is worth filing.
The Grace Period Exception
An applicant who disclosed their own design (for example, by launching the product) before filing may still register it if the application is filed within twelve months of that disclosure and the exception is properly claimed (디자인보호법 제36조). Whether this exception was correctly invoked is frequently scrutinized in invalidation proceedings.
Trial and Appeal Route
Invalidation petitions are heard by the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board, and an adverse decision can be appealed to the Patent Court and ultimately the Supreme Court (디자인보호법 제186조). Because this track runs separately from a civil infringement suit, coordinating timing between the two proceedings is often a strategic decision.
Design Protection Act | Criminal Liability and Border Enforcement
Design infringement is not purely a civil matter — the Act also carries criminal penalties, and rights holders have tools to stop infringing goods at customs.
Criminal Penalties for Infringement
Deliberate infringement of a registered design right can be punished by imprisonment of up to seven years or a fine, and prosecution generally requires a complaint from the right holder (디자인보호법 제220조). In practice, a criminal complaint is sometimes used alongside a civil suit to increase pressure toward settlement, though prosecutors independently assess whether intent and infringement are proven.
Customs Seizure of Infringing Goods
A design right holder can apply to Korea Customs Service to have suspected infringing imports or exports suspended at the border, which is often faster than waiting for a court injunction. This route is particularly relevant where the accused goods are manufactured overseas and imported for sale in Korea.
Design Protection Act | From Initial Consultation to Resolution
We review the registered design certificate, drawings, and the accused product (or the competing design you want to challenge) to form a preliminary view on similarity and validity.
For infringement defense, we search for prior designs that could invalidate the plaintiff's registration; for enforcement, we analyze whether the accused product falls within the registered design's scope.
Depending on the client's position, we prepare a cease-and-desist letter to a suspected infringer, or a formal response contesting an infringement allegation.
We file a civil infringement action seeking an injunction and damages, and/or an invalidation trial petition with the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board, coordinating the timing of parallel proceedings where relevant.
Cases proceed through hearings, expert opinions on similarity where needed, and settlement negotiations; adverse trial decisions can be appealed to the Patent Court.
Design Protection Act | How Fees Are Calculated
Generally set based on the complexity of the design comparison involved, whether the matter is a single infringement claim or includes a parallel invalidation trial, and the number of registered designs at issue.
For infringement suits, often structured as a percentage of damages awarded or the value of an injunction obtained; for invalidation trials, typically a fixed additional fee contingent on the registration being invalidated.
Where extensive searching of design databases, overseas catalogs, or marketplace listings is needed to build an invalidation case, this may be billed separately depending on scope.
KIPO trial fees, court filing fees, and any expert opinion fees on design similarity are separate from attorney fees and are billed as incurred.
Applications to Korea Customs Service for suspension of suspected infringing imports/exports involve a distinct, generally lower-cost filing process compared to full litigation.
※ Costs vary depending on case complexity and specific circumstances; exact fees will be provided during consultation. No specific outcome is guaranteed.
Design Protection Act | Self-Check Before You Contact a Lawyer
1️⃣ If You Received an Infringement Warning
- Do you have the plaintiff's design registration certificate and drawings, not just a verbal claim?
- Can you identify any product on the market before the registration's filing date that looks similar?
- Does your product's shape differ in ways visible to an ordinary consumer, not just technical details?
- Have you kept records of when you started manufacturing or selling your product?
2️⃣ If You Want to Register a Design
- Have you disclosed or sold the product publicly before filing, and if so, when exactly?
- Do you have clear drawings or photographs showing all views of the design?
- Are you seeking protection for the whole product or just a distinctive part of it?
- Is a competitor's similar product already on the market that could justify an expedited examination request?
3️⃣ If You Are Considering an Invalidation Petition
- Have you located a specific prior design with a verifiable date predating the registration's filing?
- Is there a civil infringement suit already filed against you, and what is its current schedule?
- Could the grace period exception apply to the registrant's own prior disclosure?
- Do you need to request a stay of the civil suit while the invalidation trial proceeds?
4️⃣ If You Are Enforcing Your Design Right
- Have you documented sales and estimated profits to support a damages claim?
- Do you know where the infringing goods are manufactured, sold, or imported from?
- Would a customs suspension application be faster than a court injunction in your case?
- Have you sent a cease-and-desist letter and preserved the infringer's response?
