What are the requirements for registering a design?

In order for a design that has been filed as a design registration application to be registered, it must satisfy the requirements for establishment of a design, and

1. novelty
2. creativity
3. industrial applicability, etc. must be satisfied
4. it must not violate the expanded first-to-file principle (Article 5 of the Design Protection Act).

However, where two or more designs satisfying such requirements, or designs similar thereto, have been filed, only the person who filed first may obtain registration. 

However, for designs filed as unexamined design registration applications, registration is granted by means of an examination method that does not examine 1) novelty, 2) creativity, and 3) the expanded first-to-file principle among the above requirements for registration, and that examines only 1) the requirements for establishment, 2) industrial applicability, and 3) whether grounds for non-registration apply.

Even a design that meets the requirements for registration of a design described above cannot be registered in the following cases (Article 6 of the Design Protection Act).

1. A design identical or similar to the national flag, national emblem, military flag, decorations, badges, or other insignia of public institutions, or to the letters or marks of a foreign national flag, national emblem, or international organization, etc.
2. A design that is liable to disturb public order or good morals
   – A portrait of a head of state or anything equivalent thereto
   – Anything that insults a specific country or its nationals
   – Anything vulgar, repugnant, or otherwise contrary to generally accepted public morals of society
   – Anything contrary to human ethics
   – Any other design that is liable to disturb international relations of trust and a fair competitive order
3. A design that is liable to cause confusion with products related to another person's business
   – A design expressing another person's well-known trademark, service mark, collective mark, or business mark (including three-dimensional trademarks)
   – A design expressing the mark of a non-profit corporation. (d) A design consisting solely of a shape indispensable for securing the function of a product
   – The function of a product means a technical function, and
   
   • a design consisting of a shape inevitably determined to secure the technical function of a product (an inevitable shape)
   • a design consisting of a shape determined by a standardized specification for securing the interchangeability of products, etc. (a quasi-inevitable shape)
   cannot be registered.
4. A design identical or similar to a design that became publicly known abroad before the design registration application ※ The Korean Design Protection Act provides that a design loses its novelty if it has been widely known domestically or abroad before the application; therefore, even if it is not known in Korea, a design identical or similar to a design that became publicly known abroad before the design registration application cannot be registered.

※ For details on the requirements for design registration, please refer to "KIPO (Korean Intellectual Property Office) website (http://www.kipo.go.kr) ▶ Intellectual Property System ▶ Trademark/Design ▶ Understanding Design".