The individual renewal fee for renewing a Republic of Korea designation from certain Hague design registrations is also set to be reduced by 12%, and will take effect for any affected renewal payments made on, or after, 01 August 2025.

Change in the individual designation fee

When designating the Republic of Korea in a prospective Hague design registration, the official fees payable for covering this particular territory are, somewhat uniquely, based on the subject matter of the designs contained with the prospective Hague design registration.

Specifically, where the subject matter of the design(s) within the prospective Hague design registration falls within any of Locarno classifications 1 (relating to foodstuffs); 2 (relating to clothing); 3 (relating to travel goods/personal belongings); 5 (relating to textiles); 9 (relating to packaging/containers); 11 (relating to articles of adornment); or 19 (relating to stationery and office equipment, artists' and teaching materials), the official fees levied for covering the Republic of Korea territory, in particular, within the prospective Hague design registration are charged under a reduced rate of 90 CHF for the first design within the prospective registration, and 50 CHF for each subsequent design included within the same prospective registration.

This is because the South Korean design registry does not perform prior art searching for any designs that are pursued in these particular Locarno classifications, hence making it cheaper for the registry to assess these sorts of designs.

Whereas if the subject matter of the design(s) from within the prospective Hague design registration sits within any of the other, remaining, Locarno classifications (of which there are 32), the official fee levied for covering the Republic of Korea territory, in particular, within the prospective Hague design registration will be charged under the soon-to-be reduced individual designation fee of CHF 143, which is payable for each design included in the prospective registration (reduced from 162 CHF).

Change in the individual renewal fee

As noted above, the individual renewal fee for renewing a Republic of Korea designation from certain Hague design registrations is also set to be reduced by 12%, and will take effect for any affected renewal payments made on, or after, 01 August 2025.

As background, the maximum duration of a Republic of Korea designation from within a Hague design registration is 20 years from the initial submission date of the Hague design registration. Within this maximum 20 year period, a renewal fee must be paid every five years.

The amount of the renewal fee for renewing a Republic of Korea designation within a Hague design registration (at least in respect of those applied on, or after, 01 December 2020), again, depends on the subject matter of the designs within the Hague design registration, and in particular what Locarno classification they fall within.

For designs within any of the above Locarno classifications 1-3; 5; 9; 11; or 19, the renewal fee for renewing a Republic of Korea designation from a Hague design registration stands at 21 CHF for the first design within the Hague design registration, and 1 CHF for each subsequent design included in the same Hague design registration. These fees are each payable every five years.

Though for designs from a Hague design registration which fall under any of the remaining Locarno classifications, the renewal fee for renewing the Republic of Korea designation within the Hague design registration will be charged under the soon-to-be reduced individual renewal fees as set out below:

Again, this renewal fee is charged for each design included within the Hague design registration.

Conclusion

The above reduction in the individual designation/renewal fees for designating the Republic of Korea, in respect of designs falling outside of Locarno classifications 1-3; 5; 9; 11; or 19, will certainly be welcomed by all.

That being said, right holders should still be conscious of the discrepancy in the official fees payable for obtaining design registration protection in the Republic of Korea under the Hague design registration system, depending on whether the subject matter of the relevant designs falls within Locarno classifications 1-3; 5; 9; 11; or 19, or not. Indeed, outside of these particular Locarno classifications 1-3; 5; 9; 11; or 19, the official fees are much more expensive!

For further information on the fees payable for designating the Republic of Korea in a Hague design application, please refer to the Hague system member profile entry for this territory, and also the Hague system fee calculator (links below).

Useful links

• WIPO Hague Information Notice 7/2025 (PDF): dycip.com/wipo-designs-hague-korea-aug2025
• WIPO Hague system member profiles: Republic of Korea, WIPO: dycip.com/wipo-hague-member-korea
• WIPO Hague system fee calculator: dycip.com/wipo-hague-fee-calculator