Across 40,658 Korean IP decisions (2019–2026), grant rates on the merits are 42.2% for patents, 66.1% for trademarks, and 60.9% for designs. Trademark cancellation succeeds most often (91.3%). Median disposition is 10–13 months, and the Patent Court sets aside 33.4% of Board decisions appealed in revocation suits.

About this dataset

This page summarizes the outcomes of Korean intellectual property disputes decided by the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board (the patent tribunal under the Korean Intellectual Property Office, KIPO) and by the courts. It is based on an analysis of 40,658 decisions issued between 2019 and 2026, broken down as 36,155 trial decisions by the Board plus 4,503 court judgments (Patent Court and Supreme Court). The snapshot date is 2026-08-12.

The figure of 40,658 is the cumulative count for 2019–2026, not the volume of a single year. Rates below are calculated on the Board’s trial decisions, the layer where the “win or lose” outcome of a Korean IP dispute is first decided.

Grant rates by field

The grant rate (or acceptance rate) is the share of cases decided on the merits in which the petitioner’s claim was granted in full or in part. Across the three fields, trademark trials are granted most often and patent trials least often.

Grant rates by trial type

Field averages hide wide variation. The trial type matters far more than the field: within patents alone, grant rates range from 30.1% (cancellation petition) to 85.2% (negative scope confirmation).

Two patterns stand out. First, “appeal against refusal” — a challenge to an examiner’s rejection — succeeds far more often for trademarks (65.1%) and designs (89.9%) than for patents (37.7%). Second, the two routes to attack a registered patent diverge sharply: a full invalidation trial is granted 59.9% of the time, but a cancellation petition (a faster, narrower post-grant review available for six months after publication) only 30.1%.

How long decisions take

Disposition time is measured from filing to the Board’s written decision. Trademark trials take the longest on average, designs and patents are quicker.

What happens on appeal: Patent Court reversal rates

A party dissatisfied with a Board decision can challenge it in a revocation suit before the Patent Court, the specialized court that reviews decisions of the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board. Across 4,065 revocation-suit judgments on the merits from 2019 to 2026, the Patent Court set aside the Board’s decision in 33.4% of cases — about one in three.

The rate is strikingly uniform across fields — roughly one third everywhere — but it varies by trial type. Scope-confirmation decisions, which turn on how broadly the scope of a right is construed, are overturned most often: 37.0% for patent active scope confirmation, 41.5% for trademark scope confirmation, and 45.1% for design active scope confirmation. Patent appeals against refusal sit at the other end at 24.2% — where both the examiner and the Board have rejected an application, the courts usually agree.

The reversal rate counts revocation suits decided on the merits by the Patent Court: a decision is either set aside or upheld, and suits dismissed on procedural grounds are excluded. Supreme Court outcomes are not reported here, because appeals dismissed without substantive review are largely unpublished in Korea and any rate computed from published judgments alone would be skewed.

What the numbers mean

For anyone weighing a Korean IP dispute, the headline takeaway is that the choice of procedure drives the odds more than the field does. Attacking a registered trademark through a cancellation action is granted about nine times in ten, while a patent cancellation petition — limited to novelty, inventive step, and prior-application grounds and available only for a short window after registration — succeeds less than a third of the time. A full patent invalidation trial, open to broader grounds and to interested parties at any time, fares far better at 59.9%.

These are historical averages across thousands of decisions and do not predict the outcome of any individual case, which turns on the specific claims, evidence, and grounds raised. They are useful for calibrating expectations and comparing procedural routes, not for guaranteeing a result.

Methodology and data access

The grant rate is defined as (granted + partially granted) divided by the number of cases decided on the merits, expressed as a percentage. Cases dismissed on procedural grounds or withdrawn are excluded from the denominator, so the rate reflects substantive outcomes only. Figures are drawn from the written decisions of the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board and from Patent Court and Supreme Court judgments, analyzed by Sodam Patent & Trademark Office. The snapshot date is 2026-08-12, covering decisions from 2019 onward.

Underlying acceptance-rate data is published openly under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license: trademark acceptance-rate data and design acceptance-rate data. The same figures can be cross-checked on the live dashboards for patent, trademark, and design trials.

FAQ

Q1. How is the grant rate calculated?

The grant rate is (granted + partially granted) divided by the number of cases decided on the merits. Cases that were dismissed on procedural grounds or withdrawn are excluded from the denominator, so the rate measures substantive outcomes only. The same definition is applied consistently across patents, trademarks, and designs.

Q2. Which trial type has the highest success rate?

Among the major types, trademark cancellation has the highest grant rate at 91.3% on the merits, followed by design appeals against refusal at 89.9% and patent negative scope confirmation at 85.2%. Patent cancellation petitions have the lowest at 30.1%.

Q3. How many decisions does this cover?

The analysis covers 40,658 decisions issued from 2019 to 2026 — 36,155 trial decisions by the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board plus 4,503 Patent Court and Supreme Court judgments. By field, that is 15,394 patent, 19,703 trademark, and 5,561 design decisions. The snapshot date is 2026-08-12.

Q4. How long does a Korean IP trial take?

On average, a Board decision takes about 11.0 months for patents, 13.9 months for trademarks, and 11.5 months for designs, measured from filing to written decision. Median times are slightly shorter at 9.8, 13.1, and 10.4 months respectively.

Q5. Where does the data come from?

The figures are based on an analysis of the written decisions of the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board and Patent Court and Supreme Court judgments, compiled by Sodam Patent & Trademark Office. The acceptance-rate data is published openly under a CC BY 4.0 license and can be cross-checked on the firm’s live trial-statistics dashboards.

Q6. How often are Board decisions overturned in court?

When a Board decision is challenged in a revocation suit, the Patent Court sets it aside in 33.4% of cases decided on the merits — 1,358 of 4,065 judgments from 2019 to 2026. The rate is similar across fields: 32.2% for patents, 34.2% for trademarks, and 34.2% for designs. Scope-confirmation decisions are overturned most often, patent appeals against refusal least often (24.2%).

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Figures are historical averages based on written decisions of the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board and court judgments, snapshot 2026-08-12, covering 2019 onward. They do not predict or guarantee the outcome of any individual case. Underlying acceptance-rate data is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. This page is general information, not legal advice. Patent Court reversal rates cover revocation suits against Board decisions decided on the merits; Supreme Court outcomes are excluded because appeals dismissed without substantive review are largely unpublished.

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