KIPO's 'KIPRIS' Fully Revamped After 12 Years

Operation of Online Portal for Patent Information Search Service
Aiming to Implement User-Friendly and Intuitive Service
Improved Service Scheduled for January Next Year After Revamp Completion

The patent information search service ‘KIPRIS’ will undergo a complete overhaul.

On the 17th, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that it will push forward with a full revamp of KIPRIS for the first time in 12 years since the major overhaul in 2012.

Screenshot of the Kipris homepage. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

KIPRIS operates as an online portal for searching and utilizing information related to patents, including invention ideas and applications.

By using KIPRIS, users can access 130 million pieces of industrial property rights information from 29 countries held by KIPO, including patents, trademarks, and designs, as well as administrative processing information such as patent applications and examination progress, all in one place.

Recently, as the utilization of patent information has become more important, the number of KIPRIS users has steadily increased. In fact, the number of searches conducted via KIPRIS rose 3.7 times from 33 million in 2012 to 120 million in 2023. During the same period, the number of visits increased 2.3 times from 18 million to 41 million.

Previously, after the major improvement in 2012, only partial enhancements focusing on adding simple functions were made to KIPRIS.

However, users have continuously raised issues about inconvenience caused by the complex functions.

Accordingly, KIPO is promoting a full overhaul of KIPRIS with the goal of “implementing a user-friendly and intuitive service.” Through this revamp, KIPRIS will provide an integrated industrial property rights search function that allows users to search domestic and international intellectual property information at once.

Currently, to check domestic and international information on KIPRIS, separate searches are required by rights such as patents, trademarks, and designs, but in the future, users will be able to check domestic and international industrial property rights information collectively with a single search.

In line with the increasing use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs, ‘responsive web technology’ will also be applied to KIPRIS. With the introduction of responsive web technology, the website will dynamically adjust to the screen size and layout of the device being used, allowing users to access the service in an optimized environment regardless of the device.

The screen structure will also be improved to reflect the latest design trends. According to KIPO, this will enhance search convenience by enabling users to view search queries, results, and detailed information all on one screen, similar to recently revamped overseas patent search sites.

The revamped KIPRIS service is scheduled to be launched in January next year.

Lee In-su, Director of the Industrial Property Information Bureau at KIPO, said, “With the full overhaul of KIPRIS, we will create an environment where inventors and creators can search patent information more easily.”