(1) A person who intends to obtain a certificate or a certified copy or an abstract of a document concerning a patent application, a petition for patent revocation, or a trial or intends to inspect or photocopy the Patent Register or any document may file a request for inspection, etc. of such document with the Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office or the President of the Korean Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board. <Amended on Feb. 29, 2016>
(2) If the Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office or the President of the Korean Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board concludes that it is necessary to keep confidential any of the following documents, upon receipt of a request under paragraph (1), he or she may decide not to permit the applicant to inspect or photocopy the document: <Amended on Feb. 29, 2016>
1. A document concerning a patent application which has not been published or a patent application for which the grant of a patent has not been registered (excluding the earlier application, if the patent application accompanied by priority claim under Article 55 (1) has been laid open or the grant of a patent according to such application has been registered);
2. A document concerning the trial on a decision to reject a patent application under Article 132-17 with respect to a patent application that has not been laid open or the grant of a patent that has not been registered;
3. A document that is liable to negatively affect public order, morality, or public health.[This Article Wholly Amended on Jun. 11, 2014]