(1) A patent applicant may amend the specification or any drawing accompanying his or her patent application before a certified copy of a decision to grant a patent under Article 66 is served: Provided, That the patent applicant may make an amendment only during the following applicable period (referring to the time in cases falling under subparagraph 3), if he or she has already received notice of the ground for rejection under Article 63 (1) (hereinafter referred to as "notice of the ground for rejection"): <Amended on Feb. 29, 2016>
1. Where he or she has first received notice of the ground for rejection (excluding notice of the ground for rejection regarding the ground for rejection which has arisen in connection with the amendment made following any earlier notice of the ground for rejection) or notice of the ground for rejection that does not constitute notice of the ground for rejection under subparagraph 2: The period set for submitting a written statement in the notice of the ground for rejection;
2. Where he or she has received notice of the ground for rejection regarding the ground for rejection which has arisen in connection with the amendment in relation to any earlier notice of the ground for rejection (excluding the notice of the ground for rejection given prior to the notice under Article 66-3 (2)): The period set for submitting a written statement in the notice of the ground for rejection;
3. Where he or she files a request for re-examination under Article 67-2: The time the request is filed.
(2) An amendment to the specification or drawings under paragraph (1) shall be made within the scope of the features described in the specification or drawings accompanying the initial patent application. An amendment to a patent application in a foreign language shall be made also within the scope of the features described in the final Korean translation (referring to the corrected Korean translation, if a correction is made under the former part of Article 42-3 (6)) or in the drawings (excluding captions in the drawings) accompanying the initial patent application.
(3) An amendment to the claims, among amendments made under paragraph (1) 2 and 3, may be made only in the following cases:
1. Where the claims are reduced by limiting, deleting, or adding claims;
2. Where he or she intends to rectify a clerical error;
3. Where he or she intends to clarify an ambiguous description.
4. Where an amendment is made regarding an earlier amendment that is beyond the scope of the claims under paragraph (2) to reinstate the claims prior to the amendment, or to reinstate the claims prior to the amendment and to simultaneously amend the claims under subparagraphs 1 through 3.
(4) Where a patent application is amended during the period specified in paragraph (1) 1 or 2, all amendments made at each stage of amendment prior to the final amendment shall be deemed voluntarily withdrawn.
(5) Notwithstanding the main clause of paragraph (1), the specification or drawings of a patent application in a foreign language may be amended only where a Korean translation has been submitted under Article 42-3 (2).[This Article Wholly Amended on Jun. 11, 2014]