(1) A person who has received a decision to reject a patent application may split off part of the application into a new patent application within the scope of the features described in the specification or drawings accompanying the initial patent application within 30 days (referring to the period prescribed by the presiding judge, if the period is specified in Article 186 (5)) from the date a certified copy of the trial ruling is received, if his or her filing of a petition for trial under Article 132-17 is dismissed. In such cases, any of the following claims a new patent application may contain any of the following claims:
1. A claim that has not been rejected in the decision to reject the patent application, which is the subject matter of the petition for trial;
2. A claim that deletes the extra descriptions in the rejected claims based on which the decision to reject the patent application has been made;
3. A description of the claims under subparagraph 1 or 2 as ones falling under any subparagraph of Article 47 (3) (excluding subparagraph 4 of the same paragraph);
4. A claim that deletes the part of the descriptions entered in the specification or drawings initially accompanying the patent application from any claim falling under any of subparagraphs 1 through 3.
(2) Article 52 (2) through (5) shall apply mutatis mutandis to patent applications split off under paragraph (1) (hereinafter referred to as "splitting-off"). In such cases, "division" shall be construed as "splitting-off", and "divisional application" shall be construed as "splitting-off."(3) Notwithstanding the latter part of Article 42-2 (1) or Article 42-3 (1), in cases of a splitting-off, the claims shall be contained in the specification accompanying the initial patent application or the specification and drawings (limited to the captions in drawings) shall be in Korean.
(4) A splitting-off shall not form the basis of a new splitting-off, a divisional application, or a converted application under Article 10 of the Utility Model Act.[This Article Newly Inserted on Oct. 19, 2021]