Patent Act Article 43

Amendment during examination; final noticeUnless otherwise stipulated in this Act, when examining a patent application for invention, the Specific Patent Agency may, upon request or on its own initiative, notify the applicant to amend the description, claim(s), or drawing(s) within a specified time period.Except for correction of translation errors, any amendment shall not extend beyond the scope of content disclosed in the description, claim(s), or drawing(s) as filed.Where the Specific Patent Agency has issued a notice pursuant to Paragraph 2 of Article 46, a patent applicant shall only make amendment(s) within the specified time period in the notice.The Specific Patent Agency may, as it deems necessary, issue a final notice after having issued a notice prescribed in the preceding paragraph. The applicant who is to amend claim(s) after a final notice has been issued shall only make the following amendments within the time period specified therein:1. to delete claim(s);2. to narrow down the scope of claim(s);3. to correct errors; or4. to clarify ambiguous statement(s).In case of a violation of the provisions in the preceding two paragraphs, the Specific Patent Agency shall state the reasons in a written decision and render such decision accordingly.The Specific Patent Agency may issue a final notice accordingly if the original patent application or its divisional application meets any of the following conditions:1. where the content of the notice issued for the original patent application is the same as that of the notice issued for the divisional patent application;2. where the content of the notice issued for the divisional patent application is the same as that of the notice issued for the original patent application; or3. where the content of the notice issued for a divisional application is the same as that of the notice issued for other divisional application(s).