A utility model is similar to a patent in protecting the creation of a technical idea, and most regulations that govern patents also apply to utility models. Utility models, however, are intended for inventions that lack the required level of patentability. Products and methods can be patented but only products can be granted a utility model right. A patent registration lasts 20 years from the application date, and patent rights are effective from the moment of registration. However, the protection period of a utility model is 10 years from the application date.

The Republic of Korea is a member of the following international treaties: • Convention Establishing WIPO (1967) • Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1980) • Patent Cooperation Treaty (1984) • Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms (1987) • Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit Microorganisms for the Purpose of Patent Procedure (1988) • WTO Agreement of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, including Trade in Counterfeit Goods (1995) • Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1996) • Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification (1998) • Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of Registration of Marks (1998) • Trademark Law Treaty (2002) • International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (2002) • Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (2003) • WIPO Copyright Treaty (2004)