Modern industrial property administration was first introduced in Korea in 1946 when the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy established the Patent Bureau to deal with all matters involving patents, utility models, industrial designs and trademarks.

In 1977, the Bureau became independent and was renamed the Office of Patent Administration, headed by a Commissioner of vice ministerial rank.

In 1988, the office adopted the current name "Korean Industrial Property Office" (KIPO) to better reflect the Office's overall functions.

Since the enforcement of the Patent Law in 1961, the Trademark Law in 1949, and the Design Law in 1961, KIPO has made concerted efforts to upgrade Korea's IPR system and has made many adjustments to successfully cope with the changing international trends and standards in the IPR field.

In accordance with the adoption of the UR/TRIPs Agreement, KIPO is making the additional amenciments and enactments to fully equip the industrial property system.

Following Korea's joining of WIPO in 1979, Korea became a party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property in 1980 and has abided by the principle of giving equal treatment to nationals and foreign nationals alike. In 1984, Korea acceded to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and in 1988, KIPO became a party to the Budapest Treaty.

At present the annual number of Patent and Utility Model applications totals some 138,365, Trademarks 71,852, Industrial Designs 29,978 (1995). In addition the number of applications for inventions especially in high technology fields has gradually been increasing.

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