Ki-sung Lee, of the Lee Patent & Trademark Office

Lee Patent & Trademark Office ---------------------------------------- The greater the patent applications, the greater the R&D activity "The growth of patent application correlates closely with economic growth". So emphasizes patent attorney Ki-sung Lee, of the Lee Patent & Trademark Office (http://www.kisungleepatent.com) in speaking about the importance of patents in their contribution to economic development. He says patent applications serve as an index for economic growth, adding that Korea could clearly be judged to be a major economic power on the basis of patents applied for alone. In terms of numbers of patents applied for, Korea ranks fourth or fifth in the world. Mr. Lee said that the greater the number of patents applied for, the stronger the local encouragement to invest in research and development. In this way, Korea's patent applications have contributed to the country becoming a world economic power. Regarding the outlook for the patent market at home, the patent attorney notes, "The number of applications increases by about 10% every year". Without development in the patent field, industrial growth as well as R&D promotion can't be achieved, he insists. Pointing out that patent disputes have recently intensified, Mr. Lee explained in that regard, patent attorneys also should have an awareness of the international patent field plus foreign language ability. (82-2-556-6388)