- Dec. 1995 : Commissioner, Korean
                     Industrial Property
                     Office(KIPO)
       - Dec. 1994 : Assistant Minister,
                     Ministry of Trade, Industry
                     and Energy(MOTIE)
       - Nov. 1991 : Director General of Basic
                     Industry Bureau, MTI
       - Oct. 1989 : Director General of Electronic
                    and Electric Industry Bureau,
                    MTI
       - Jan. 1984 : Technology Guidance Officer,
                    Industrial Advancement
                    Administration, MTI
       - Aug. 1977 : Director, Export Division,
                     MTI

In 1949, the Patent Bureau was established by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy(MOTIE) to exclusively handle the Industrial Property Rights(IPR) issues in Korea. Since then, the Korean IPR system has grown and developed continuously. And it has also provided a great deal towards the remarkable economic development of Korea. This Bureau has become an independent external office of MOTIE and is now called KIPO - The Korean Industrial Property Office.

According to the recent provisional report of WIPO, Korea was ranked 5th in the world in IPR applications in 1993. The current number of Industrial Property applications per year is 240,195, an increase of almost 500 times the first year the IPR system was introduced in Korea in 1949.

These statistics reflect the increasing investments of foreign companies and the expedition of a nation's technological development with the coming era of the WTO system and Free Trade.

Especially since the UR/TRIPs Agreement was adopted, there have been requests for a better understanding of Korean IPR policies and the revision of its IPR system, industrial property laws, and regulations.

I know that many foreigners may have difficulty in finding ways of protecting their industrial properties in Korea, which is caused by a lack of information of the IPR system in Korea.

I hope this homepage will help you to better understand the Korean IPR system and will be beneficial for the protection of your industrial properties, thereby encouraging investment and promoting the exchange of technology in Korea.

Thank you.
Hae-joo Chung
Commissioner
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