Interviewer: Yoo Soo-yeon, Jeon Soo-cheol

1. Please introduce yourself briefly.

Hello, I'm Kim Seungjun, majoring in department of Applied Biology and Chemistry Agricultural Biotechnology. I passed the 57th patent attorney exam, and I am currently working as a patent attorney for 2 years. I graduated in February 2022 because my graduation was delayed due to studying for the patent attorney exam. The graduation study was conducted under the guidance of Professor Kwon Yong-hoon of the Department of Applied Biochemistry, but due to COVID-19, instead of conducting real organic synthesis experiment, the graduation experiment was replaced by a review paper on a specific compound. Thanks to Professor Kwon Yong-hoon for leading me well until graduation.

2. We’re curious about the work of a patent attorney.

Recently, the job of a patent attorney seems to be exposed to the media a lot. Seeing two patent attorneys on the TV show "나는 솔로", I think this job has definitely become famous. Still, it seems to be unknown to the public compared to other professions.

If a lawyer is defending a ‘person's job’, a patent attorney is defending a ‘technology’. In this case, it does not only cover technical areas, but also has the authority to work on all intellectual property rights(patents, trademarks, design). Specifically, the patent attorney proceeds with consultation / design / application / examination procedures / registration / the trial and litigation of all intellectual property rights after the registration. In the case of intellectual property consultation and design, it is a task to identify the needs of clients through meetings with them and establish strategies for applying intellectual property rights accordingly. In the case of application, examination process, and registration, it is the process of getting the patent, trademark, or design right legally valid. And the application is submitted to the Korean Intellectual Property Office and proceed the exchange of opinions that occur during the review process later. In the case of judgment and litigation, procedures such as invalidation, confirmation, and cancellation proceedings based on the registered intellectual property rights are carried out according to the interests of several people. In addition, the Supreme Court's appeal suits are part of the patent attorney's job, but the patent attorney's right to represent joint litigation is not currently recognized. These are the basic tasks of a patent attorney, and you may change your field of work later. It can be a university industry-academic cooperation group or an employment patent attorney ("Inhouse") within a company, or a patent attorney ("Incoming") who is mainly in charge of overseas companies.

3. What made you want to become a patent attorney?

In fact, when I was preparing for the patent attorney exam, I don't think I prepared with a huge ambition. I learned about the job of "patent attorney" in 2015, and at the time, I was like, "Oh, there's a job like this."' I had that much thought. After finishing the third grade, I started to worry about my career, and the professor said, "If you don't know, go to the military first," so I decided to join the military. I joined the army in 2017, and I started studying for a patent attorney with the mind that I should prepare for something until I was discharged, passed the first exam the year after I was discharged, and passed the second exam the year after I got a license for a patent attorney. Looking back, rather than saying, "I really wanted to be a patent attorney, so I studied hard," I thought, "Once I started studying, I must get a certificate." To sum up, even if you don't have a dream of protecting Korea's intellectual property, I would like to tell you that once you start studying with the idea of obtaining a professional license, you may have an unexpected motive in the preparation process.

4. Please briefly explain the process of preparing for a patent attorney.

I'll briefly explain the process I prepared. I prepared from mid-2017 and took the first test in February 2018, discharged in November 2018, and took the second test in February 2019. (Passed the first test) And I failed the 2019 test because I almost let go of my studies, and I passed the second test in 2020. In both the first and second exams, I had never done a group study because I preferred to study alone. Since the first test is a complete multiple choice, I thought that the sense of field would not be very important, so I prepared only 100% online lectures. And, of course, I failed the second test because I rarely practiced writing while listening to online lectures during the same period (2019), and from the next year (2020), I steadily practiced writing while listening to actual classes from February. The hardest thing in the second test was memorizing law subject, because I hated memorizing since I was born, so I didn't memorize it until two or three months before the test. I started memorizing very hard two months before the test, and in conclusion, I passed. The study method varies from person to person, but considering that it is a test that requires students to study without getting tired for many years, I think it is necessary to first understand my study style and think about how to apply my style to studying for the exam.

5. What are the difficulties of preparing for a patent attorney or being a patent attorney now?

First of all, the hardest thing about preparing for a patent attorney is that "the future is unstable." When you enter graduate school, research results accumulate, and when you enter the workplace, you accumulate years of service, and the longer you study for the exam, the only thing that accumulates is worries and lamentations about your life. Since the knowledge accumulated while studying for the exam cannot be used in other fields, I was anxious that the time I had given up while preparing for the exam would disappear.

The most difficult thing that I feel after I start working as a patent attorney may vary from person to person, but I find it difficult to constantly create something. Of course, it would be less painful to create in-house or in-coming, which does not require much creation among patent attorneys, but I am still in charge of domestic cases, so I am most worried about continuing to write patent statements, opinions, and reports for the next few years.

6. Did your major's study help you with your work or preparation process as a patent attorney?

I mainly listened to various subjects of applied biochemistry major or biology related lectures such as genetics and cell biology of the Department of Bioscience. So, I chose molecular biology as my elective course in the second test of patent attorney, and what I learned in school was helpful for my study. However, due to the nature of the patent attorney exam, intellectual property law is mainly used, and science and engineering knowledge is only helpful in the introduction of natural science in the 1st exam or elective subjects in the 2nd exam, so the major study was not very helpful for the entire patent attorney exam.

What I feel while working as a patent attorney is little different. Unless you are in charge of a trademark or design part, all patent attorneys must have access to inventions in the fields of electronics / mechanics / semiconductors, materials / chemicals / biology, and most probationary patent attorneys have their patent part determined by their courses in college. After that, when actually applying for a patent or writing an opinion, it is essential to understand the principles, effects, and limitations of any invention, and to understand it, knowledge in the field is required. And, reflecting the recent convergence of academic disciplines, the inventions that patent attorneys have to deal with are often incorporated into various technical fields. Therefore, rather than a level of knowledge that is well-versed in one skill and little knowledge of the other, a level of knowledge that is moderately deep in both skills is better suited for patent attorney work.

7. Please say something to juniors who dream of becoming patent attorneys.

If you dream of becoming a patent attorney, you have to go through a long and rough period of studying for the exam. While studying for the exam, your original dream may be broken, and you may wonder why you should study this. However, I think it is important to keep motivating yourself now that you have started studying for the exam. As time passes while preparing for the test, fear of a vague future begins to arise, and worry about the sunk cost of failing the test. Still, if you manage your stress yourself and properly control these fears and worries, negative emotions can rather be your desire and motivation to pass the test. If you decide to study for the examination, it is desirable to pass as soon as possible and study with a firm determination to protect your body and mind. And, even if the test results don't come out well and you give up the test, don't be too frustrated and I hope you can strengthen your will that my family and friends are still by my side, and that there are many career paths and opportunities left in your life.

8. I'm curious about your future goals.

As a beginner in society and now in my second year, I struggle with what I have to do today, what I have to do tomorrow, and what I have to do until this week when I go to work, and then a day, a week, and a month passes. Even when I was a student, I felt that time went faster, but after becoming an office worker, time goes faster. I'm still not good enough to imagine what I'll look like as a patent attorney, and I'm busy doing my job day by day, but I'll always try to be a person who doesn't hurt the honor of our school.