MOSCOW, April 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russian inventors account for only 1.7% of all international patents, severely lagging behind developed countries, a Russian forum said on Wednesday.

A draft document from the Intellectual Property of Russia-2008 forum currently running in Moscow until April 26 said it is impossible to introduce innovation and new technology to the economy unless intellectual property rights are reserved and protected by law.

"In Russia only 20% of state contracts contain legal norms to strengthen rights for the results of R&D, only 10% patents are subject to protection and financed from the budget with only 1-2% of these used in commerce. The know-how institute is virtually idle," the document said.

The Intellectual Property Watch website said citing a U.S. report that piracy in Russia resulted in losses of around $1.5 billion to the copyright industry in 2007 with Internet piracy and trademarks being among very serious problems.