Final answer:
Dr. Mark Dean is an American computer engineer and inventor who has made significant contributions to the field. While the exact number of patents he holds is not mentioned, it is presumed to be a significant number.
Step-by-step explanation:
Dr. Mark Dean is an American computer engineer and inventor who holds multiple patents.
While the specific number of patents he has is not mentioned, Figure 13.4 illustrates the surge in patent applications and granted patents in the mid-1990s with the invention of the Internet. As of 2008, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had granted over 700,000 patents in total.
The total number of patents held by Dr. Mark Dean is not directly provided in the provided information. The data about general patent application filings and grants by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office highlights a significant increase in the mid-1990s with the invention of the internet, and it's indicated that the office has issued more than 150,000 patents annually in recent years.
However, this does not isolate the specific achievements of Dr. Mark Dean. For a precise count of his patents, one would need to search the USPTO database or other reliable sources that profile his contributions to technology.
Although it's not directly stated how many patents Dr. Mark Dean has, given his significant contributions to the field of computer engineering and his many inventions, it's likely that he holds a significant number of patents.