Patent Diversity Gap

Innovation Council works to raise awareness about best practices for closing the gender IP gap. Over the past 50 years, women have entered the workforce at all levels in ever greater numbers. This trend has been accelerated in part by government policies, and with good reason: studies show that including women equally in the formal economy could spur growth in gross domestic product by as much as 26 per cent.

To obtain the full benefit of women’s participation in the workforce, women must be able to secure the fruits of their innovative and creative labors, especially as intangible value now makes up an ever increasing part of business value and investment. Access to and the effective use of intellectual property rights will be critical to women’s ability to capitalize on this value.

This page celebrates female innovators and presents resources about promising policies to address the gender IP gap, to ensure that women can effectively use IP tools to move their ideas to society. We are mindful of the  many other IP gaps that equally warrant attention.

Celebrating female innovators and working to dismantle obstacles in their paths

‘Know Your Worth’: Advice for Women Founders From Two Digital Health Startup Ceos

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“Progress and Potential“: 2020 Update on US Women Inventor-Patentees

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18 Year Old Inventor Fatima Alkaabi on Why the World Needs Girls to Study AI

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According to UNESCO: Almost One in Four Female African Entrepreneurs Report Having Innovated

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Analysis of the Gender of Inventors in International Patent Applications

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Challenges for Women Inventors and Innovators in Using the IP System

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Closing the Gender Gap in Intellectual Property

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COVID-19: Awep Urges Women Entrepreneurs to Embrace Collaboration, Diversification for Sustainability

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Digital Health Startup Wins ‘Pitch It On!’ Competition for Female Inventors

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Engaging More Women in Academic Innovation:  Findings and Recommendations

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Five Female Inventors and How Their Inventions Changed the World

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Gender and IP Literature

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Gender Bias Toward Men in Patent Awards Results in Less Biomedical Innovation for Women, Study Suggests

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Gender Gap in US Patents Leads to Few Inventions That Help Women

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Gender Profiles in UK: Patenting an Analysis of Female Inventorship

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Girl Scouts Intellectual Property Patch Program

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Girls Robotics Team, Zarifa Ghafari and Aryana Saeed: Afghan Prodigies Who Fled after Taliban Takeover

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Healthcare Needs More Diverse Experts To Guide Innovation

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Invent Together Advocacy in Favor of the IDEA Act

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Invent Together Executive Director: Investments in Female Inventors and Success in Tech Innovation are Directly Related

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Invent Together Is Dedicated to Raising Awareness about the Diversity Gap in IP

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Inventor Gender Gap Partially Responsible for Many Missing Female-Focused Inventions

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Lack of Diversity in Patent Holders Means Half of the Population Isn’t Getting Needs Met, Says Economist Lisa Cook

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Meet Valerie Thomas, the Inventor and Scientist Who Launched the Longest-Running Satellite Program Imaging Earth’s Surface

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Promising Policies and Programs for Closing the Gender IP Gap

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Publication about How Gender Mainstreaming Enhances Women’s Representation in Inventions

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Publication Preview: “Policy Approaches to Close the Intellectual Property Gender Gap”

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Q&A with Denise Bierman

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Q&A with Nicole Kayode, Female CEO of Medixus, a Modern Communication Tool for Medics

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Quotes from Speakers during the “Women in Innovation” Webinar, International Women’s Day 2021

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The gender IP gap is unacceptable, creating costs for countries, organizations, individuals, and societies everywhere.

So far, our work on IP diversity focuses on the gender IP gap. Research indicates that women are not participating in the IP system at the same rates as men, and that the relative deficit in access to the intellectual property system by women is present across all forms of IP rights. Solving this problem has the potential to greatly benefit individual women and businesses, as well as societies at large. At the individual level, increasing women’s access to the IP system can have such benefits as increased pay, better professional opportunities, and increased visibility within their fields. In terms of the societal level, one study has estimated that closing the gender gap with regard to patents could increase a nation’s GDP by 2.7 per cent. Most importantly, society should benefit from the ingenuity of all people - not just half of them.

Closing the gap must be a priority. Here are some ideas for action.

As in all areas of civil society where women do not participate proportionately, the prevailing gender gap in intellectual property has a negative impact on innovation, sustainability goals and ultimately the global economy. The following measures can help to ensure greater equality.

  • Precise data collection
  • Interventions that contribute to women entering STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) or other IP-intensive fields
  • Increasing the number of women IP law and administration professionals
  • Helping women to understand the value of IP to their work and how to use the system
  • Providing women with mentoring and opportunities for advancement in IP-intensive fields
The Innovation Council partners with Invent Together and WIPO to create new momentum for addressing the gender IP gap.