On April 28, 2021 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) organized the workshop “Closing the Gender Gap in Intellectual Property – Mapping and Addressing Barriers” that was virtually attended by a diverse audience from many countries all over the world.

According to WIPO’s 2020 statistics, only 16.5 percent of inventors named in international patent applications are women. The number of women filing patent applications is steadily rising, therefore the trend is positive, but at low pace, and parity is foreseen by 2058. Actions are needed to anticipate this goal and WIPO is committed to improve the situation.
See the catching-eye video at: https://www.wipo.int/women-and-ip/en/

Jozefina Cutura presented her review “Challenges for Women Inventors and Innovators in Using the Intellectual Property System – A Literature Review” (2019), setting the scene for underrepresentation of women in the IP system.

Jennifer Brant commented on the report “Policy Approaches to Close the Intellectual Property Gender Gap-Practices to Support Access to the Intellectual Property System for Female Innovators, Creators and Entrepreneurs”. For each of the identified barriers, best practices and case studies are provided.

The whole recording of the event, including presentation of case studies and discussions, is available at: https://webcast.wipo.int/

Read more about Gender Equality, Diversity and Intellectual Property on WIPO portal at: https://www.wipo.int/women-and-ip/en/

Source: WIPO website
https://www.wipo.int/women-and-ip/en/

Giuliana Rubbia