On Tuesday, July 21, the United States Patent and Trademark Office released “Progress and Potential: 2020 Update on U.S. Women Inventor-Patentees,” a follow-up to its 2019 report on U.S. women inventors. The new report found that more women are participating in the intellectual property system than ever before. A brief roundup of reactions to this report includes:
CNET–Women inventors are sticking with it, patent office says
“The percentage of women inventors filing additional patents within five years of their first is on the rise. Data from the United States Patent and Trademark Office shows improvement in the patent field for women since the 1980s.”
Bloomberg–Women Inventors Make Progress but Still Lag Male Counterparts
“American women are making slow but steady progress when it comes to innovation and obtaining legal protection for their inventions, according to a new study by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The share of patents with at least one woman named as inventor was 22% by the end of 2019, up from 20.7% in 2016, according to the study of patents with at least one U.S.-based inventor.”
“…the percentage of women inventors has grown: It stood at less than 5% in 1980, whereas women accounted for more than 17% of the inventors on U.S. patents in 2019. The percentage of women on patents is also up in 45 states when comparing 2007 to 2016 and 2007 to 2019, the USPTO report said.”
World IP Review–USPTO welcomes ‘promising’ women inventor numbers
“USPTO welcomes ‘promising’ women inventor numbers. A new report from the US Patent and Trademark Office reveals that the participation of women in innovation is growing, earning the office praise from the legal industry.”
Law360–USPTO Says Rate Of Women Getting Patents At 'All-Time High'
The report released Tuesday—which focused on women who secured patents in the last three years—found that the rate in which female inventors are participating in the U.S. patent system is at an "all-time high," from 12.1% in 2016 to 12.8% in 2019.
Innovation Alliance–Innovation Alliance Statement on Update to USPTO Report on Women Inventors on U.S. Patents
“The Innovation Alliance commends USPTO Director Iancu and his staff for releasing an update to the 2019 USPTO report on the participation of women in the U.S. innovation economy.”
Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO
“To retain our nation’s edge as a global innovation leader, we need even broader participation in patenting. That’s why the USPTO has made outreach to underrepresented groups a top priority.”
This report updates the previous findings based on a review of an additional nearly one million issued patents and three years of new data, and it provides further insights into the participation of women in America’s intellectual property systems.
Read the press release on the USPTO website.