Despite the general improvements in gender equality around the world, gender gaps in patenting, in particular, persist. While more women than men graduate from universities in many countries (OECD, 2015), patenting by women remains lower than, for example, their authorship of scientific papers.

For example, the share of women penning scientific publications in 2005 stood at 24.1% in the U.S.A. and 19.2% in Germany, yet women’s share in patent applications for the same year was much lower at 8.2% in the U.S.A. and 4.9% in Germany (Frietsch et al., 2009).

Only limited data is available with which to measure women’s contributions in other areas of intellectual property, such as trademarks and copyright. As such, more work is needed to ensure that both women and men can equally access and use the IP system and profit fully from their creative and innovative assets for economic, social, and cultural development.