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Pamela Sandoval

The Gender Gap in Intellectual Property: A Pending Challenge for the Global Economy

The impact of Intellectual Property Rights on the economic development of a nation is so direct that to ignore it would be negligent.
The Gender Gap in Intellectual Property: A Pending Challenge for the Global Economy
By Pamela Sandoval

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is no longer a technical subject relegated to patent experts or the legal departments of large companies. Their impact on a nation's economic development is so direct that ignoring them would be negligent. Today, IPR-backed intangible assets account for 90% of the total value of all companies. Yes, you read that right: ninety percent.

But in this maelstrom of creativity and development, there is one major absentee: women. A 2019 study by the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Committee for the Development of Intellectual Property (CDIP) throws up an uncomfortable truth. Despite the fact that women represent roughly half of the global workforce and more than half of university graduates, female participation in the IPR system is markedly lower than that of men.

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