WIPO: The pressing need for equality
It is my great pleasure to contribute a few words of introduction to World Intellectual Property Review’s “Influential Women in IP” publication.
IP exists to encourage innovation and creativity, which stimulate improvements in our quality of life and provide opportunities to confront and overcome systemic challenges. Without gender equality, however, humanity is sadly missing out on realising its full innovative and creative potential.
With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing diversity and achieving gender equality is even more important: humankind needs all hands on deck in the fight against this pathogen. New treatments, therapeutics and, hopefully, a vaccine are anxiously awaited by the global public.
Numbers matter
It is estimated that, globally, women make up approximately two-thirds of all the essential health and care workers who are risking their lives to fight this pandemic, but they are still severely underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields that fuel medical research.
"Humankind needs all hands on deck in the fight against this pathogen."
This underrepresentation is confirmed by new World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) figures on applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). In 1995, women represented only 9.5% of the 82,000 inventors listed in PCT applications published by WIPO. By 2019, that figure had risen to almost 19% of 656,000 PCT-listed inventors.
Anything in our PCT filings that shows less than 50 percent participation by women points to potentially missed innovation opportunities, which is particularly worrisome now when the need for innovation is so acute, although a growing presence of women inventors in the life sciences is encouraging.
While numbers are moving in the right direction, the rate of progress has stagnated for most of the previous decade and, as of today, parity among PCT-listed inventors will be reached only in 2044—24 years from now!
I am also concerned by the fact that the economic crisis may impose new additional barriers on women inventors, further reducing the pace of change. While ensuring that the current gains are maintained, we must speed up progress towards the day when we may all benefit from the entirety of human ingenuity.
This year, International Women’s Day on March 8 took on a particular significance as it coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, the roadmap for the empowerment of women and girls adopted by United Nations member states in 1995. So 2020 represents a key opportunity to reflect on gaps and gains over the past 25 years, while turning towards the future with renewed commitment and determination.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number five—gender equality—is a key, cross-cutting target and a precondition for sustainable progress toward the goals to be achieved by 2030. WIPO is pleased to be leading the drive to boost innovation among women and girls across the globe for a worldwide benefit and the success of the SDGs.
Please join us in this important effort, while celebrating the model Women in IP we see featured in this publication.
