Unregistered Patents & Gender Equality: A Global Perspective

Abstract

Women are currently under-represented among patent holders. Studies show that female inventors, both in industry and in academia, hold fewer patents, file fewer patent applications, and have their applications more often rejected by the patent office as compared to men. As a result female inventors are less likely to receive patent protection for their innovative efforts or to see their inventions commercialized, hindering their ability to participate in highly innovative fields. One measure that could help women gain access to protections for their innovation is by recognizing unregistered patent rights in addition to the existing regime of registered patent rights. The proposed unregistered rights would extend only to inventions that meet the familiar substantive requirements for patentability but would do so without requiring inventors to go through the expensive, complicated, and time-consuming patent examination process. Such unregistered patents would grant exclusive rights to inventions for only a limited period of time and only against direct and knowing copying but nonetheless would provide much needed protections to female innovators, who face many obstacles in obtaining registered patent rights to their innovative efforts.