Earlier this month, an exploratory study commissioned by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) found an increasing rate of patents granted to women from 1975 to 2010. This largely underreported trend was marked by an incredible 35% increase from 2009 to 2010. In 2008, a total of 16,321 patents were granted to women growing to 17,061 in 2009 and 22,984 in 2010.
The study, which will further examine women with trademarks, is unique because federal patent applications have not required applicants to identify their gender. While women have traditionally not made up a large portion of intellectual property owners, the increasing female patent and trademark ownership highlights the accelerated influence of female entrepreneurship, says NWBC Chair Donna James. “Patent and trademark ownership is often an indicator of entrepreneurial activity,” says James. “A bump in IP ownership could indicate strong growth in women-owned companies.”
NWBC, a non-partisan advisory group to President Obama, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration will feature a new female inventor each day this year during March on their website.
We look forward to reading the full patents and trademark report which will be released in early March of this year.
