USPTO Releases Updated Study on Participation of Women in The US Innovation Economy

The USPTO released “Progress and Potential: 2020 Update on U.S. Women Inventor-Patentees,” a follow-up to its 2019 report on U.S. women inventors. The new report updates the previous findings based on a review of an additional nearly one million issued patents and three years of new data, and it provides further insights into the participation of women in America’s intellectual property systems.

The report's numerous findings include:

• More women are entering and staying active in the patent system than ever before.
• The number of patents with at least one woman inventor increased from 20.7% in 2016 to 21.9% by the end of 2019.
• The “Women Inventor Rate”–the share of U.S. inventors receiving patents who are women–increased from 12.1% in 2016 to 12.8% in 2019.
• The share of women among new inventors on issued patents increased from 16.6% in 2016 to 17.3% by 2019.

Access the full report on the USPTO website.