Women and IP: Looking at the stats

This World IP Day, Law Society of Scotland Intellectual Property Committee member, Susan Ferguson-Snedden, reflects on the gender balance in IP law and what we can do to support progress.

This year’s World IP Day theme is “Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity.”

The organiser, World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), is keen to increase women’s participation in IP. It noted that in patent applications filed in 2022, only 16.2% of inventors were women.

This low figure surprised me. I have practised as an IP solicitor in Scotland for almost 20 years and my impression had always been that the IP professions are fairly well gender-balanced.

However, my experience may not accurately reflect the wider picture, as my private practice career was shaped by two inspirational female mentors.

This year’s theme prompted me to look into the gender balance of IP solicitors and trade mark/ patent agents in Scotland. I considered:

• the gender split of Law Society of Scotland Accredited IP Specialists
• the current Legal 500 rankings for Intellectual Property in Scotland
• IPReg’s register of patent and trademark attorneys (searching for attorneys based in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness)

My research is not in any way scientific or peer reviewed, and all errors are my own! Subject to those caveats, what I found was interesting.

The statistics above demonstrate that in Scotland, men dominate the numbers of accredited specialist solicitors, solicitor practice heads, and patent attorneys.

The majority of “other leading lawyers” in Legal 500’s IP rankings are female. This may be a good sign for the future, but alternatively could indicate that women are hitting a glass ceiling when it comes to senior positions in law firms. The last Law Society of Scotland Profile of the Profession (published in 2018) noted that a higher proportion of female than male respondents spent longer as a senior associate or similar level below partner before becoming a partner.

The Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Agents reported in 2022 that 60% of its members across the UK are women (in line with numbers in Scotland), but that at partnership level, the profession remains male-dominated.

The patent attorney statistics are also interesting. To become a patent attorney, it is necessary to have a scientific background and training. Women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) report that in 2019, 24% of the UK’s STEM workforce were women. 32% of Scotland-based patent attorneys are female, which is a slightly higher percentage than the average in the UK STEM workforce, but there is still a long way to go to reach parity.

As WIPO says: “The current gender gap in IP means that we are all missing out. We all benefit when women engage in innovation and creativity. Today, we face unprecedented challenges. With more diverse and inclusive ecosystems for innovation and creativity, we improve our collective capability to transition to a more sustainable future.”

If you're looking for inspiration and ways to help, you might want to... 

• read CITMA's article on Empowerment and confidence: the keys to success for women in the IP sector
• join one or more of IP Inclusive’s networks: including Women in IP 
• get involved with Women in STEM

Let’s use this #WorldIPDay to consider how we can all best nurture and encourage women to join and succeed in the Scottish IP legal professions.