Patents and gender: a contextual analysis

Abstract

Patent law is considered to be an objective law, dealing with the objective subject matter of the ‘technical arts’. Yet, empirical studies show that patenting rates around the world are gendered. This article analyses the roots of the gender patent gap, and how this correlates to the invention and innovation processes. It shows that the gendered nature of the patent-regulated knowledge governance system forces women into traditionally male spaces and fields in order to partake in the extant patent game. Yet, when they enter those spaces and fields, they often find themselves unwelcome and subject to institutional, structural or organizational biases, which impinge upon their ability to invent, patent and commercialize. This article re-frames the discourse around women inventors. It argues that we have to stop focusing on the ‘women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)’ narrative, because it is a distraction from the underlying problem that the Western knowledge governance system reflects the hegemonic powers at play. Instead, we need to re-think the knowledge governance system and the ecosystem it creates, in order to ensure egalitarian knowledge production and protection.

Patents, Knowledge Governance and Gender

“…As has been noted elsewhere, creation occurs in a complex ecosystem. 198 It is not a simple uni-directional stream. But, the patent system is only interested in the end-products of creation.…”

The Role of Patents as a Gendered Chameleon

“…That is, they pertain to socialised constructions of the scientist and the inventor, science and the inventive process, the patentable invention, and the entrepreneur, all of which are coded masculine (Burk, 2007(Burk, , 2011Rosser, 2009;Swanson, 2011). Furthermore, patenting is gendered because of gender-normative roles, biases and power dynamics (Lai, 2020).…”

Why gender is relevant to materials science and engineering

“…Achieving gender balance in participation is not just a matter of social justice. Research has shown that the benefit of more equal participation is improved collective intelligence, [25] cognitive diversity in problem solving, [26] and more realistic understanding of context, [27] all of which help make research and innovation both relevant and responsible to society. Gender equality is today often connected to diversity (recognition of ethnicity, age, educational status, etc.…”