564. Thanks to the co-sponsors for your willingness to discuss this important issue. The United States looks forward to hearing interventions from other Members as to work being done to bring more women into the patent system. The United States recognizes that inclusion of women and other underrepresented communities is critical to achieving society's full innovative and economic potential. Part of achieving that inclusion is making sure we have the right data so we can take effective action. To that end, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has continued to study the characteristics and trends of patents granted to female inventors.
565. In 2020, the USPTO's Office of Chief Economist published a report entitled Progress and Potential: 2020 update on US women inventor-patentees. This report updated 2019 report profiling women inventors on US patents. The 2020 update improved our understanding of women's participation as inventor-patentees. For the nation, women's participation as inventor-patentees improved. The average women inventor rate for 2007-2019 was 14.2%, up from 13.6% for 20072016. However, national-level improvements in does not reveal state level variation in women's participation: about 41% of all USbased women inventor-patentees are located in four states: California, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas. While we have seen improvements, it's clear from US and global statistics that women's innovative potential is underutilized.
566. It has also been shown previously that the factors that prevent scientific professionals and entrepreneurs generally from becoming inventors disproportionately affect women. For example, prior research has found that female scientists face more difficulty securing funding and are more likely to lack social networks that can be critical to patenting and commercializing innovations. There are efforts underway across the whole of our Government to advance gender equity and equality in all aspects of life under President Biden's March 2021 Executive Order on Establishment of the White House Gender Policy Council, which is developing a Government-Wide Strategy to Advance Gender Equity and Equality (the "Gender Strategy"). The Gender Strategy would include a number of pillars addressing gender policy issues ranging from education and leadership to economic security, health, and safety. The Gender Strategy would encompass both domestic and foreign policy.
567. USPTO, through a Department of Commerce Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE) working group, supports programming and policy development around Women's Economic Empowerment both in the United States and abroad. For example, the USPTO's Office of Policy and International Affairs provides technical assistance and capacity-building to developing countries, including intellectual property and trade education for women in science, technology, engineering, and math, and science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math (STEM/STEAM) and innovation. Programmes are executed in partnership with sister capacity-building donors in the Commercial Law Development Program and regional desks of the International Trade Administration.
568. Internally, USPTO's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity markets senior executive preparation programmes to women and Members of other underrepresented groups. Domestically, the USPTO builds and supports the STEM/STEAM pipeline through its Offices of Innovation and Education, focusing on encouraging women and girls to pursue and advance in STEM/STEAM careers and holding an annual Women's Entrepreneurship Symposium. The USPTO holds an annual Women's Entrepreneurship Symposium which offers attendees a chance to learn about innovation and business from public and private sector experts. At the symposium, attendees have the chance to learn about navigating today's changing marketplace, explore ongoing efforts to bring women into the innovation ecosystem, hear from senior USPTO officials and other IP experts, and discover educational opportunities for girls and women in computer science, invention, and science, technology, engineering and math, other fields.
569. USPTO looks to promote inventive activity to diverse and underserved audiences; design or modify resources for novice users and micro-entities; make interactions with underserved users accessible and sustainable; and encourage patenting and trademarking by women and minorities at IP-intensive firms. The Small Business Administration (SBA), the Copyright Office, and USPTO work together to conduct domestic educational programmes about the importance of intellectual property in business for women and other underserved groups and welcomes additional cooperation opportunities.
570. In conclusion, the United States understands that more needs to be done to encourage the next generation of women inventors and is committed to advancing equality for women in innovation for the benefit of all.
