601. We would like to thank the United States for preparing the paper that we are happy to cosponsor. Globally, female participation in the field of intellectual property is generally lower than that of men, with the gender gap in patenting being the largest. Our data shows similarity in the scale of gender disparities in IP. To illustrate, among our new patent applications filed by natural person resident applicants in 2020, 83.78% were filed by men while 16.22% were filed by women, revealing a significant gender imbalance. However, although the number of female patent attorneys is substantially less than that of male practitioners, the younger the age group, the smaller the gender gap. For example, the female percentage of patent attorneys over 51 years old is 6%, but that of the age group between 21 and 30 is 34%. In addition, the overall female percentage of patent attorneys has followed an upward trajectory in the past decade.
602. To encourage the participation of outstanding female inventors in R&D and creative activities, teams with female participants are given extra points in written material reviews at the Innotech Expo. Performance on the "gender-friendly index" is also a judging criterion. This evaluation criterion not only encourages the invention competition participants to create submissions that carry forth the spirit of gender equality but also aims to elevate the entries to a higher purpose of "gendered innovations." In addition, in order to promote the concept of intellectual property rights protection, we have also actively invested in education and awareness activities by regularly holding various information sessions on intellectual property laws as well as talks of cultural and creative themes and continuously encouraging female participation through official websites and social media platforms, aiming to create a gender-friendly intellectual property environment.
603. We are also actively promoting the concept of gender equality in education and committing to encourage inclusion of women in the technically oriented "STEM" occupational fields, including actively nurturing female talents and pushing for participation in research and technological innovation in the scientific field through establishing a foundation in education. We endeavour to effectively promote women's participation in the intellectual property field and facilitate female economic empowerment. This would be the direction we strive to move towards in the future; all suggestions and experience sharing from Members are welcome.
