Gender Diversity in the Patent Bar

30 Pages Posted: 8 May 2014 Last revised: 27 Jul 2015

See all articles by Saurabh Vishnubhakat

Saurabh Vishnubhakat

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; Duke University School of Law

Date Written: May 6, 2014

Abstract

This article describes the state of gender diversity across technology and geography within the U.S. patent bar. The findings rely on a new gender-matched dataset, the first public dataset of its kind, not only of all attorneys and agents registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but also of attorneys and agents on patents granted by the USPTO. To enable follow-on research, the article describes all data and methodology and offers suggestions for refinement. This study is timely in view of renewed interest about the participation of women in the U.S. innovation ecosystem, notably the provision of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act directing the USPTO to study diversity, including gender diversity, among patent applicants, and of related research by the National Women’s Business Council on usage of the U.S. patent and trademark systems by U.S.-based female entrepreneurs. Analysis of gender data on the patent bar complements these studies and begins to provide a more complete picture of diversity in the U.S. patent system.

Keywords: patents, prosecution, gender, diversity, legal profession, empirical

JEL Classification: D73, J16, J21, J24, J44, J61, K40

Suggested Citation

Vishnubhakat, Saurabh, Gender Diversity in the Patent Bar (May 6, 2014). 14 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 67 (2014), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2433776

Saurabh Vishnubhakat (Contact Author)

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law ( email )

55 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10003
United States

HOME PAGE: http://cardozo.yu.edu/directory/saurabh-vishnubhakat

Duke University School of Law

Durham, NC

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