Gender Inequality in Pharmaceutical Patent Law

Abstract

A recent study by professors found that women represent only one-third of the top pharmaceutical patent litigators and one-quarter of lawyers who help inventors obtain these valuable pharmaceutical patents. This lack of representation in the pharmaceutical patent field is surprising because women represent the majority of law school students who have natural sciences degrees. Despite conventional wisdom, which alleges that this lack of representation is due to the absence of women within technical fields (the “pipeline” theory), this study rebuts the pipeline theory. Specifically, the study shows that women law students with natural sciences degrees outnumber their male counterparts and yet women are underrepresented when it comes to pharmaceutical patent prosecution and litigation.

Keywords: patent law, pharmaceutical patents, patent litigators, patent attorneys, gender, gender representation, legal education, pipeline theory

JEL Classification: K00, K10, K23