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More Women Granted Patents In Recent Years

According to a new study commissioned by the National Women’s Business Council more women have been granted patents in the last 35 years then previously thought. Even the pace of patents being granted to women have accelerated in recent years.

The study, the first of its kind, was done by a private research firm at the behest of NWBC to determine the rate of women who apply for and receive patents. NWBC also commissioned the study to due to the lack of research available that identify women business owners and intellectual property.

With the number of women being granted patents ultimately suggests is strong entrepreneurial activity from women between 1975 and 2010. Details of the study shows the largest spike came in 2010 when 22,984 patents were granted to women, which accounted for a 35% increase over the previous year. In 2009, women received over 17,061 patents, and 16,321 in 2008.

What may be particularly interesting about the study is that federal patent and trademark applicants don’t ask for gender information. However researchers garnered their data by examining the names of all patents granted over a 35- year period to determine gender, as well as other sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Social Security Administration.

Under the newly signed patent legislation the USPTO will start tracking gender data this year.

See full story http://www.nwbc.gov/