“USPTO Is ‘Institutionally Biased’ Against Women, Study Says” (featured quotes)

October 6, 2020
Law360

Patent Agent Mary Hannon is featured in Law360's article "USPTO Is 'Institutionally Biased' Against Women, Study Says," on October 6, 2020 discussing her upcoming publication in Indiana University Maurer School of Law's IP Theory in the winter of 2020. 

Hannon details "while the USPTO has addressed the need for greater representation of female innovators, it has failed to address gender diversity among registered patent practitioners in the patent bar who represent inventors before the agency." She further describes that "qualified women are unnecessarily excluded from membership in the 'patent bar' as a result of the perpetuation of an institutionally biased and outdated set of scientific and technical requirements." 

Hannon shares that "the problem goes far beyond the USPTO to the representation of women in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — more generally and that women in fields like statistics, nursing and psychology shouldn't be excluded from joining the patent bar."

Subscribers may access the Law360 preview discussing some of the "systemic obstacles" for women due to scientific requirements that hold them back from joining the patent bar as non-lawyer patent agents.” 

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