Austria ranks last when it comes to the proportion of female patents. While the share is only 8% in Germany and 10% in Germany, it is 30.6% in Latvia, which is ahead.
“Regardless of whether these are typically male sectors in which Austria patents a lot (mechanical engineering, electrical engineering) or sectors with a higher proportion of women (biotechnology, pharmacy): Austria is below average in female patents everywhere,” according to with the national patent office.
The regional difference is also striking: the proportion of women in the greater Vienna area is 14.8%, while in Salzburg 3.6% of patents are held by women.
According to the president of the Patent Office, Mariana Karepova, patenting a lot does not mean that the proportion of women in patents is also higher. Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, which were among the top ten countries with patents in the European Patent Office, “are at the bottom of the ranking. Other heavily patented countries do significantly better.”
27% of women in China
A look beyond Europe would show the important role of women. In South Korea, the proportion of women in patents is 28.3%, in China 26.8% and in the US 15%.
According to the Patent Office, women primarily act as team players. “Women often patent in large teams, but rarely take on leadership roles and are therefore mentioned less frequently in patents,” the patent office said in a press release. The period from 1990 to 2019 was observed.