How to Advance Gender Equality in the Intellectual Property Profession

Overall, the survey shows that women are well-represented in the trademark sector, and that there has been progress in the advancement of women in the field. [...] The impact of these perceptions underscores the importance of implementing tools to measure gender equality and diversity in the workplace, so that data—not only “perception”—can be used to inform the experience of women employees and ensure that their employers are accountable for supporting their advancement. [...] Responding to the question, “If the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the representation of women in your organization, has the situation changed further since the pandemic has subsided?” One third of respondents (31%) responded “no,” 29 percent claimed that the situation improved, 20 percent claimed the situation had worsened, and 20 percent were unsure. [...] The impact of COVID-19: Of respondents in Europe, 17 percent said that the approach to gender representation changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with only 12 percent of North American respondents who saw a change. [...] However, the number of Black lawyers is virtually unchanged over the past decade, according to the ABA survey.25 Black lawyers accounted for 4.8 percent of the profession in 2013 and 5 percent in 2023.26 Furthermore, according to the 2024 Women in Law Statistics from Forbes: “Black women comprise a small percentage of all lawyers employed in U.