In the 1940s, Hedy Lamarr made smartphones possible. The American inventor (and famed Hollywood actor) developed a frequency-hopping technology that would one day spawn wireless communication tech in the form of Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi. Still, Lamarr didn’t receive credit for her invention for decades. Never in her lifetime did she earn money for a technology she pioneered.
The World Intellectual Property Day, observed on April 26, was this year dedicated to women like Lamarr. Supreme Court judge Justice Hima Kohli in a public address spoke about the challenges women inventors, authors and creators face in entering innovative fields and sustaining themselves. Gender plays a role in who claims and exercises intellectual property — which exists in the market as patents, copyrights and trademarks. Data shows very few women are participating in the intellectual property system; and subsequently, very few women are benefitting from it.
Here we look at the depth of the gender gap within the intellectual property ecosystem, and why laws need to be revaluated using an intersectional lens.
