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Women, Innovation and Impact: IP and Gender Action Plan (IPGAP)

Writer: Kushraj Singh Jaoli
Kushraj Singh Jaoli
7 days ago
2 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

The publication "Women, Innovation and Impact" and the IP and Gender Action Plan (IPGAP) form WIPO's structured framework for tracking, measuring, and actively closing the gender gap in the global intellectual property ecosystem.

1. What is “Women, Innovation and Impact” ?[1]

Released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), "Women, Innovation and Impact" is a landmark publication documenting the first three years of IPGAP implementation.

It acts as an evidence-based progress report detailing how global strategies are translating into ground-level results. Key components highlighted in the publication include:

  • Measurable Progress: Tracking the global share of women inventors named in published Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) international applications, which rose to 18.1% (up from 17.1% in earlier tracking cycles).

  • On-the-Ground Project Impact: Showcasing how targeted initiatives have rolled out more than 30 specialised women-focused projects globally, directly reaching more than 1,500 beneficiaries. These projects equip women entrepreneurs, creators, and scientists with essential IP commercialisation strategies, legal literacy, and business mentoring.

  • Highlighting Country Models: Illustrating how individual member states use national policies, better sex-disaggregated participation data, and targeted commercialisation frameworks to help women protect and benefit from their ideas.


2. Its Role in Continuous Implementation of IPGAP

The IP and Gender Action Plan (IPGAP) is WIPO's overarching strategic roadmap designed to integrate gender equality across the global IP framework systematically. The “Women, Innovation and Impact” publication is not a standalone event, but a vital mechanism within the continuous implementation cycle of IPGAP through three main pillars:

  • Data and Evidence-Driven Accountability: IPGAP mandates rigorous data collection, including support for the World Gender Name Dictionary and the Global Research Experts Meeting (GREM), to map why the innovation gender gap exists. "Women, Innovation and Impact" functions as the public accountability report for these data streams, evaluating what works and where systemic bottlenecks (like funding and IP knowledge gaps) persist.

  • Mainstreaming Capacity-Building Programs: Continuous implementation relies on translating high-level policy into practical networks. Programs highlighted in the report, such as the Scale Up Your IP initiative, regional youth and girls' camps in STEAM fields, and indigenous women's entrepreneurship programs, are direct operational tools born from IPGAP's framework.

  • Iterative Policy Correction: By mapping three years of execution, the report serves as an institutional compass. It allows WIPO and member states to identify successful micro-level implementations (such as school-level IP training or post-project mentorship networks) and scale them internationally, shifting the baseline closer to long-term parity.


References: [1] World Intell. Prop. Org., Women and Intellectual Property, WIPO, https://www.wipo.int/en/web/women


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