Women on Intellectual Property Day: «Yes, we can»

junio 9, 2023

With a conversation that addressed the challenges faced by women in obtaining patents, trademarks and copyrights, UCM’s Department of Innovation, Development and Technology Transfer commemorated Intellectual Property Day.

Celebrating the «can-do» attitude of women inventors, the Innovation, Development and Technology Transfer Department of the Universidad Católica del Maule (UCM) commemorated Intellectual Property Day.

The famous slogan Sí se puede or «Yes, We Can», used by numerous activists and political figures, was the chosen this year by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to invite women creators and entrepreneurs to challenge the difficulties they face in order to prosper.

«Women participate in many projects, but not in their management,» said the director of Innovation, Development and Technology Transfer (DIDTT), Fabiola Loyola.

“The results of the projects are what generate the intellectual property and therefore, if they do not lead them, they have a poor performance”, she added.

Since the creation of the Technology Transfer Office (OTL) in 2012, as a unit under the DIDTT, UCM has patented eight inventions, with few women encouraged to start the registration process before the National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI).

«The university is in line with this analysis. We need more women in charge of projects and also to raise the proportion of women inventors in Chile in general, where we are around 23%. I am hopeful that with all the gender policies aimed at strengthening women’s participation in innovation, applied research and intellectual property system issues, progress will be faster,» said Loyola, who moderated a discussion to commemorate the anniversary, which WIPO celebrates every April 26.

«The activity was of great relevance because we met with a private company such as ‘Concha y Toro’ and researchers from UCM. From Corfo we are implementing a gender agenda and, in fact, of the eight instruments we have, six are oriented toward women. The government’s idea is to favor women’s economic autonomy», said Corfo’s regional director, Paulina Campos, who participated in the discussion.

The «Dream Gap”

Jovanka Trebotich, the coordinator of Technology Transfer of the non-profit corporation «Know Hub», said that there are limiting beliefs among girls, in a talk she gave at the conference. Such limiting beliefs, which the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has identified as the «Dream Gap,» impact the choices and aspirations girls have for themselves.

«If you take that to school, it’s reflected in the lower performance of girls in math, and if you then take it to university, you see this gap in engineering or science faculties, and that obviously influences who does or doesn’t pursue academic careers. It’s a chain that starts from the early years and continues to the end of our days. Sometimes measures are implemented downstream, such as quotas or policies, but in reality, this comes from much earlier in life,» she explained.

The Intellectual Property Day was led by the vice-rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies of the institution, Hernán Maureira, and was also attended by the director of Intellectual Property of the law firm Carey, Jorge Fuentes.

Ver en español