GENDER DESEGREGATED ANALYSIS OF MEXICAN INVENTORS IN PATENT APPLICATIONS UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT)

Following the Organization of Economic and Cooperation and Development recommendations, we have used patent data comprised in the PATENTSCOPE database as an indicator of technological innovation and in order to analyze Mexican inventors' involvement on patent filing over a 20 year period (1995-2015). The analysis was gender desegregated to observe patterns and trends of participation of both male and female inventors. Some indicators such as participation, contribution and presence are shown. Findings reveal that Mexican female inventors more often apply for patent titles within a small to medium sized team, while male inventors prefer single-authored applications. It has also been found that the stronger technological area in which both male and female Mexican inventors apply for patent titles is that relative to Chemistry and Metallurgy, inclusive of all its subareas. The results reveal gender disparities that should be addressed in Mexican public policy to accomplish United Nations Millenium Goals and UN Sustainable Development Goals, and to and promote gender equity in Science and Technology related activities.