March 2026 | Bulletin num.186 |
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The SPTO Hosts an Ibero-American Meeting to Assess the Status of Women in the Global Industrial Property Ecosystem The Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) hosted an international meeting to assess the status of women in the global industrial property (IP) ecosystem in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), with representatives from various Ibero-American national IP offices in attendance. On February 19 and 20, 2026, experts from all these organizations participated in various activities aimed at analyzing the existing gender gap in the global ecosystem of protected innovation and examining the effectiveness of different public policies and actions designed to reverse this situation of inequality in their respective regions.
During the first roundtable, moderated by OEPM Director Elisa Rodríguez, it became clear that the underrepresentation of women compared to men when registering industrial property rights is particularly pronounced worldwide. This situation results in millions in losses each year, stated Marco Alemán, Deputy Director General for IP and Innovation at WIPO, who moderated the second roundtable. All the experts agreed on the importance of designing and compiling metrics that accurately reflect this reality as a first step toward transforming it, through effective policies and actions based on precise data. Since 2022, the SPTO has been collecting data that allows for the identification of the gender of applicants for the various types of industrial property registered with the Office. This has enabled the design of a series of initiatives aimed at promoting greater participation by women in the Spanish innovation ecosystem, such as the creation of a specific category for women inventors in the Awards held annually by the SPTO. The remaining activities, which were primarily technical in nature, consisted of the exchange of experiences and best practices for the design and implementation of various policies and initiatives aimed at achieving gender equality in the global innovation ecosystem. Likewise, bilateral meetings were held with Ecuador, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay, in line with the commitment to international cooperation that has always characterized the OEPM, as outlined in its Strategic Plan 2025–2027.
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The first day, opened by the Undersecretary of Industry and Tourism and President of the OEPM, Pablo Garde, began with two roundtable discussions featuring representatives from the National Offices of Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Uruguay as speakers. All of them had the opportunity to present the situation in their respective countries regarding gender inequality in the field of industrial property and to share with attendees the various initiatives they are carrying out to try to change this reality. 
