Women and IP Commercialisation in the Asian Region: Case Study of Sri Lanka
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Women and IP Commercialisation in the Asian Region: Case Study of Sri Lanka Prepared by Dr Kanchana Kariyawasam , Senior Lecturer, Business School, Griffith University, Australia for World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) This project was funded by WIPO Contents Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 4 Objective ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Background ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Structure .............................................................................................................................................. 5 Findings .............................................................................................................................................. 5 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 8 Literature review ................................................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER 2 ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Research Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 12 Literature review ............................................................................................................................... 12 Secondary data .................................................................................................................................. 12 Primary data ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Data collection and distribution list .................................................................................................. 15 Limitations of the study .................................................................................................................... 16 Ethics approval .................................................................................................................................. 16 Duration of the study ........................................................................................................................ 17 CHAPTER 3 ......................................................................................................................................... 17 Secondary data analysis ........................................................................................................................ 17 Gender gap in all single-inventor patents (2010–2017) .................................................................... 17 Breakdown of all patents granted ...................................................................................................... 19 Female representation by all patents granted .................................................................................... 20 Gender gap among patent holders in different institutional sectors .................................................. 21 Gender representation of patents by team composition .................................................................... 22 Proportion of women as primary inventors of patents granted by sector .......................................... 23 Page 1 of 76 Analysis of female participation rates by field of technology .......................................................... 23 Number of patent applications filed by gender ................................................................................. 24 Analysis of female participation in industrial design registration ..................................................... 27 Women participation in international patenting ................................................................................ 29 CHAPTER 4 ......................................................................................................................................... 30 Primary data analysis ............................................................................................................................ 30 Data collected from higher education sector ..................................................................................... 30 Data collected from industry sector .................................................................................................. 33 Data collected from female inventors ............................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER 5 ......................................................................................................................................... 40 Barriers to patenting .............................................................................................................................. 40 Gender disparity in university admissions to engineering and technology ....................................... 40 Gender disparity exists in senior academic positions and in enrolments by academics in higher degree courses in STEM fields ......................................................................................................... 41 Social and cultural barriers to women becoming inventors .............................................................. 42 Less research and development investment in research .................................................................... 43 Fewer female scientists in Sri Lanka ................................................................................................ 45 Complexity of patenting process and patent costs ............................................................................ 46 Lack of research grants/government funding for research ................................................................ 47 Lack of mentoring, sponsoring and networking for women at both academic and industry levels .. 47 Lack of collaborative R&D activities between industry and higher education sectors .................... 48 Poor intellectual property rights management system ...................................................................... 49 Lack of awareness of patenting ......................................................................................................... 50 Lack of clear rules on ownership of intellectual property rights in universities and business sectors .......................................................................................................................................................... 50 Teaching oriented academics with less focus on research ................................................................ 51 Lack of successful female innovators as role models ....................................................................... 52 Lack of collaborative research with male colleagues ....................................................................... 52 Lack of institutional support for women ........................................................................................... 52 Lack of economic incentives and rewards ........................................................................................ 53 CHAPTER 6 ......................................................................................................................................... 53 Barriers to intellectual property commercialisation .............................................................................. 53 Inadequate access to finance and available start-up capital for women ............................................ 54 Socio-cultural norms and perceptions that prevent the acceptance of women as entrepreneurs ...... 55 Lack of development banks and venture finance companies for women ......................................... 55 Page 2 of 76 Inadequate incentives to research commercialisation ....................................................................... 56 Lack of inventor-friendly organisations or innovations hubs to boost women-led innovations ....... 56 Lack of central framework in universities and research and development (R&D) institutions for research commercialisation ............................................................................................................... 57 Lack of linkages between universities and industry ......................................................................... 58 Lack of support and incentives from government to commercialise research .................................. 59 Legal barriers and complicated business start-up processes ............................................................. 59 Insufficient infrastructure at both academic and industry sectors for commercialisation of research 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