Women Inventors Make Progress but Still Lag Male Counterparts

American women are making slow but steady progress when it comes to innovation and obtaining legal protection for their inventions, according to a new study by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The share of patents with at least one woman named as inventor was 22% by the end of 2019, up from 20.7% in 2016, according to the study of patents with at least one U.S.-based inventor. That’s still small considering half of all patents are issued to foreign inventors and women make up half of the country’s population.

Women made up less than 13% of all U.S.-based patentees ...