Women inventors

In March 2026 the EPO Observatory published a study on women in STEM, itself following on from the study of November 2022, investigating how often women were named as inventors on patent applications. For 2025 we find that 26% of applications filed at the EPO from applicants based in one of the EPO’s 39 member states named at least one woman as an inventor. There is wide variation between countries and technology fields, indicating that there is still much to be done to encourage girls in STEM subjects at schools, and to encourage more women to follow careers in science and engineering.