Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: Collaborative Efforts for Trademark Registration in Bolivia

By PPO Abogados

The National Service of Intellectual Property Registration (SENAPI) of Bolivia recently convened with Congress members with the objective of promoting initiatives related to the registration of trademarks held by women across the nation. 

Throughout the meeting, discussions centered on collaborative efforts, specifically aimed at providing support to women entrepreneurs. Various cooperation mechanisms were activated to streamline the trademark registration process, with a particular emphasis on assisting micro-enterprises, small businesses, and artisans.

This endeavor seeks to fortify and bolster the development of these sectors by advocating for the protection of their product brands and fostering sustainable growth among women entrepreneurs. 

This goal has been shared around the world. On 2023 the World IP Day was focused on women and IP, accelerating innovation and creativity. Recent findings highlight a stark gender disparity in international patent applications, revealing that only approximately 16% of inventors listed are women. This trend is also echoed in the latest data on women's involvement in industrial design applications: preliminary statistics from 2022 reveal that women comprised around 21% of listed designers in global industrial design applications documented in WIPO's Global Design Database, covering 80% of total worldwide design activity.

Data concerning applications related to trademarks, industrial designs and patents serve as crucial benchmarks for evaluating diverse innovation activities in the global economy. IP rights safeguard brands, services, cutting-edge products or process inventions.

The persistently low representation of women in IP applications signals an enduring gender gap across innovation metrics. This disparity is disconcerting, signifying the underutilization of women's innovative potential, resulting in a collective loss for society.