While women represent the fastest-growing category of entrepreneurs worldwide as of 2020,1 they are less likely to secure the capital and the intellectual property protections they need and are severely underrepresented as business owners compared to men. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey (ABS), while men have an ownership stake in about 80% of U.S. businesses and a majority ownership share in 63% of U.S. businesses, women hold an ownership stake in about 37% of U.S. businesses, and only had a majority share in 21% of businesses.
The Women's Entrepreneurship initiative provides a community-focused program that lifts women up and taps their potential to increase equity, job creation, and economic prosperity through their ideas, insights and innovations. This program, which builds on the proven success of the USPTO’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium, will feature advice from those who have made it, as well as resources to help women protect their IP, fund their ideas, and expand their network of mentors and advisors.
Share your journey with us
Are you in the middle of your own journey? What challenges have you faced? We want your input as we build this initiative together.
- Giuseppina Maria Cardella, Brizeida Raquel Hernández-Sánchez, and José Carlos Sánchez-García, “Women Entrepreneurship: A Systematic Review to Outline the Boundaries of Scientific Literature,” Frontiers in Psychology, July 2020, available at www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01557/full.