The Role of Patents as a Gendered Chameleon

Social &Legal Studies, Ahead of Print.
Patents have been theorised as serving a multitude of different aims and functions since their inception. The role of patents is chameleon-like. At the same time, studies show that males are significantly more likely than females to be the inventors of patented inventions. A nascent but emphatic body of literature highlights that this is, in part, due to patent law itself being gendered. This article examines how gendered patenting and patent law have implications for the role of patents. It shows that the role of patents is not only a chameleon but a gendered chameleon.