Discover WIPR Diversity's Top 100 People in IP
Lists revealed for this year’s Influential Women in IP, Diversity Champions, Trailblazers and Change Drivers | Featured IP professionals span global brands, full-service law firms, boutique IP specialists and attorney firms.
WIPR Diversity has published its Top 100 People in IP for 2024. The featured professionals span traditional full-service law firms, brands, boutique IP specialists and attorney firms.
These individuals have been recognised for their exceptional professional achievements and/or contributions to diversity and inclusion (D&I).
We recently ran a survey on diversity in IP, which allowed industry professionals to nominate their candidates for this list. By combining these with marketplace research carried out by our in-house team, we can reveal this year’s outstanding individuals.
Baron Armah-Kwantreng, rankings editor at WIPR Insights, said: “At a time of significant legal and cultural pushback against the very notion of diversity initiatives, the women and men listed in WIPR Diversity 2024 testify to the continuing individual commitment to foster a more inclusive, and effective, IP legal profession.”
List highlights
There are four main categories:
Influential Women in IP: Attorneys who identify as female with more than a decade of experience in IP. The women featured on this list have garnered significant professional achievements and/or made an impact in promoting D&I in the sector.
Diversity Champions in IP: Leading IP figures who have made an indelible mark through their efforts to make the profession more inclusive for everyone.
Trailblazers in IP: Outstanding people with a decade or less of experience in the IP industry who have already made their mark on the sector. Our 2024 Trailblazers stand out due to their impressive practice in IP and/or their determination to promote D&I within the sector.
Change Drivers: Members of the business services teams in IP firms and companies who have led significant D&I initiatives.
D&I backlash
Our list lands during an uneasy time for D&I advocates.
The anti-D&I backlash has momentum in the US: gaining in strength after the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions held that colleges and universities using an applicant’s race as a factor during the admission process was unconstitutional.
Now the ruling has led to a slew of attacks against diversity programmes, with one bar association even being forced to publicly reshape its definition of ‘diversity’.
Further, the Wall Street Journal reports that diversity goals are disappearing from companies’ annual reports, as dozens of firms change what and how they report diversity initiatives; deleting the word ‘diverse’ or cutting whole sections.
Additionally, research shows that the gender pay gap is far from closing, and the legal sector is one of the worst offenders.
Little wonder former US Federal Circuit Judge Kathleen O’Malley told WIPR that women “should fight every rejection”, and that Qualcomm general counsel Ann Chaplin and her team have taken matters into their own hands in an effort to boost diversity in the patent field.
Then there’s the rise of artificial intelligence and other rapidly advancing technologies, which can take a toll on our mental health and stress levels.
That’s why our list is so important: it celebrates the people who are unafraid to put their head above the parapet and campaign for meaningful change—that benefits us all regardless of background, gender, gender identity, religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
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