Updated with additional info on the survey, and comments from Jean Lee, president and CEO of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. 

A new global survey of in-house counsel who specialize in intellectual property matters paints a bleak picture of limited diversity and widespread discrimination in their professional world.

Nearly 60% of the participants reported they have been discriminated against for being a woman, ethnic minority and/or LGBTQ, according to a report released Tuesday from Managing Intellectual Property magazine. The London-based publication's managing editor declined to disclose how many in-house lawyers participated in the online survey, which was posted July 5. 

Jean Lee, president and CEO of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, said she was not surprised by the report's finding on the prevalence of discrimination. Her group was involved in a racial and gender bias survey that was released last year and made comparable findings. The study included responses from more than 2,800 in-house and private lawyers.

The report from Managing IP features anonymous comments from several global in-house IP lawyers, including a U.K.-based corporate counsel for a credit card company who reportedly said her legal team had several women in senior roles—but noted that men were being hired at higher pay grades and promoted twice as quickly as women. 

An associate general counsel for a U.S.-based life sciences company added, “I was specifically not given responsibility for a project because I was a woman with young children.” 

And a senior patent attorney for a German pharmaceutical company reported she believed she'd lost job opportunities because her resume lists leadership experience for a LGBTQ employee network. 

“What is clear from the survey results is that a lack of diversity remains and many respondents have experienced discrimination because of their background,” the report states.

On a more encouraging, perhaps contradictory, note, 85% of the in-house lawyers in the study said their companies have diversity and inclusion initiatives. The initiatives focused most commonly on women, LGBTQ and mental health or wellness issues. Nearly a quarter of the participants said they'd like to see more initiatives focused on parenting issues and 22% wanted a greater focus on ethnic minorities. 

The respondents were split down the middle when asked whether the IP realm has a greater lack of diversity when compared to other legal practice areas. 

The group vice president of a U.S.-based international hotel company reportedly observed the trademark section of the IP bar seems more diverse than the patent side. An associate GC for a U.S.-based life sciences company echoed the assertion, saying the patent practice “is a white dominated specialty,” apparently due to the underlying requirement for degrees in science, technology, engineering and math, according to the study. 

“I've heard that a lot,” Lee said. “This is anecdotal, but to be a patent lawyer you have to take a USPTO patent exam and you must have a bachelor's degree in science or engineering. This is the whole STEM that women, and especially underrepresented minorities, were not encouraged to take in high school.”

In China, IP counsel for foreign companies reported they face a cultural glass ceiling because “there is a sentiment that those in senior management roles are always from the company's country of origin, rather than China.” 

The China-based IP manager of a Japanese company noted she has hit a dead end with her position and doesn't expect to be promoted even though she oversees issues throughout Asia and handles as much work as her colleagues at higher levels within the firm. 

A Chinese IP counsel for a U.S.-based conglomerate expressed similar concerns, saying he'd “already reached the top IP role for the company in China but there is no further progression to a more global role.” 

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