The Women's IP World Annual 2019/2020

SRI LANKA
Women in
Intellectual Property Law
In the early days…
In the early days, the terms copyright, patent,
and intellectual property were terms that were
only limited to masculine space. Creative and
literary works were assumed to be authored by
men. Women were only seen as an inspiration for
the cultural creation of men. Women who seek
to create either scientific or artistic work were
required to do so on masculine terms. They were
seen as inferior to men simply because of their
gender because what is protected by intellectual
property law is the outgrowth of a gendered
system, intellectual property law itself became
premised upon assumptions of creative work
favouring the male creator.
For example, knitting, quilting, and other
needlework arts are creative industries which
are dominated by women. They were industries
where women primarily illustrated their creativity.
However, unlike men, women are more pursued
by caring and sharing their knowledge rather
than being profit-oriented. By contrast, the
central purpose of intellectual property law is the
incentive logic. That is to promote the production
of new works or new ideas by guaranteeing the
maker the exclusive right to remuneration for the
things that he or she produces. Therefore, knitting
and quilting developed as collective enterprises
outside copyright law. However, nowadays, these
industries have been commodified, and with
the ease of copying, it has become essential for
women to seek copyright protection for their
patterns.
“Literature” was established as a male domain.
However, as literacy among women grew,
women took up the pen to write. Copyright law
is structured to identify an individual author and
provide certain rights to that author. It mainly
helps them to monopolise revenues from the
As discussed by Anomi I Wanigasekera, Julius & Creasy
www.juliusandcreasy.com
Intellectual property law is a neutral area of law. Comparatively, areas of
law such as family law and employment law are gender-sensitive from its
formulation. For example, ‘family law’ is built on gender-based themes such as
separation, family violence, parenting disputes, etc. Laws have been molded
to address women’s disadvantage. In the case of intellectual property law,
values about gender, race, and class seep in only at the execution and not at
the formulation. On the other hand, intellectual property law is a fast-growing
practice area of law where the subject matter varies from very technical issues
to products of everyday life. Female attorneys who pursue careers in the field of
intellectual property law face many challenges across the globe.
books. Early feminists were more interested
in seeing their ideas spread than they were in
protecting their copyrights. However, in present
many female authors earn their living from the
system of copyright.
The history of invention seldom mentions
women’s inventive achievements. Industrial
women are almost non-existent. The general
perception was that invention was an
overwhelmingly masculine affair. During the
early days, even when women invented objects
(because women lacked property rights and due
to financial constraints), a patent was often taken
in the name of the father, brother, or husband.
Nowadays, women have become professional
inventors. For example, fields like biotechnology
have a large number of female researchers;
however, unlike men, women are less likely to
commercialise their inventions. In my personal
opinion, women by nature are soft negotiators.
They are indirect and person-oriented. Therefore,
they are less likely to market themselves and their
work to potential business partners.
To present times in IP Law…
The number of women who graduate from law
school has increased with time. However, only
a few prefer to practice as lawyers. Moreover,
among them, only a very few female attorneys
specialise in intellectual property law. Even
among them, fewer female attorneys specialise in
patent law practice compared to trademark law.
In the patent field, the existence of lesser women
can be explained by the fact that it is a highly
technical field.
Scientific and technical training is necessary
to specialise in this field, and fewer women
earn technical degrees. In many parts of the
world, women have limited access to the kind
of education that would allow them to pursue
careers in the technical field. However, trademark
law and copyright law are popular areas of law
among women where they outnumber men.
One of the reasons why many female attorneys
choose trademark law can be attributed to the
role they play when interacting with clients. It is
client-oriented. Often the attorney must guide
and counsel her client on the selection and best
use of the mark.
The Gender system has influenced who invents
and who creates creative work. The general
perception that men are the important inventors
remains. Educational, social, cultural, and
economic factors have dissuaded women from
pursuing inventive careers. Women are still
absent from many aspects of the intellectual
property law system, not only as inventors and
creators but also as patent attorneys.
Sri Lanka…
Compared to other countries in the world, the
position of Sri Lankan women is much better.
Sri Lanka was the first country in the world
to elect a female head of state. Also, a recent
article revealed that 64% of the professionals
in Sri Lanka are women. Companies in Sri Lanka
prefer female workers as their attitude towards
work is more positive, and they are ready to take
any role. All attorneys in Sri Lanka are eligible to
practice as trademark agents, and the majority
of the registered trademark attorneys are female
lawyers. Even the Director General, as well as the
Deputy Directors of National Intellectual Property
Office, are females at present.
Therefore, despite the position in other
countries, it appears that Sri Lankan
women have achieved equality with men
even in the arena of intellectual property
law, except in the field of technology.
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