The IPKat was letting his mind wonder a bit today when he happened upon this fact. To the best of his masters’ collective knowledge, only one UK IP issue has ever been heard by a lady judge – Arden J in Harrods v Harrods (Argentina) at the interlocutory stage back on 29 March 1996.
An artist’s projection of what a female IP judge might look like - were such a thing to exist
His masters were somewhat divided on the subject. One (no prizes for guessing which) was entirely neutral on the subject. The other, while not favouring positive discrimination, finds it quite surprising that no women have ever reached the highest echelons of what’s reputed to be a female-dominated area of the law.
Lady judges of note here and here