A Patent Analysis to Identify Emergent Topics and Convergence Fields: A Case Study of Chitosan

Worasak Klongthong,Chupun Gowanit,Veera Muangsin,Nongnuj Muangsin

doi:10.3390/su13169077

Worasak Klongthong, Chupun Gowanit + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169077

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Aug 13, 2021
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Chulalongkorn University

Abstract

Identifying emerging technology trends from patents helps to understand the status of the technology commercialization or utilization. It could provide research insights leading to advanced technological innovations that stimulate socially responsible research to address human dietary and medical needs. However, few studies have investigated emerging chitosan applications using patents. In this study, we report the application of a patent bibliometric predictive intelligence (PBPI) model to identify emergent topics and technology convergence related to chitosan applications from patents in the International Patent Classification system. Text mining was used to extract patterns from 5001 patents and each term was assigned an emergent score, following which we traced growth patterns, examined relationships between IPCs, emergent topics, and patents using correlation analysis and principal component analysis, and conducted matrix and cluster mapping analysis to understand industrial applications and explore patterns of technological convergence. Five major terms emerged in association with ascending and newly emergent topics over the last 13 years: “shelf life,” “antibacterial,” “good safety,” “absorbing water,” and “auxiliary materials.” These topics were closely linked with research in the biomedical and food production and preservation industries. A network analysis indicated that “antibacterial” terms exhibited the highest degree of convergence, followed by “shelf life.” These findings can inform strategies to determine new directions for chitosan research.

Highlights

Over the last 2–3 decades, we have seen an increased blurring of the borders between industries and scientific disciplines, such that technologies developed in one area have come to significantly influence those in others
We applied a patent bibliometric predictive intelligence (PBPI) model to identify emergent topics and technology convergence related to chitosan applications from patents in the International Patent Classification (IPC) classification system
An analysis of growth trends indicated that research in this area has intensified since 2008, and five major terms emerged in association with ascending and newly emergent topics: “shelf life”, “antibacterial”, “good safety”, “absorbing water”, and “auxiliary materials”

Summary

Introduction

Over the last 2–3 decades, we have seen an increased blurring of the borders between industries and scientific disciplines, such that technologies developed in one area have come to significantly influence those in others. Referred to as technological convergence [1], this rapidly growing phenomenon is driving the development innovations that confer significant social as well as commercial benefits [2]. Researchers in the academic and industrial spheres have highlighted the role of emerging technologies (ET) in technological convergence. Academic and research institutions seek to forecast emerging developments in order to strategize funding and collaborations that will put them at the forefront of scientific innovation.

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