Formulation of research and development strategy by analysing patent portfolios of key players the semiconductor industry according to patent strength and technical function

Abstract

Silicon wafer is the base material of chips and is an important manufacturing technology in semiconductor industry. This research conducts international patent analysis of five major patentees, SUMCO, Shin-Etsu, GlobalWafers, Siltronic, and SK Siltron, also the top five global silicon wafer manufacturers in the world, in order to get research and development strategy.Qualitative and quantitative analysis of technology and means on entire industry as well as individual companies are visualized by technology means matrix, comprehensiveness, and relative patent advantage index. Two categories of indicators of “Patent Portfolio Strength” and “Patented Technology Strength” are calculated, and the patent portfolios of assignees are shown on 2D map.The results demonstrated by taking the GlobalWafers as an example to formulate its R&D strategy, it is lack of patent at manufacturing apparatus, raw material manufacturing, and inspection method, and lack of function objective at melt level, crystallographic, and crucible improvement. These may be the points of breaking through technical barriers. It is good suggestion to increase the average number of independent claims and the ratio of PCT applications to improve the quality of international patent portfolios. The advice from patent technology strength analyses is that it needs to develop more advanced technology.