Identifying technological opportunities using the novelty detection technique: a case of laser technology in semiconductor manufacturing

Abstract

While identification of technological opportunities has received considerable attention, previous studies have some weaknesses in terms of subjectivity when finding the opportunities in practical terms. This paper proposes a systematic framework to identify technological opportunities, focusing on objective evidences which are specific and practical to be used in a business environment. To do this, we used patents as a source and employed a novelty detection technique whose primary object is detecting the novel pattern. To begin with, the patents are collected from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. These patents are then pre-processed into a structured keyword vector that can represent the characteristics of each patent. These keyword vectors are then used to analyse the new and emerging pattern, using the novelty detection technique. As the final step, the results are analysed to identify the technological opportunities. A case study on laser technology in lithography is presented to show the proposed framework.