Knowledge Sources, Novelty, and Generality: Do Standard-Essential Patents Differ From Nonstandard-Essential Ones?

Abstract

This article comprehensively investigates the differences between standard-essential patents (SEPs) and nonstandard-essential patents (N-SEPs) in terms of knowledge sources, novelty, and generality and investigates the impact of knowledge sources on novelty and generality. Specifically, we take a sample of declared SEPs related to long-term evolution standards and their corresponding N-SEPs from 2006 to 2015. To explore the differences between SEPs and N-SEPs in terms of knowledge sources, we used patent bibliometric analysis and text analysis methods to mine the technological domain, scientific literature, and standard literature involved in the backward citations of patents. Then, three indicators are established: 1) technological diversity, 2) science linkage, and 3) standard linkage. Standard linkage has rarely been discussed in the literature. We used text analysis to construct two indicators, the novelty and generality indices, which depict the differences in novelty and generality between SEPs and N-SEPs by comparing the text similarity of focal patents to prior and subsequent patents. The impact of different knowledge sources on SEPs and N-SEPs was verified through empirical analysis. This article innovatively found that SEPs are less technologically diverse and scientifically related, whereas their standard linkage is higher than that of N-SEPs. SEPs are more generic and less novel than N-SEPs. In addition, different knowledge sources have distinct effects on the novelty and generality of SEPs and N-SEPs. These findings can provide a reference for firms’ knowledge acquisition, resource allocation, and selection of R&D partners in the patent creation process.