Science cited in patents: A geographic "flow" analysis of bibliographic citation patterns in patents

Abstract

The interplay and cross-fertilization between science and technology, but also the specific role of science for technological development, have received ample attention in both the research and the policy communities. It is in this context that the concepts of “absorptive capacity” and “knowledge spillovers” play an important role. We operationalize the science-technology link by quantifying and modeling bibliographic references to the scientific literature as they occur in patents. This approach allows exploring the associative patterns between science creation (as emerging from the scientific literature) and technology development (as emerging from the patent literature). In the current paper, we focus on an analysis of the geographic distribution of the science citation patterns in patents, singling out two fields of (different) technological development, namely biotechnology and information technology. In both fields, the science citation flows from the European, Japanese and US science bases into USPTO and EPO-patents are explored and modeled. Intensive geographic citation flows between the regions are identified, pointing (amongst others) to the strength of both the US and the European science bases as sources for technological activity and creativity around the world.