Patent Analysis Method Research Articles

Evaluating the Competitiveness of Asian Construction Companies through Patent Analysis

In evaluating the competitiveness of construction companies and their development strategies, patents are a useful and objective source of technical information. In this study, the cutting-edge technologies of construction industries of China, Japan, and South Korea were investigated based on the data of patent applications filed by a total of 15 construction companies (five companies from each country). The related technologies were classified into six core technology groups based on their keywords. After that, we used four patent analysis methods: time series analysis, IP (Intellectual Property) emergence level analysis, spiral module analysis, and OS (Object-Solution) Matrix analysis, to identify the promising technologies/vacant technologies for global construction companies in China, Japan, and South Korea, and to analyze the technical competitiveness of the three countries. The findings of this study showed that each country can claim a relative technological advantage over the others. Overall, 3D printing and offsite construction technology, data acquisition technology, AR and VR technology are expected to be promising in the Asian region. The present study contributes to the body of knowledge by expanding our understanding of technological innovation for the competitiveness of companies and the technology development strategies pursued by the construction industries of China, Japan, and South Korea.

Exploring the innovation landscape of bamboo fiber technologies from global patent data perspective

With the global popularity of the concept of green and sustainable development, bamboo fiber technology has made great advances and found its way into several important materials applications. This study attempts to analyze the bamboo fiber technology from a patent perspective, hoping to help enterprises and R&D personnels better grasp the technology development trend and evolution path. Because the current patent analysis methods can not achieve the above objectives well, this paper proposes a new method of clustering and identifying sub-clusters by constructing bamboo fiber patent citation network and patent-international patent classification two mode network. Moreover, this paper uses natural language processing and main path analysis to perform subject word analysis and key technology identification on these technological sub-clusters, respectively. The analysis process and method in this study also have implications for patent analysis in technological fields such as graphene or carbon fiber.

ANALYSIS OF PROSPECTIVE DIRECTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SYSTEMS USING REFLECTION OR SECONDARY RADIATION OF ACOUSTIC WAVES

In this work, to identify promising areas for the development of electronic systems using reflection or secondary radiation of acoustic waves, a patent analysis method is used based on the formation of time series of US patents and comparison between different technical solutions for the number of patents registered in specific subgroups of the International Patent Classification (IPC), and the dynamics of their issuance in the interval 2010–2019. The use of the IPC allows an effective search and classification of any technical solution, a retrospective analysis, as well as the formation of predictive assessments of the development of technologies, involving open resources of various patent offices. As a result of the study, data were obtained that suggest that all systems using the reflection of acoustic waves have been successfully developing for the past ten years. The most promising among them are systems using reflection of acoustic waves and systems specially designed for special applications. Among systems with reflection of acoustic waves, the most promising systems are systems for determining the location of a target by measuring only range using transmissions of intermittent pulse-modulated signals.

HanLP-Based Technology Function Matrix Construction on Chinese Process Patents

The technology/function matrix is an essential method of patent analysis. This paper presents a semi-automated methodology to create technology/function matrix for Chinese process patents in any given domain. The approach adopts computer-aided algorithms in the process of extracting technology words, extracting function words, and generating technology/function matrix. The purpose of this paper is to increase the efficiency of building technology/function matrix and reduce the cost of manpower and time. The Chinese process patents in the domain of robot path planning art taken as an example to verify the methodology.

Методика відбору критичних технологій

An important condition for the stable development of the country is quality predictive research, in international practice better known as foresight. In this paper, authors analyze the most popular methods of technological foresight, which are used both in Ukraine and in other countries. The positive and negative traits of each of them are determined. This research showed that the most common methods of technological foresight are Delphi, SWOT analysis, expert panels, scenarios, modeling, bibliometric and patent analysis, etc. The analysis also indicated that methods, such as benchmarking, polling, brainstorming, roadmaps and scenarios, conferences, seminars and SWOT analysis cannot be applied to technological foresight in defense sphere. We also cannot talk about the use of exclusively methods of bibliometric and patent analysis, if the statistical data is not enough to predictive research. Therefore, we cannot forecast future technological directions without expert methods, but it should be borne in mind that expert estimates always have an error. The authors proposed a new method of technological foresight to determine the list of critical technologies in the defense sector of Ukraine - the method of critical technologies. It combines expert methods (Delphi and expert panel method) and statistical methods (patent and bibliometric analysis). The paper describes the complete algorithm of conducting predictive research regarding to determine the critical technologies list in the defense sector of Ukraine. In addition, the full decision-making structure the selection of technologies to the list of critical ones was demonstrated, with a description of the composition of the expert commission and generalized selection criteria. A new principle is proposed for cutting off non-priority technologies based on differentiation of the approximated function and determination of the point of equal increments of abscissa and ordinate. The algorithm involves carrying out two stages of the survey, the Delphi method and method of pairwise comparisons, bibliometric and patent analysis. As a result of the foresight by the method of critical technologies, we get an objective ranking of critical technologies.

Analysis and suggestions of current planning frameworks and the status of research on genetic technologies in China

This article briefly introduces the strategic framework of genetic technology of Chinese government and Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the remarkable progress of genetic technology under this guidance. Using bibliometric and patent analysis methods, we reveal the current status of genetic technology research and development in China. China has made great achievements, both in terms of quantity and quality of academic publications, and quantity of patent applications. However, there are still something need to be improved, such as international cooperation and combination the efforts of enterprises, universities and research institutes. In the future, China will improve top-level planning and government guidance and supervision. In addition, it is also crucial to encourage investment from enterprise and communities, and to broadcast the science and technology to the whole society. Moreover, actions have to be taken to reduce the risks of bio-safety and bio-security. The innovation and breakthrough of genetic technology is a key to sustainable development in the bio-industry and bio-economy in China.

Patent technometry by mind maps: a study on the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment

Objective: To demonstrate the possibility of relating bibliographical review and patent technometry in a study on the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Method: Technometry in patents using a mind map generated from the classification of 466 patent registers. The prospecting of patents was carried out through the software Patent2Net accessing the database of the European Patent Office (EPO). Originality/Relevance: Research in patent databases as a source of information has been growing substantially with advances in information technology, but the identification of relevant records in a given context from the large volume of data available is still a challenge. In this work, we have analysed a method that has not yet been published, which deals with patent technometry with the use of mind maps. Results: The patent records found were related to the main problems mentioned in the literature on WEEE recycling, involving the following aspects: a) separation of high-value components from other elements. b) reduction of the environmental impact of battery recycling; c) transformation of solid waste into material useful or harmless to the environment; d) separation of metals from plastic waste; e) solutions for the adequate collection of residues from the domestic environment; and e) techniques to reduce the health impact of recycling professionals. Theoretical/methodological contributions: Presentation of the method of patent analysis by mind maps as a complementary resource to bibliographic research in studies aimed at technological innovation.

Patent Data Analysis of Artificial Intelligence Using Bayesian Interval Estimation

Technology analysis is one of the important tasks in technology and industrial management. Much information about technology is contained in the patent documents. So, patent data analysis is required for technology analysis. The existing patent analyses relied on the quantitative analysis of the collected patent documents. However, in the technology analysis, expert prior knowledge should also be considered. In this paper, we study the patent analysis method using Bayesian inference which considers prior experience of experts and likelihood function of patent data at the same time. For keyword data analysis, we use Bayesian predictive interval estimation with count data distributions such as Poisson. Using the proposed models, we forecast the future trends of technological keywords of artificial intelligence (AI) in order to know the future technology of AI. We perform a case study to provide how the proposed method can be applied to real areas. In this paper, we retrieve the patent documents related to AI technology, and analyze them to find the technological trend of AI. From the results of AI technology case study, we can find which technological keywords are more important or critical in the entire structure of AI industry. The existing methods for patent keyword analysis were depended on the collected patent documents at present. But, in technology analysis, the prior knowledge by domain experts is as important as the collected patent documents. So, we propose a method based on Bayesian inference for technology analysis using the patent documents. Our method considers the patent data analysis with the prior knowledge from domain experts.

Context–Problem Network and Quantitative Method of Patent Analysis: A Case Study of Wireless Energy Transmission Technology

Identification of prevalent problems is an important process of strategic innovation for stakeholders of trending technologies. This paper proposes a systematic and replicable method of patent analysis to identify problems to be solved requisite for sustainable technology planning and development, by implementing the concept of ‘context’ to facilitate problem identification. The main concept of the method entails the importance of the connections between contextual information and problems to provide more focused, relevant, and constructive insights essential for instating goals for research and development activities. These context–problem entities and their entwined connections are discovered using keyword pattern matching, grammar-based text mining, and co-word analysis techniques. The intermediary outputs are then utilized to generate the proposed context–problem network (CP net) for social network, grammar, and quantitative data analysis. For verification, our method was applied to 737 patents in the wireless energy transmission technology domain, successfully yielding CP net data. The detailed analysis of the resulting CP net data delivered meaningful information in the wireless charging technology field: The main contexts, “batteries”, “power transmission coils”, and “cores”, are found to be most relevant to the main problems, “maximizing coupling efficiency”, “minimizing DC signal components”, and “charging batteries”. The results provide a wide range of informative perspectives for individuals, the scientific community, corporate, and market-level stakeholders. Furthermore, the method of this study can be applicable to various technologies since it is independent of specific subject domains. Future research directions aim to improve this method for better quality and modeling of contexts and problems.

The Development Trends of Fuel Cell Technologies Based on Patent Analysis

Fuel cells are made from fuel and oxygen. Because of its low pollution, high energy conversion efficiency and high reliability, fuel cell has become the future direction of new energy application, the technological development path in the field of fuel cell research has great significance to the development of technological and energy innovation. Using the patent analysis method, this paper analyses the patent data from Derwent Innovation Index quantitively to study the state of application for patents, core technologies, highly cited patents and the main patentees. It shows that auxiliary device and related methods were a research hotspot in recent years; as the biggest patent holder of fuel cell technologies, Toyota, Honda motor Co. and Nissan motor Co. have an advantage. This paper has discovered some potential problems behind the phenomena and some suggestions are put forward finally.

Discover Patent Landscape of Two-photon Polymerization Technology for the Production of 3D Nano-structure Using Claim-based Approach.

The TPP technology is a "nano-optics" 3D printing technology that develops in recent years. Compared with the traditional 3D printing technology, the TPP-3DP technique that takes near-infrared light femtosecond pulse laser as the light source can break through the limitation of optical diffraction and manufacture nanoscale 3D structures in arbitrary shapes with high resolution. The research develops a claim-based patent analysis method to identify technical features via the analysis of claim, especially the analysis of plural elements of independent claim. Furthermore, we analyze the subject matters and technical features of claims through claim-base analytical method to observe the patent trend of competitors and understand the current situation of competitors' technical distribution in related industries, in order to provide useful information for enterprises to determine R&D strategies. The result shows 3M Company possesses numerous patent portfolios that base on the diversified innovative applications of TPP technology. Nanoscribe Company has a long-term advantage in monopolizing this technology. The patents in TPP-3DP field can be grouped into five categories relating to application, including micro-optics device, photonic crystal, biomedical, microfluidics and MEMS. The findings of this review confirm the TPP-based 3D printing (TPP-3DP) technology has broad application prospects, of which the hydrogel material applied in tissue engineering and drug delivery is the future trend. Highly-initiated water-soluble initiators are particularly needed to increase its resolution and will be the direction of emerging technology in this domain.

Transformations of the Right to Health Care Content, and its Connection with the Right to Biotechnology

The paper updates the concept and the content of the constitutional right of a person and citizen. The concept of "biotechnology" is emphasized. The possibility of applying the methods of patent analysis to study the state of biotechnology is discussed.The results of the study are based on the use of the following methods: a universal dialectical method of scientific knowledge, as well as general scientific methods based on it (description, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, comparison, analogy, generalization) and specific scientific methods (comparative legal, system-structural and formal legal).

Bayesian Count Data Modeling for Finding Technological Sustainability

Technology developments change society, and society demands new and innovative technology developments. We analyze technology to understand society and technology itself. Much research related to technology analysis has been introduced in various fields. Most of it has been on patent analysis. This is because detailed and accurate results of research and development are patented. In this paper, we study a new patent analysis method based on the count data model and Bayesian regression analysis. Using the count data model, we analyzed the technological keywords extracted from the collected patent documents. We used the prior distribution of Bayesian statistics to reflect the experience and knowledge of the relevant technological experts in the analysis model. Moreover, we applied the proposed model to find sustainable technologies. Finding and developing sustainable technologies is an important activity for companies and research institutes to maintain their technological competitiveness. To illustrate how our modeling could be applied to real domains, we carried out a case study using the patent documents related to artificial intelligence.

Emerging nanogenerator technology in China: A review and forecast using integrating bibliometrics, patent analysis and technology roadmapping methods

Many types of nanogenerators (NGs) have been developed in a rapid pace, the technological focus and trends of this fantastic emerging technology deserve in-depth exploration. This paper presents the outcomes of a technology roadmapping study based on the research on existing position of NGs. An integrating approach that combines bibliometrics, patent analysis and technology roadmapping method (TRM) workshops was applied. The bibliometrics and patent analysis provide a means of visualizing detailed information about the past trajectory and technological focus of the NGs technology. Its results show that China has been with the international forefront regard to research into NGs since 2013, especially in the field of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG). Based on these quantitive results, key external factors which may shape the growth of NGs-based industry have been identified according to the experts’ opinions. Finally, the future development roadmap of NGs-based industry in China was proposed from technology, industry dynamics, production and market& applications perspectives. This work provides a comprehensive means for visualizing more information about the present focus and future development trends of NGs, based on a quantitive and qualitative coupling method.

International patent analysis of water source heat pump based on orbit database

Using orbit database, this paper analysed the international patents of water source heat pump (WSHP) industry with patent analysis methods such as analysis of publication tendency, geographical distribution, technology leaders and top assignees. It is found that the beginning of the 21st century is a period of rapid growth of the patent application of WSHP. Germany and the United States had done researches and development of WSHP in an early time, but now Japan and China have become important countries of patent applications. China has been developing faster and faster in recent years, but the patents are concentrated in universities and urgent to be transferred. Through an objective analysis, this paper aims to provide appropriate decision references for the development of domestic WSHP industry.

Comparing the innovation strategies of Chinese and European wind turbine firms through a patent lens

Based on a patent-analysis method, this paper compares the firm-level technology pathways of wind turbine firms from China and Europe, and examines the firms’ unique innovation strategies that may lead to these pathways being modified to capitalize on any opportunities that arise. This paper finds that Chinese firms have different firm-level pathways compared to their European counterparts, whereby they are influenced by different innovation strategies that involve technological foci, learning, and R&D collaboration, as well as globalization strategies. We find that European firms are stronger in most of these strategic dimensions, while Chinese firms demonstrate a strong learning capacity and customized innovations. We propose that there might be a limited divergence of the sector-level technological trajectories between China and Europe. In addition, we suggest that there is limited opportunity for Chinese firms to leapfrog with regard to the existing technology trajectories and surpass their European counterparts in the near future.

An Interval Estimation Method of Patent Keyword Data for Sustainable Technology Forecasting

Technology forecasting (TF) is forecasting the future state of a technology. It is exciting to know the future of technologies, because technology changes the way we live and enhances the quality of our lives. In particular, TF is an important area in the management of technology (MOT) for R&D strategy and new product development. Consequently, there are many studies on TF. Patent analysis is one method of TF because patents contain substantial information regarding developed technology. The conventional methods of patent analysis are based on quantitative approaches such as statistics and machine learning. The most traditional TF methods based on patent analysis have a common problem. It is the sparsity of patent keyword data structured from collected patent documents. After preprocessing with text mining techniques, most frequencies of technological keywords in patent data have values of zero. This problem creates a disadvantage for the performance of TF, and we have trouble analyzing patent keyword data. To solve this problem, we propose an interval estimation method (IEM). Using an adjusted Wald confidence interval called the Agresti–Coull confidence interval, we construct our IEM for efficient TF. In addition, we apply the proposed method to forecast the technology of an innovative company. To show how our work can be applied in the real domain, we conduct a case study using Apple technology.

A study of patent analysis of LED bicycle light by using modified DEMATEL and life span

The present study proposed a modified decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. This innovation method involves collecting the repeated or identically defined technical keywords of patent techniques related to light-emitting diode (LED) bicycle light to determine the ratios of the normalized numerical values of these technical keywords by using one technical domain as the primary domain and another as a variable. The values obtained are then converted to mutual influence levels on a scale of 0 to 4, replacing the conventional expert questionnaire. In this study, in accordance with the operational steps of the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method, a general relational influence matrix, direct and indirect relationships diagram, and values of centrality (D + R) and causality (D − R) were obtained. A causal diagram was therefore created. The causal diagram was drawn using values of (D + R) and (D − R) as the two axes and facilitated determining the levels of mutual influence between technical domains. In accordance with the proposed modified decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method, this study collected patents related to LED bicycle light; moreover, the normalized numerical values of key technical, part/component, and function words that appeared in these patents were calculated. Furthermore, clusters of technical and part or component words were defined in accordance with the first-layer technical category. The second-layer technical categories and functional categories were subsequently defined under the first-layer technical categories to establish the technique–function matrix, thereby dividing the techniques related to LED bicycle light into seven main technical domains. This study then analyzed patent life span. Patent life span was calculated using the announcement date of related patents. Finally, this study investigated the development potential of each technical domain of LED bicycle light by conducting a combined analysis of causal diagram obtained by modified DEMATEL method, activity trend chart of techniques, and patent life spans. The proposed patent analysis method and results can serve companies and engineers as references to facilitate developing new patents.

A Method for Patent Mining and Its Application in Innovation of High-Altitude Cleaning Robot

Background: Due to the recent surge in high-rise buildings and airport truss, demands for high-altitude cleaning have become more and more strident, bringing many opportunities and much potential for the development of the industry. The technology insufficient of current patents of high-altitude cleaning robot causes difficulty in obstacle climbing and balance adjusting, and generates high costs. Patent analysis is an important tool for industry planning and technique forecasting. As one of the methods of patent analysis, data mining will be of high priority. Keywords: Data mining, high-altitude cleaning, knowledge map, multi-dimension analysis, patent analysis, TRIZ.

System aspects of management technology for scientific and educational services

Research purpose: to develop the technology of operational-technical management of scientific and educational services. Methods: methods of patent research and analysis of critical technologies of information and control systems; methods of system approach to organize and manage IT services to meet business needs. Topicality. The state policy in the sphere of national security and socio-economic development of the Russian Federation, carried out in the face of new threats requires correcting structural imbalances in the economy. National interests should be implemented by means of strategic priorities in the various sectors of the economy, in the financial sphere - the timely implementation of government programs. In the Message of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly on December 1, 2016 one of the priorities defined the creation of a national research infrastructure, representing the information and technology platform for the integration of the intellectual resources in the field of science, education and production with the aim of creating the conditions for qualitative changes in the field of science and technology. In this connection, scientific-methodical and systematic technical issues to systematize services of scientific and educational institutions of the country and creation of the united informational and analytical system of the management of such services seem to be topical. Within the framework of the whole complex of problems to design such a system, the development issues of technologies for the effective operational-technical management of scientific and educational services are of great interest. Results. The technology of operational-technical management of scientific and educational services was developed, which is a complex of technical solutions to provide information support for the activities of organizational systems – consumers and suppliers of scientific and educational services. This article presents the main provisions of technology for operational-technical management of scientific and educational services, based on innovative technical solutions and taking into account the perspective of digital trends to ensure business services. The business service in the article means IT service that directly supports a business process – the process of providing for scientific or educational service, based on the unified information and managed environment. The proposed technology is the contribution of the scientific community in the realization of the strategic national priorities of the Russian Federation. Conclusion. The advantage for the provided technology, in comparison with analogues, is to increase the efficiency of the management of organizational systems – consumers and suppliers of scientific and educational services, due to the automatic assessment of their business services and automatic management of activities with the assessment. The method, used in this technology, to provide consumers with scientific and educational services in the form of business services in accordance with the concept of IT service management ensures universality of approach to create the knowledge base and algorithms to use the knowledge for managing IT infrastructure support of business services, and to manage business services. This approach allows to optimize the composition of the applications in the management of scientific and educational services, as well as to ensure the conditions at the design stage for analysis and decision-making by the choice of IT infrastructure for the provision of scientific and educational services to consumers.