Patent Citation Network Analysis Research Articles

Patent landscaping and citation network analysis to reveal the global research trends in biopriming using microbial inoculants: an insight toward sustainable agriculture.

As an alternative to harmful chemical fertilizers and toward fulfilling Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)of the United Nations, growth promoting rhizobacterial bioinoculants,emerged as potentialplayers. These act in multifunctional ways, including seed colonization, seed germination, stress tolerance and manymore, leading to proper growth and development of plants. Biopriming seeds with these beneficial multi-trait microbes is an effective way to introduce them in the soil, and this is an example of bottom-up approach of rhizosphere engineering. Using such sustainable approach is promising and, to investigate and analyze, their research trends are of prime importance. Thus,data were retrieved using Lens and Scopus databases and used for patent landscaping and citation network analysis, respectively. For patent landscaping, documents obtained using customized keyword search were broadly from the past 35years (1987-2022) and yielded 114 patents which were manually curated in title, abstract and claims (TAC). From the year 2000, interest in this area was observed which further gained momentum from the year 2008, and a maximum peak was observed in the year 2021. Patent profile (filed, granted and published) showed an upward trend during this tenure (1987-2022). In this research article, we aim to provide an overview of current research in this field, identify research hotspots, project future development prospects and make recommendations for further research. Patent landscaping and citation network analysis were used to analyze the recent trends in biopriming approaches using microbial bioinoculants for the first time to identify progress and hotspots in the field of seed priming with PGPRs.

Tracing evolutionary trajectory of charging technologies in electric vehicles: patent citation network analysis

Tracing evolutionary trajectory of charging technologies in electric vehicles: patent citation network analysis

Identify cross-country knowledge flow and innovation trajectory: insights from patent citation network analysis of 5G technology

ABSTRACT Identifying cross-border knowledge flow and innovation trajectory helps a nation to achieve competitive advantages in the technology race. This paper uses a comprehensive patent analysis method and assessment of national innovation capability to visualise the innovation trajectory and core technology flow of 5G technology across countries (regions) from 2002 to 2019. Firstly, we uncover technology leading countries, technology imitating countries, technology participating countries, and technology holding countries by assessing the level of national technology innovation capability and identifying their development trajectory. Secondly, we observe that China, Japan, and South Korea show more prominence in pictorial communication; the United States focuses on waveguide-related technology, while European countries emphasise antenna-related technology. Finally, we study the diffusion and flow of 5G dominated technology and analyze the technology layout of 5G technology leading countries. The novelty of this study lies in revealing the relationship and significance between the national level of innovation trajectory and the technology level of knowledge flow trajectory. The paper provides implications for the investment of scientific research funds and the choice of cooperative countries in the future. The proposed identification framework of cross-border knowledge flow and innovation trajectory can be applied to other science and technology domains.

A systemic analysis of the technological trajectory at company level based on patent data: The case of Sanofi's vaccine technology

Whereas most of technological trajectory research in evolutionary economics focuses on the sectoral level, our objective is to propose an analysis at the scale of the company. We are studying the leading pharmaceutical company Sanofi and focusing on the development of its vaccine technologies, a very topical issue in the Covid-19 context. What are the characteristics of Sanofi's vaccine technology trajectory and how can they explain the company's position in the Covid-19 crisis, i.e. its ability (or not) to innovate and respond to social demand for a vaccine? We contribute to technological trajectory literature by integrating a systemic dimension of the links between source and destination technology. Our ‘Knowledge Capital Approach’ is based on patent citation data and network analysis. It has allowed us to identify the trajectory of Sanofi's vaccine technical system and to show its central position in its knowledge capital, where the technologies mastered by the company converge. These results can be viewed as paradoxical when considering Sanofi's lag in the Covid-19 race for a new vaccine. Our historical and qualitative approach adds to these findings by showing the role of strategic and institutional factors in explaining this situation.

Transition and innovation ecosystem – investigating technologies, focal actors, and institution in eHealth innovations

It has been challenging to investigate transition in a quantitative way. The challenge includes the complex interconnectedness relations in actors, artefacts and institutions and the lack of comprehensive datasets. However, after seeking the intrinsic properties of the social-technical system and innovation ecosystem theories, we propose a framework to investigate the transition in refinement and adjustment via realizing the patent citation network analysis. Then, we pick up the eHealth innovations as the investigation topic. The investigated elements include technology, actor and institution (standard). As a result, our analytical results reflect major historical events and results of prior studies, e.g., standard records. Next, we find that the observation of interconnectedness in technology and institution is accessible by the focal actors, especially the bridge role in the network. Then, we further confirm that the focal actors and their standardization behaviours are the main body to shape the transition activities. Thirdly, to observe the transition process, we assess the proposed framework by the core characteristics of the transition. Last, we differentiate two perspectives, technological trajectory and focal actor, on the standard investigation, which paves another way to investigate standards in innovation studies. The limitation is also described in the last section.

How do new use environments influence a technology's knowledge trajectory? A patent citation network analysis of lithium-ion battery technology

It is important for policymakers and industry practitioners to understand the factors that influence the evolution of a technology's knowledge base, i.e., its knowledge trajectory. The literature on the evolution of technologies and their underlying knowledge bases suggests that technological innovation takes place in an incremental and cumulative manner along certain trajectories. We extend this literature by not only focusing on the influence of the design hierarchy on the evolution of knowledge, but also the influence of emergence of use environments. We focus on the case of lithium-ion battery (LIB) technology from 1970 to 2018. We use a dataset of 101,620 patent families to identify and analyze the LIB industry's core knowledge trajectory. Our results indicate that the emergence of new use environments (in particular, those that require different service characteristics as compared to older use environments) can serve as an important mechanism for increased knowledge generation at the level of the product architecture, increased product innovation, increased technological uncertainty, and increased participation of new actors in the core knowledge trajectory. We discuss implications for practitioners and policy makers interested in understanding factors that influence the relative knowledge positions of firms and nations in complex, multi-purpose technologies.

Identifying technological development trajectories in blockchain domain: a patent citation network analysis

ABSTRACT In the past few years, blockchain technology has attracted more and more attention, and it has been widely used in various fields. But there is still a lack of relevant research reports on the innovation path identification of blockchain technology from a patent perspective. By downloading a total of 14,560 patents from Derwent Innovations Index and conducting main path analysis, this paper illuminates the overall picture of the development of blockchain for experts in this domain from a technology perspective. As an objective and quantitative network-based method, main path analysis identifies important patent, structural backbone and development trajectories in the blockchain development. This provides a reference for the scientific communities to understand the current state of blockchain technology, thereby illuminating future research.

A review of cutting-edge therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC): Perspectives from patents.

Rationale: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a challenging disease due to its heterogenous etiology. Several breakthroughs have occurred in treatment of HCC, associated with an enormous number of patent publications for a variety of HCC treatment modalities. As patents can provide valuable information for academic research and commercial development, this study aims to unravel the cutting-edge therapies for HCC by using patents as an indicator. The outcome from this analysis may offer meaningful insights for respective policymaking, strategic plan and research and development (R&D) prioritization.Methods: Derwent Innovation platform was employed to collect the sample data of patents related to HCC treatment technologies worldwide as of December 31, 2019. Data inclusion, screening and exclusion were according to the rules of preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). Technologies were classified based on Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system and recent clinical publications. Patent citation network analysis was carried out to identify and understand HCC therapeutic technology flow.Results: A dataset of 2543 patent documents and 528 patent families was generated. 11 technological categories were classified. Numerous researches were focalized on refinements in technologies and innovations within the field of HCC therapy, and the major achievements are technology advancement on molecular target therapy, chemotherapy, locoregional therapy, combination therapy and immunotherapy with demonstrated clinical benefits. In patent citation network, Notch pathway investigation, antibody drug conjugate (ADC) technology development and drug eluting beads trans artery chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) advancement are the major technological communities involving patents with the greatest future exploratory potential.Conclusion: Numerous emerging technologies have been identified in this study, in which exploring novel therapeutic targets in molecular target therapy, more localized and visible locoregional therapy and combination of immunotherapy with target therapy or other traditional therapies are highlighted as the future trends in treating HCC.

Patent citation network analysis: A perspective from descriptive statistics and ERGMs.

Patent Citation Analysis has been gaining considerable traction over the past few decades. In this paper, we collect extensive information on patents and citations and provide a perspective of citation network analysis of patents from a statistical viewpoint. We identify and analyze the most cited patents, the most innovative and the highly cited companies along with the structural properties of the network by providing in-depth descriptive analysis. Furthermore, we employ Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) to analyze the citation networks. ERGMs enables understanding the social perspectives of a patent citation network which has not been studied earlier. We demonstrate that social properties such as homophily (the inclination to cite patents from the same country or in the same language) and transitivity (the inclination to cite references’ references) together with the technicalities of the patents (e.g., language, categories), has a significant effect on citations. We also provide an in-depth analysis of citations for sectors in patents and how it is affected by the size of the same. Overall, our paper delves into European patents with the aim of providing new insights and serves as an account for fitting ERGMs on large networks and analyzing them. ERGMs help us model network mechanisms directly, instead of acting as a proxy for unspecified dependence and relationships among the observations.

A structural analysis approach to identify technology innovation and evolution path: a case of m-payment technology ecosystem

Purpose The evolution of technology has become the mainstream of the current technological innovation era. Technological change is organized in its unique pattern and a new approach that takes place in a systematic and selective manner. Such change is generally molded with the amalgamation of various factors, namely, economic, social or scientific and technological. This paper aims to focus on identifying technological trajectories in a technological ecosystem with the case of m-payment technology. Design/methodology/approach This study constructs a patent citation network for mobile payment service technology through patent citation data and identifies the main evolution process using the main path analysis of the network. The scope of this study focuses on key innovation using social network analysis and patent citation network, validated using the case of a mobile payment system and analyzing its technological trajectory. Findings Analyzing technology evolution provides a greater insight of the overall technology landscape to the researcher and practitioner. Analyzing the m-payment technology landscape gives three main categories of m-payment systems: the mobile financial transaction system), the payee mobile device payment selection system and e-wallet services. Originality/value The novelty of this research lies in the process of identifying technological evolution using social network and patent citation network analysis. The case of m-payment technology ecosystem is studied quantitatively which is not explored by previous researchers. This research provides a way to develop the main path technology of innovative products or services to identify technology evolution using the case of m-payment landscape.

특허 인용 네트워크 분석을 활용한 국가연구개발사업 특허의 평가 방안

특허 인용 네트워크 분석을 활용한 국가연구개발사업 특허의 평가 방안

Multiple patent network analysis for identifying safety technology convergence

Purpose Using the large database of patent, the purpose of this paper is to structure a technology convergence network using various patent network analysis for integrating different results according to network characteristics. Design/methodology/approach The patent co-class analysis and the patent citation analysis are applied to discover core safety fields and technology, respectively. In specific, three types of network analysis, which are centrality analysis, association rule mining analysis and brokerage network analysis, are applied to measure the individual, synergy and group intensity. Findings The core safety fields derived from three types of network analysis used by different nature of data algorithms are compared with each other to understand distinctive meaning of cores of patent class such as medical safety, working safety and vehicle safety, differentiating network structure. Also, to be specific, the authors find the detailed technology contained in the core patent class using patent citation network analysis. Practical implications The results provide meaningful implications to various stakeholders in organization: safety management, safety engineering and safety policy. The multiple patent network enables safety manager to identify core safety convergence fields and safety engineers to develop new safety technology. Also, in the view of technology convergence, the strategy of safety policy can be expanded to collaboration and open innovation. Originality/value This is the initial study on applying various network analysis algorithms based on patent data (class and citation) for safety management. Through comparison among network analysis techniques, the different results are identified and the collective decision making on finding core of safety technology convergence is supported. The decision maker can obtain the various perspectives of tracing technology convergence.

Network embeddedness and inbound open innovation practice: The moderating role of technology cluster

Inbound open innovation has become a prevalent innovation strategy used to strengthen firms' technology competitiveness in the fast-changing industrial and technological environment. The effective governance of firms' ego-centered innovation networks to facilitate and accelerate inbound open innovation practice is the main concern of scholars and firm leaders. In this paper, we elucidate the impact of network embeddedness on inbound open innovation practice by considering technology cluster an important moderator. We conduct a patent citation network analysis and a hierarchical regression analysis to empirically study the patent citation data of four emerging high-tech industries according to the stages of their industrial technology development. Our results show that during the initial and growth stages of industrial technology development, the centrality and network reach of a firm's network embeddedness exert a positive impact on the inbound open innovation practice. This relationship is positively moderated by clustering and the bridging ties of the technology cluster in which the firm is involved. During the stable stage, only the network reach improves firms' inbound open innovation practice, while centrality becomes a hazard. Furthermore, clustering decreases the negative effect of centrality and enhances the positive effect of network reach. Bridging ties show no moderating effect. Our findings deepen the understanding of scholars and practitioners regarding how inbound open innovation practice varies in different innovation network settings at both the firm and cluster levels.

Global networks of genetically modified crops technology: a patent citation network analysis

This paper employs the patent data of four major genetically modified (GM) crops, soybeans, cotton, maize and rapeseed, to illustratee how the innovation of GM crop technology diffused and distributed globally over time. Data collected from the Derwent Innovation Index, were employed to construct country patent citation networks, from 1984 to 2015, and the results revealed that developed countries were early adopters, and the primary actors in the innovation of GM crop technology. Only seven developing countries appeared in the country citation network. Most developed countries were reluctant to apply GM crop technology for commercial cultivation. Private businesses stood out in the patent citation network. The early adoption and better performance of developed countries can be explained by the activities of large established private companies.

The structure and knowledge flow of building information modeling based on patent citation network analysis

Abstract Building information modeling (BIM) creates new business value and innovation in the construction engineering industry. This study identifies BIM technology structure and the characteristics of knowledge flow through a patent citation network. A technology patent database was collected with backward and forward citation patents currently registered in the US Patents and Trademark Office and identified by the Cooperative Patent Classification. Technology citation networks interact and follow the power law distribution. The analysis of individual patent characteristics and intermediaries revealed digital data processing and telemetry systems as core technology fields stimulating innovative BIM technology. This study overcomes the limitations of previous methods of technology forecasting that have depended on expert opinion or peer review by performing a patent big data analysis to ascertain the domain of the BIM industry. This approach could soon be applied to R&D strategy planning and competition in business and the development of cutting-edge technology.

Network variations at the intersection of national capability orientation and technological path dependence – patent citation network analysis of the hydrogen energy and nano-tech sectors

ABSTRACTHow do national factors intersect in network formation in different emerging sectors? Scholars have focused on these regarding networking phenomena: the effects of national and sectoral factors. In spite of their theoretical contributions, attempts have been neglected in identifying and/or linking the factors from both national and sectoral innovation systems within the networks. This paper examines the cross-country differences within a sector, and the cross-sectoral differences within a country, as the consequences of sectoral–national intersections. Longitudinal patent citation networks in two emerging sectors, the hydrogen energy sector and nano-tech sector have been analysed for a time period from 2004 to 2012, in four diverse developed countries. The results convey that the two sectors demonstrate significantly varied networking activities, notably influenced by national capability orientations. On the other hand, cross-country differences in networking activities are also varied by technological path dependence.

Development trend forecasting for coherent light generator technology based on patent citation network analysis

A forecasting methodology for technology development trends is proposed based on a two-level network model consisting of knowledge-transfer among patents and patent subclasses, with the aim to confront the increasing complex challenge in technology investment and management. More specifically, the patents of the "coherent light generators" classification, granted from 1976 to 2014 by examiners of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, are collected and with which the first-level citation network is constructed first. Then, a new approach to assess patent importance from the perspective of topological structure is provided and the second-level citation network, which consists of patent subclasses, is produced with the evaluation results. Moreover, three assessment indices of the subclass citation network are abstracted as impact parameters for technology development trends. Finally, two typical time series models, the Bass and ARIMA model, are utilized and compared for development trend forecasting. Based on the results of evolution prediction and network analysis, the highlighted patent subclasses with more development potential are identified, and the correlation between technology development opportunity and topological structure of the patent citation network is discussed.

How a product’s design hierarchy shapes the evolution of technological knowledge—Evidence from patent-citation networks in wind power

We analyze how a product's design hierarchy shapes the focus of inventive activity and the expansion of the underlying body of knowledge, building on the complex-system perspective on technological evolution. This perspective suggests that the design hierarchy of a product can have an ordering effect on the evolution of commercialized artifacts, in particular when product design decisions on high levels of the design hierarchy set the agenda for subsequent variation and experimentation on lower levels. We extend this literature by analyzing the design hierarchy's effect on the evolution of the industry's knowledge base, using the case of wind turbine technology over the period 1973–2009. We assess the technological focus of patents along the core trajectory of knowledge generation, identified through a patent-citation network analysis, and link it to a classification of technological problems into different levels in the design hierarchy. Our analysis suggests that the evolution of an industry's knowledge base along a technological trajectory is not a unidirectional process of gradual refinement: the focus of knowledge generation shifts over time between different sub-systems in a highly sequential pattern, whose order is strongly influenced by the design hierarchy. Each of these shifts initiates the integration of new domains of industry-external knowledge into the knowledge base, thus opening windows of competitive opportunity for potential entrants with strong knowledge positions in the new focus of inventive activity. We discuss implications for the understanding of the competitive advantage of specific knowledge positions of firms and nations and technology policy for emerging technologies.

Quantifying technology–industry spillover effects based on patent citation network analysis of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies have been fast developing over the past 20years and are expected to generate extensive spillovers into other industry sectors. However, no previous studies have investigated such spillover effects. In this study, we propose the framework of two-mode network analysis to quantify the spillover effects of UAV technology into various industries using patent citation data of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A two-mode matrix consists of rows corresponding to UAV technologies and columns corresponding to beneficiary industries, and the value depicts the spillover probability obtained using International Patent Classification codes and the technology/industry concordance table. The out- and in-degree centralities of the spillover network are used to identify strong spillover-generating UAV technologies and strong spillover-receiving industries, respectively. We observed that the weapon industry received extensive spillover effects during the period 2005–2009. Based on Mann–Kendall tests, the spillover effects of UAV-related software technologies exhibited a consistently upward trend during both the last 10 and 20years. The past significant trend of spillovers can help us to forecast future trends. The proposed quantification method can be readily applied to investigate other specific technology–industry spillover patterns.

Using the comprehensive patent citation network (CPC) to evaluate patent value

Most approaches to patent citation network analysis are based on single-patent direct citation relation, which is an incomplete understanding of the nature of knowledge flow between patent pairs, which are incapable of objectively evaluating patent value. In this paper, four types of patent citation networks (direct citation, indirect citation, coupling and co-citation networks) are combined, filtered and recomposed based on relational algebra. Then, a method based on comprehensive patent citation (CPC) network for patent value evaluation is proposed, and empirical study of optical disk technology related patents has been conducted based on this method. The empirical study was carried out in two steps: observation of network characteristics over the entire process (citation time lag and topological and graphics characteristics), and measurement verification by independent proxies of patent value (patent family and patent duration). Our results show that the CPC network retains the advantages of patent direct citation, and performs better on topological structure, graphics features, centrality distribution, citation lag and sensitivity than a direct citation network; The verified results by the patent family and maintenance show that the proposed method covers more valuable patents than the traditional method.