Factor analysis and structural equation model for patent analysis: a case study of Apple’s technology

In this study, we analyse patent data for technology analysis (TA) because patents are rich in information on developed technology. The results of TA can be used to perform more efficient research and development (R&D) planning. Most companies are trying to develop new and innovative technologies to improve their competitive positions. Research involving TA has been introduced in a variety of fields. Most of the published research analysed original variables related to a target technology. However, it is necessary to analyse the latent variables as well as the original variables included in the technology to achieve a better TA model. Therefore, we propose a factor analysis and a structural equation model for patent analysis. In addition, we use Apple’s patents to determine the target technology. In our case study, we analyse Apple’s technologies by latent variables. Our case study shows how the proposed model is applied to Apple’s R&D planning.     

Characterising a technology development at the stage of early emerging applications: nanomaterial-enhanced biosensors

We devise future-oriented technology analyses tools to investigate a technology at an interesting development stage of early emerging applications. At this stage, technologies show great potential with little established commercialisation. Future development pathways are highly uncertain and heavily dependent on contextual interactions. We apply R&D profiling, R&D-to-applications cross-charting, and technology delivery system modelling to help understand the phenomena that bear upon development prospects. We develop our approach through a two-tier case study: general treatment of nanomaterial-enhanced biosensors, followed by more specialised treatment of one subset of those. Results convey the importance of considering technological and social context factors together to understand likely innovation pathways.     

太阳能技术的合作专利分析及对策

低碳经济已经成为国际经济发展的新要求,因此,低碳技术开发日益受到世界各国的重视。太阳能技术是一种典型的低碳技术,我国经过10几年的发展,在太阳能领域取得了举世瞩目的成就,但因缺乏核心技术,目前面临着严峻的挑战。由于专利分析能客观地评价技术创新与合作水平,因此,为更好地促进我国太阳能技术的发展,基于专利分析法,对我国太阳能合作专利数据进行了分析。结果表明:我国太阳能技术的跨机构技术联系较少,"产学研"创新体系尚不成熟;政策扶持对于太阳能这种新兴低碳技术有较大的影响力;国内太阳能专利授权的技术领域主要集中在太阳能热利用,而在光伏领域的合作较少;太阳能合作专利存在较大的区域差异,应该进一步加强区域之间的技术合作和技术转移:应该加强国际技术合作。     

Technology clustering based on evolutionary patterns: The case of information and communications technologies

Technology trend analysis anticipates the direction and rate of technology changes, and thus supports strategic decision-making for innovation. As technological convergence and diversification are regarded as emerging trends, it is important to compare the growth patterns of various technologies in a particular industry to help understand the industry characteristics and analyse the technology innovation process. However, despite the potential value of this approach, conventional approaches have focused on individual technologies and paid little attention to synthesising and comparing multiple technologies. We therefore propose a new approach for clustering technologies based on their growth patterns. After technologies with similar patterns are identified, the underlying factors that lead to the patterns can be analysed. For that purpose, we analysed patent data using a Hidden Markov model, followed by clustering analysis, and tested the validity of the proposed approach by applying it to the ICT industry. Our approach provides insights into the basic nature of technologies in an industry, and facilitates the analysis and forecasting of their evolution.     

绿色与非绿色技术对后续创新影响的比较——“厚此薄彼”还是“双赢策略”

尽管绿色技术一直被认为具有广阔的发展前景,但这些技术在企业间的扩散率却很低。企业在非绿色与绿色技术创新关系上存在“厚此薄彼”的现象。基于1992—2019年中国制造业上市公司专利数据研究发现,相较于非绿色技术,绿色技术的前向引用次数更多,且产生了更大的知识溢出效应,对整个社会后续创新具有更大的正向影响力。此外,由于高能耗行业存在转化成本高、自身知识储备不足等问题,随着能耗水平提升,绿色技术对后续创新的正向影响力逐渐减弱。相较于非国有控股企业,国有控股企业绿色技术对后续创新产生了显著正向影响。该结论对政府设计绿色与非绿色创新“双赢策略”,促进企业从“厚此薄彼”转向绿色与非绿色技术双创新具有重要意义。     

Vacant technology forecasting using new Bayesian patent clustering

Vacant technology forecasting (VTF) is a technology forecasting approach to find technological needs for given industrial field in the future. It is important to know the future trend of developing technology for the R&D planning of a company and a country. In this paper, we propose a new Bayesian model for patent clustering. This is a VTF methodology based on patent data analysis. Our method is composed of Bayesian learning and ensemble method to construct the VTF model. To illustrate the practical way of the proposed methodology, we perform a case study of given technology domain using retrieved patent documents from patent databases in the world.     

A systematic approach for integrated trend analysis—The case of etching

Understanding technology development trends is of critical importance to countries, industries and enterprises to be sustainable in global competition. Attempts have been made to establish trend analysis by bibliometric and patent analyses. Also text-mining uncovers hidden and important information from structured or unstructured documents which serve as knowledge carriers. This study aims to provide a systematic approach for integrated trend analysis that takes into account bibliometric analysis, patent analysis and text-mining analysis. Etching is selected as the case study for integrating trend analysis method proposed in this study. Also, validity and applicability of the integrated analysis are evaluated.     

Trajectory patterns of technology fusion: Trend analysis and taxonomical grouping in nanobiotechnology

The potential of technology fusion has been advanced as a promising breakthrough function to create hybrid technologies. Despite its importance, however, the evolutionary path of technology fusion is yet unexplored. In this paper, by employing the case of nanobiotechnology, we attempt to deepen understanding of the development trajectories of technology fusion in three important aspects. The first aspect is the development of an index that measures the degree of fusion of cross-disciplinary technology at the meso level. The second aspect is to classify the trajectory patterns of technology fusion in terms of fusion degree. We analyze fusion mechanism by utilizing citation network analysis. The third aspect is to visualize the relationship between patents and their backward and forward patent citations, at the patent class level, with their direction on a citation map. This facilitates understanding of the overview as well as fusion patterns. The changes in fusion patterns are analyzed using time series comparisons. An empirical analysis in the nanobiotechnology field shows no positive relationship between the inflow and outflow degree of fusion. We also observe changes in the trajectory patterns of fusion over time. Analysis demonstrates that each fusion pattern has evolved in such a way that technologies focus more on their niche technologies, and that those technologies which cannot incorporate the technology fusion have been eliminated during the development process.     

A study of the method using search traffic to analyze new technology adoption

Various types of indices have been developed and applied for the purpose of identifying emergent technologies and forecasting their adoption. Recently, researchers have proposed search traffic analysis as a new method for tracking changes among consumers and utilizing this information to conduct further market research. Now with the onset of big data era, various attempts are being made to analyze the immense body of information made available by hidden traces left behind by consumers. In the same vein, our present study seeks to draw attention to the analytical advantages of utilizing search traffic. In this study, we use search traffic to analyze the adoption process of a new technology, in this case the technology of hybrid cars, for the purpose of verifying the potential value of conducting adoption analysis based on search traffic and we also propose a more refined method of analysis. First, we undertook to examine the keyword unit used in the searches, in order to refine our analysis of search traffic and thereby obtain greater practical utility. This was accomplished by comparing technology searches that specified the technology name with searches that specified the brand name. For each respective case, we also performed comparative analyses examining instances in which consumers simultaneously included the representative attributes of a product in their search.Our research found that the traffic of searches that specify a product's brand name was significant for explaining sales. Therefore, in the conclusion of this paper we argue that if the unit of search is properly refined, search traffic can indeed serve as an extremely useful method for analyzing or forecasting sales volume. Notably, brand-focused search traffic exhibited a superior ability to forecast sales volume compared to macro-indicators such as GDP growth or WTI prices that had been used to forecast car demand in preceding studies. Forecasting based on search traffic was even superior to forecasts using other bibliometric indices such as patent applications or news coverage.     

Examining technological competition between BMW and Hyundai in the Korean car market

The Korean car market has increased in size. BMW and Hyundai are the top-ranked imported and domestic vehicle brands in Korea, respectively. Thus, it is important to understand these companies and the Korean car market, because technology is most significant in the vehicle industry. In this paper, we compare BMW with Hyundai from the technological perspective. Our research is focused on an analysis of the technological competition between BMW and Hyundai based on their developed technologies. We use all BMW and Hyundai patents from worldwide patent databases to analyse the two companies’ technologies. In addition, we apply statistical methods and machine learning algorithms to the patent analysis. In our conclusion, we show the technological differences and competition between BMW and Hyundai, and find their relative strengths and weaknesses.     

A technology opportunities analysis model: applied to dye-sensitised solar cells for China

Technology opportunities analysis (TOA) can support policy-makers or managers in making strategic technical decisions so as to enhance their technological innovation capability and international competitiveness. This paper presents a multi-level framework to support and systematically identify technological opportunities. Patent data as a key component of technology innovation are used to enable TOA within the framework in the present research. At the research and development (R&D) level, we anticipate the directions of technology development based on technology morphology. Countries’ development emphases can also be investigated in order to help identify their R&D strengths and weaknesses and to seek promising development pathways. At the level of competition, we devise the assignee-technology analysis to obtain insight into competitive participants’ technical emphases and intents. It is also used to explore possible collaboration opportunities among them. At the market level, we apply patent family analysis to understand countries’ target markets and to assess prospects for the commercialisation of their technology. We pursue TOA to explore China's opportunities and challenges in dye-sensitised solar cells. The empirical case analysis supports the effectiveness of the TOA model. We believe it can be adapted well to fit other emerging technologies.     

Technological innovation strategy: how do technology life cycles change by technological area

Discussions on the patterns of technological innovation have significant implications in terms of the efficient distribution of national R&D resources and the establishment of corporate managerial strategies. This study is focused on calculating and analysing technology cycle time (TCT) by technological area based on patent data that can be used as easily accessible objective indicators for the purpose of modelling the patterns of technological innovation by period and technological area. The main technological areas handled by the study include medical science, vehicles, metallurgy, and computing. Of the patent data registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office from 1990 to 2014, International Patent Classification sub-class codes representing each technological area were selected to collect patent data, and to generate TCT statistics every five years. The TCT statistics generated is interpreted as the technological life cycle, to be used in modelling technological innovation patterns individualised by technology and period.     

Mapping technological development using patent citation trees: an analysis of bogie technology

We create a generational patent citation tree to reveal the development of bogie technology in the high-speed rail industry. We cull the information in patent citations to reveal the generational development of bogie technology by analysing patent titles, patent publication dates and patent-granting regions. We then measure the development of bogie technology by calculating its technological development on-orbit rate and by mapping the stages of technological development and its regional diffusion. The results show that bogie technologies are in a period of sustained growth and this period of sustained growth will remain. Technological development is accelerating and this acceleration will persist, although the global dispersion of technology lags behind in scope and speed.     

基于K-means与技术生命周期的技术预见方法研究——以水体净化技术为例

预见水体净化技术发展趋势有助于实现“美丽中国”建设目标。已有技术预见方法缺乏定量客观依据,相关评判指标也不够全面。从Innography数据库检索2008-2019年发布的3552个污水处理技术专利,运用多维标度分析和K均值聚类法,基于专利静态指标分析专利技术发展潜力,采用技术生命周期分析法从动态视角判断每类技术的发展前景。研究发现：①污水与污染物双重回收可持续性技术在多个静态评价指标方面均优于其它技术,且处于从引入期到发展期的过渡阶段,具有较大的发展空间;②以去除特定污染物为目标的功能单一技术已被淘汰,市场开始应用污水处理原理不同的多种技术联合处理方式。据此,提出企业应选择污染物回收率高、二次污染物排放少、整体“净效益”为正的污水处理技术,并采取新旧技术联合处理方式降低企业采用新技术的转换成本。     

专利家族视角下技术演化路径依赖研究——以光刻技术为例

以专利家族为研究视角，阐述技术路径动态演化过程中的路径依赖。专利家族自引会对技术主路径造成干扰，通过对主路径进行调整，提出一种修正技术主路径的新思路。研究发现：光刻技术在“投影对准和曝光系统—浸没式投影物镜—浸没式光刻材料—光刻胶”4个阶段经历了“路径消解—路径产生与路径依赖—路径消解与突破”的动态演化过程。在此过程中，以荷兰阿斯麦、德国蔡司和日本东京电子为代表的专利家族发挥重要作用。其中，以阿斯麦为核心的利益联盟垄断核心技术，强化光刻技术发展的路径依赖作用，占据市场领先地位。研究结论有助于深化对路径依赖理论的认知，通过揭示光刻技术路径演化过程及企业演化格局，为后发国家突破技术路径依赖提供实践启示。     

Patent keyword network analysis for improving technology development efficiency

The methods of patent analysis are largely divided into network-based patent analysis and keyword-based morphological patent analysis. Both methods have their shortcomings: internal patent information composed of natural languages cannot be analyzed in the network-based patent analysis method, and the correlation between patents cannot be analyzed in the keyword-based morphological patent analysis method. In this research, we analyze the patents of Light Emitting Diode (LED) and wireless broadband fields via a method that incorporates both the network-based patent analysis and the keyword-based patent analysis methods. And by using network indices, we identify the characteristics of the patent keyword network, and also perform a trend analysis to discover how keywords play a significant role in network changes over time. The analysis results indicate that the patent keyword network is sporadic but clustered and shows a clear power law distribution. Further, the inflow keywords are highly likely to tie new connections with other keywords in the existing associated communities. Also, we confirm the fact that, as time passes, the top core keywords of a particular technology field continue to play an important role in the network and that also the rate of technological changes in wireless broadband field is faster than that of LED. Through the proposed analysis, researchers can easily grasp what technology keywords are important in the specific technology field and identify the relations between the essential technology elements; furthermore, this information can be utilized for developing new technologies by combining these technology elements extracted from community analysis.     

专利信息分析在企业技术创新中的应用——以生物质发电技术为例

企业技术创新能够为企业发展提供源源不断的动力,专利是技术创新的集中表现。从专利视角出发,利用专利信息分析工具,对生物质发电技术进行深入的技术挖掘。并针对生物质发电技术中的除渣技术难点,通过检索和分析其相关专利文献,从而预测其技术发展,为生物质企业进行技术创新提供指导。     

基于应用领域视角的技术发展态势分析内容和方法——以石墨烯传感器技术为例

从应用领域的视角,提出分析技术发展态势的内容和方法,即首先利用专利信息和语义分析方法识别技术应用领域,然后从专利分布、专利权人和知识产权风险3个方面分析技术在不同应用领域的发展态势。以石墨烯传感器技术为例,分析了该技术在中国9个领域的发展态势以及在结构材料和电极领域的知识产权风险情况。     

Monitoring the organic structure of technology based on the patent development paths

As the strategic importance of understanding changes in technology for successful business of most firms increases, the ability to analyze and monitor the current stage and history of technology is reckoned as a critical asset both for gaining competitive advantage and identifying promising niches. Patent citation networks have been widely used for systematic and empirical analysis of technology development. Understanding of technology's detailed changes in large patent citation networks, however, is difficult to achieve because of these networks' large and complex structures. To overcome this problem, we suggest an algorithm that identifies patent development paths from a large patent citation network by evaluating the weight of citations between patents. We then apply this algorithm to flash memory patents in an empirical study. Our algorithm is a new methodology that can be used to analyze the dynamic and complex structure of individual technologies.     

Unveiling opportunities afforded by emerging technologies: evidences from the drone industry

In recent decades, researchers and practitioners have increasingly focused on how to develop breakthrough technologies. Notwithstanding this, companies still face the problem of understanding the opportunities enabled by technologies from the early stage of development. The technology management literature highlights that development is usually managed by adopting one of two approaches: normative or explorative. However, in using the latter approach focused on developing emerging technologies, unanswered questions remain. In particular, this paper aims to shed light on the strategies that companies adopt to unveil the opportunities enabled by emerging technologies. Analysing the drone industry using an exploratory case study approach, we investigate the strategies that companies implement to guide technology development to address more meaningful application fields. Using the Federal Aviation Administration database, we identify four possible strategies to develop emerging technologies: focus, deep, broad, and holistic.