Exploring the sources of design innovations: Insights from the computer,communications and audio equipment industries

Whereas business research has focused on the impact of design innovations on market response and financial performance, the sources of design innovations, as opposed to those of technological innovations, have largely escaped investigation. In this research, we examine the organizational, financial, and environmental drivers of design innovations and how they contrast to technological innovations. Our study utilizes a unique dataset encompassing a 10-year window of innovation output drawn from the computer, communications, and audio and video equipment manufacturing industries. Our results suggest that design innovations are driven primarily by investments in research and development and slack organizational resources. Interestingly, we find that design innovations are more prevalent in smaller but fast-growing markets as opposed to technology innovations, which are prevalent in larger markets. Contrary to expectations, we find no association between marketing investments and design innovations. Our research contributes to the extant business literature by considering the sources of design innovations separately from the sources of technology innovations. We also contribute to the literature by distinguishing design and technology patents, developing a deeper understanding of design innovation, and illuminating a lesser understood source of competitive advantage for firms.     

Natural language processing to identify the creation and impact of new technologies in patent text: Code,data, and new measures

We develop natural language processing techniques to identify the creation and impact of new technologies in the population of U.S. patents. We validate the new techniques and their improvement over traditional metrics based on patent classification and citations in two case-control studies. First, we collect patents linked to awards such as the Nobel prize and the National Inventor Hall of Fame. These patents likely cover radically new technologies with a major impact on technological progress and patenting. Second, we identify patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office but simultaneously rejected by both the European and Japanese patent office. Such patents arguably lack novelty or cover small incremental advances over prior art and should have little impact on technological progress. We provide open access to code, data, and new measures for all utility patents granted by the USPTO up to May 2018 (see https://zenodo.org/record/3515985, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3515985).     

Using patent citation patterns to infer innovation market competition

We propose an empirical strategy to estimate competition in innovation markets. Our method relates firms’ market return on equity to information about patent citation patterns. Two innovations are implemented in the methodology. First is the application of daily abnormal stock returns rather than annual measures of Tobin's q. Second is the creation of citation patterns related to the area of science a firm patents in as represented by the detailed patent classification system. We find that markets positively reward firms when patents are granted. We further find that firm's market value increases when its patent portfolio is cited. We find evidence of competition in innovation markets. The market reacts at the time that the citation occurs and does not anticipate future citations at the time of patenting. Holding this effect constant, we find that citations from patents in the same area of science tend to reduce market value. We interpret these findings as consistent with more citations indicating more valuable intellectual property but citations from competing technologies decreasing it.     

区域技术差异对专利价值的影响

专利技术特征是专利价值生成的重要因素。现有研究通常假定技术创新相互独立,忽视同一区域技术创新之间存在的关联。本研究以中国知识产权局1985-2009年间授权的战略新兴产业专利为研究对象,分析包括区域技术差异在内的多种专利技术特征对专利价值的影响。将专利存续期作为专利价值的代理变量,估计专利生存函数发现:中美日三国在各技术子领域的专利价值与其在该领域的技术相对优(劣)势有明显关联,而与技术领域本身的相关性并不明显。随后建立COX风险回归模型进行量化研究,结果显示:相比于技术领域因素,区域技术差异对专利价值生成更具显著且稳定的影响。区域技术优势能够促进专利维持并最终提升专利价值。     

基于专利相似度的突破性技术发明识别研究——以纳米技术为例

随着我国发明专利申请数量的迅猛增加,如何通过事前和事后指标测度并识别技术和经济价值高的突破性技术发明就成为学术界面临的焦点问题。针对我国专利普遍缺乏引文信息的现状,本文利用专利的国际专利分类（IPC）信息构建两两专利相似度指标,并引入时间维度对过去、当前以及未来三个时间段的专利相似度比较,测度专利的新颖性、独特性和影响力,从而构建突破性技术发明的综合识别方案。然后,以纳米技术为例,利用美国专利商标局（USPTO）在1975-2015年的授权发明专利数据进行实证检验。结果表明：（1）基于专利IPC四位和六位分类的相似度指标分别可以识别出6.23%和5.06%的纳米技术专利为突破性技术发明;（2）基于专利相似度识别的突破性技术发明与基于专利被引数识别的突破性技术发明具有显著的正相关关系,但是,两类识别方法得到的结果中仅有不足总样本的0.5%是相同的,表明以往单纯依赖专利被引数据识别突破性技术发明可能存在一定偏差;（3）对突破性技术发明来源特征的实证检验表明,基于专利相似度和基于专利被引数的突破性技术发明的发明人和组织来源特征基本一致,而发明层面的知识来源特征呈现不一致的结果,进一步反映出两类识别方案的差异性。本文基于专利相似度构建的突破性技术发明识别方案既为企业在实践中挖掘和利用高价值的发明专利提供参考,也对未来突破性技术发明相关研究达成一致结论具有重要意义。     

Close to you? Bias and precision in patent-based measures of technological proximity

Patent data have been widely used in research to characterize firms’ locations in technological or knowledge space, as well as the proximities among firms. Researchers have measured firms’ technological or knowledge proximities with a variety of measures based on patent data, including Euclidean distances (using the technological classifications listed on patents), and overlap in cited patents. Often research has employed only the first listed patent classification in measures of proximities. We explore the effects of using the first listed patent class as well as other methods to measure proximities. We point out that measures of proximity based on small numbers of patents are imprecisely measured random variables. Measures computed on samples with few patents or a single patent class generate both biased and imprecise measures of proximity. We discuss the implications of this for typical research questions employing measures of proximity, and explore the effects of larger sample sizes and coarser patent class breakdowns in mitigating these problems. Where possible, we suggest that researchers increase their sample sizes by aggregating years or using all of the listed patent classes on a patent, rather than just the first.     

技术内卷的测度：方法研究与案例分析

近年来,全球范围的技术发展面临新的挑战,一方面是专利、论文等的数量持续快速增长;另一方面,技术发展趋向于局部改进和渐进创新,少见原创性的技术创新,这实质上是技术领域的内卷化。面对技术内卷的涌现蔓延,开展研究工作的前提是对其进行科学测度。为科学测度技术内卷,避免专利数量的过快增长干扰研究,从专利类别分析入手开展研究;将发明专利划分为基本专利和同族专利,同族专利是围绕基本专利衍生形成的,反映领域技术的细微改进和渐进创新;选择同族专利为突破口,研究构建测度内卷的技术内卷指数。然后,以化学电池技术为研究样本,针对长周期的技术发展过程,运用研究构建的技术内卷指数,定量测度和划分技术内卷的演进阶段,分析得出技术内卷的阶段特征。     

An Empirical Study of Nanowire Technological Trends

This paper follows a bibliometric method for nanowire case to make evident the technological trends; to present the relationship between patents; to help the researchers to discover relatively significant patents and to analyse important relationships between patents to identify those with most commercial potential and those which are critical technologies. This research focuses on the nanowire case study due to fact that this field is one of the most mature nanostructures and is one of the highly invested fields in nanotechnology. In terms of methodological approach, this study uses a different patent collection method than previous studies. This new method offers a new taxonomy that could make a significant impact on accurate patent data quests and increase the reliability of the patent analyses. As patent data are valuable sources of technology innovation and for forecasting technical change, this study utilises nanowire patent documents to pick out the technological trends, to identify nanowire technologies which both have the most commercial potential and which are critical at the organisational, national and international levels.     

渐进、突破与破坏性技术创新研究述评

对渐进性创新、突破性创新、破坏性创新的理论进行整理,分析三种理论之间的联系和区别,认为突破性技术创新与渐进性技术创新是依据创新的程度不同而进行的一种分类。突破性技术创新产生产品生命周期中的不连续点,而渐进性技术创新是在原有技术轨道上的延伸。破坏性技术创新理论是从对原有的市场是否产生威胁和替代角度展开的研究。     

基于企业引用网络的技术影响力评价研究

 专利作为企业间技术竞争情报的重要信息源,从中可以发现竞争对手的技术发展战略及趋势。利用专利引用关系构建了企业引用网络,借鉴链接分析中PageRank算法的思想,提出了企业技术影响力的评价方法,并以USTPO美国专利数据库1975至1999年液压制动领域的专利为数据样本进行了实证分析。分析结果表明,与基于被引次数的传统评价指标相比,新评价方法综合考虑了引用企业数量、企业自身影响力、企业间引用强度三方面的因素,因此可以更加客观地评估企业的技术影响能力,进而帮助企业准确识别行业内的技术竞争对手。     

Scientific novelty and technological impact

This paper explores the complex relationship between scientific novelty and technological impact. We measure novel science as publications which make new combinations of prior knowledge, as reflected in new combinations of journals in their references, and trace links between science and technology by scientific references in patent applications. We draw on all the Web of Science SCIE journal articles published in 2001 and all the patents in PATSTAT (October 2013 edition). We find that the small proportion of scientific publications which score on novelty, particularly the 1% highly novel scientific publications in their field, are significantly and sizably more likely to have direct technological impact than comparable non-novel publications. In addition to this superior likelihood of direct impact, novel science also has a higher probability for indirect technological impact, being more likely to be cited by other scientific publications which have technological impact. Among the set of scientific publications cited at least once by patents, there are no additional significant differences in the speed or the intensity of the technological impact between novel and non-novel scientific prior art, but the technological impact from novel science is significantly broader and reaching new technology fields previously not impacted by its scientific discipline. Novel science is also more likely to lead to patents which are themselves novel.     

Categorical coherence, classification volatility and examiner-added citations

Patent applicants and examiners do not always have the same views about what constitutes a patent's relevant prior art. We propose that the processes of categorization and classification variably shape the interface between applicants and examiners by influencing assessments of similarity between new and existing technologies. Some inventions sit in technological domains that cut across the categorical boundaries implied by examiners’ patterns of specialization. Some sit in domains wherein the classification system that guides examiner searches is more volatile. In either of these circumstances, heightened ambiguity leads to more examiner-added citations on patents that are granted. We test and confirm our predictions in a sample of patents granted to semiconductor firms in 2005.     

高校职务发明专利权归属问题研究

随着高校科技创新能力的不断增强,保护高校自主知识产权问题日益引起人们的关注.在陕西高校科技创新过程中,专利权归属问题是造成权利纠纷和影响科技创新的一个重要因素.针对我国职务发明法律规定的不足,对完善陕西高校职务发明权专利权归属问题提出建议.     

Patent trolls on markets for technology - An empirical analysis of NPEs’ patent acquisitions

Patent trolls, or NPEs, appropriate profits from innovation solely by enforcing patents against infringers. They are often characterized as relying on low-quality patents, an assessment that, if correct, would imply that eradicating such patents would effectively terminate the NPE business. In this paper, we shed light on this issue by empirically analyzing NPEs’ patent acquisitions. We draw on a unique dataset of 392 U.S. patents acquired by known NPEs between 1997 and 2006, which we compare to three control groups of 784 U.S. patents each acquired by practicing firms. We find that the probability that a traded patent is acquired by an NPE rather than a practicing entity increases in the scope of the patent, in the patent density of its technology field and, contrary to common belief, in the patent's technological quality. Our findings thus support recent theoretical propositions about the NPE business model, showing that NPEs procure patents that are more likely to be infringed, harder to substitute for, and robust to legal challenges. The fact that NPE-acquired patents are of significantly higher quality than those in the control group implies that elevating minimum patent quality will not put an end to the NPE business, and suggests that this business is sustainable in the long run. We furthermore discuss the fact that NPEs are peculiar players on markets for technology insofar as they are solely interested in the exclusion right, not in the underlying knowledge. We posit that transactions involving NPEs may only be the tip of the iceberg of “patent-only” transactions, a conjecture with strong implications for the efficiency and the study of markets for technologies. Managerial and policy implications are discussed.     

专利的技术新兴度与其技术影响力间关系研究

识别具有发展潜力的新兴技术和最具价值的新兴技术主体已成为各利益相关方关注的重点。美国的FUSE项目提出了“技术新兴度”这一指标,实现了对新兴技术（主体）的定量评估。在此基础上,本文以专利为研究对象,引入文献计量学、计量经济学等相关方法,在对专利的技术新兴度进行计算的基础上,从定量角度探究专利的技术新兴度与其技术影响力间的关系,并使用纳米载药领域的专利数据进行实证分析。研究表明,专利的技术影响力与其技术新兴度间存在显著的正相关关系,即技术新兴度越高的专利可能对后续的技术发展产生更大的影响和推动作用,且这种新兴技术思想（新兴术语）对专利技术影响力的提高作用具有一定的持久性（至少3年）。本研究为新兴技术的定量研究、高质量专利的挖掘以及我国政府或企业相关科技策略的制定提供了重要的参考。     

Innovation processes in large technical systems: Market liberalization as a driver for radical change?

Electricity supply is a large technical system, which exhibits strong path dependencies and high barriers for radical innovations. Recent market liberalization, however, has initiated a fundamental restructuring. The paper analyzes how liberalization has altered innovation processes in the field of electricity supply. We examine three radical innovations under monopoly conditions and contrast the findings with the results from a survey on the innovation behavior of electric utilities in liberalized markets. We argue that the selection environment for innovations has changed in various respects. In our sample, new options open to innovation activities have emerged at the level of the firm and utility strategies turn out to be more heterogeneous. This may be interpreted as an increase in the variety of search processes, which may lead to a mid-term decrease of path-dependencies.     

What determines technological hits?: Geography versus firm competencies

The centrality of firms vis-à-vis regions underlines a general contrast between two models of producing innovations. This paper uses a new database composed of 4262 European chemical patents applied by 693 firms during 1987–1996 to compare the relative effect of firm and regional characteristics on the production of technological “hits” (highly cited patents). By using extensive controls, the main finding of the paper is that technological hits in the “traditional” chemical sectors are explained only by R&D intensity at the firm level and the scale of the research projects. Firm competencies, particularly technological specialisation, are still important in biotechnology. However, the distinct feature of the biotechnology model is that localised knowledge spillovers also matter.     

Structural modeling of the value of patent

There is a considerable volume of prior research on the relationship between innovation and patents. Those research studies reveal that patents contain a great deal of noise, and unless a correction is made in terms of the value of individual patents, a simple count of the number of patents does not constitute a very useful indicator. From research that has been conducted for the purpose of finding such an indicator to show the value of individual patents (that is, research to identify the characteristics of valuable patents), many kinds of value indicators have been proposed. Nevertheless, research hitherto has focused primarily on business or private value derived from the possession of patents, and little attention has been paid to value in terms of technical knowledge or social value. In a survey of inventors conducted by RIETI in 2007, terminology describing broad concepts was used when questioning inventors about the value of individual patents, and this has provided an excellent opportunity to analyze the multiple factors lying behind the value of patents and how they impact one another.The purpose of this research is to use data from the RIETI survey of inventors and structural equation modeling methods to elucidate the relationships between the technological and business value of patents, and the latent factors that influence them. The findings show that a scientific-technological motive for inventors would have a positive effect on both the business and technological value, meanwhile, the monetary or promotion motive would not have any direct effects on the value of a patent. The model also suggests that academic linkage would have a strong positive effect on the technological value but a weak negative effect on the business value. Furthermore, these relationships differ more markedly according to technological field.     

创新在标准对国际贸易影响中的调节效应研究

随着技术的不断变革与进步,创新已经逐渐成为一国经济保持竞争力的核心.一方面创新影响了标准化的过程和质量;另一方面,创新也正逐渐影响着整个国际贸易的外部环境.在标准和创新对国际贸易产生重要影响的同时,创新在标准对国际贸易的影响中具有调节效应,也即标准对贸易的影响受到了国家技术创新实力的影响.文章搜集了1997 - 2006年中美的标准、创新等相关数据,构造面板数据模型并进行多元回归分析,研究并检验创新对标准的贸易影响的调节效应.在此基础上,从应对发达国家的技术性贸易壁垒的角度,对我国的标准化和创新政策提出建议.     

The anatomy of a troll? Patent licensing business models in the light of patent reassignment data

We examine patent licensing business models of non-practicing entities that generate revenue by selling, licensing, or litigating patents. They may also pursue R&D activities, invent new technologies, or provide services to inventors or product companies. We describe their business models and patent market behavior and then compare their litigation strategies against product companies using a matched sample of highly comparable patents. The main differences among patent licensing firms stem from their technological capabilities, patent portfolio sizes, and external relationships. We find that licensing firms with technological capabilities often pursue litigation until decision and engage in forum shopping. In contrast, litigation incidence, parties involved, and outcomes are primarily determined by patent characteristics, not entity types. Licensing business models drive the acquisition of certain types of patents that influence the outcomes of the patent system. We argue that patent policy should strengthen mechanisms to discover invention quality rather than focus on the amount of litigation or types of entities.