What determines patent value?: Insights from the semiconductor industry

This paper contributes to an understanding which impacts certain patent characteristics have on the value of patent rights. In an exploratory study, 127 individual patents from a semiconductor company were evaluated comprehensively by technical and marketing representatives. The analysis of this rare data shows that for patents used as “bargaining chips”, novelty and inventive activity are most important. Difficulty of inventing around and disclosure turn out to be of limited importance. Due to a selection bias the influence of patent age on its value cannot be determined. The results hint at a differentiated theoretical plausibility of value indicators.     

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.     

Applicant and examiner citations in U.S. patents: An overview and analysis

Prior art patent citations have become a popular measure of patent quality and knowledge flow between firms. Interpreting these measurements is complicated, in some cases, because prior art citations are added by patent examiners as well as by patent applicants. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) adopted new reporting procedures in 2001, making it possible to measure examiner and applicant citations separately for the first time. We analyzed prior art citations listed in all U.S. patents granted in 2001-2003, and found that examiners played a significant role in identifying prior art, adding 63% of citations on the average patent, and all citations on 40% of patents granted. An analysis of variance found that firm-specific variables explain most of the variation in examiner-citation shares. Using multivariate regression, we found that foreign applicants to the USPTO had the highest proportion of citations added by examiners. High-volume patent applicants had a greater proportion of examiner citations, and a substantial number of firms won patents without listing a single applicant citation. In terms of technology, we found higher examiner shares among patents in electronics, communications, and computer-related fields. Taken together, our findings suggest that firm-level patenting practices, particularly among high-volume applicants, have a strong influence on citation data and merit additional research.     

Behind the recent surge of Chinese patenting: An institutional view

This paper examines a number of forces that have possibly contributed to the explosive growth of Chinese patenting over the past decade. After a review of previous hypotheses and conventional wisdom, this study proposes an additional explanation and argues that patent subsidy programs implemented by each provincial region have played an important role in the growth of Chinese patenting. This institutional change, taking place at the province-level, has induced an increase in patent propensity among not only firms, universities, and research institutes, but also individuals. Empirical evidence based on publicly available data provides solid support for this argument. It was also found that a larger fraction of applications are granted patent rights since the implementation of such programs, suggesting that reduction in patent application quality may not be a serious concern, unless the criteria used for patent examination have been lowered.     

“Stacking” and “picking” inventions: The patenting behavior of European inventors

By using a sample of 793 inventors drawn from the PatVal-EU dataset, this paper explores three aspects of patent production at the individual inventor level: (1) the number of EPO patents that the inventors produce; (2) the average value of their inventions; (3) the production of the most valuable patents. By jointly estimating the three equations we find that the inventors’ level of education, employment in a large firm, and involvement in large-scale research projects positively correlate with quantity. Yet, apart from the size of the research project, none of these factors directly influence the expected value of the inventions. They do, however, have an indirect influence, as we find that the number of patents explains the probability of producing a technological hit (the maximum value). Also, there is no regression to the mean in the invention process at an individual level, as the number of inventions that an inventor produces is not correlated with the average value.     

产业技术标准和产业技术发展关系研究——基于专利内容分析的视角

以构成专利文献的"技术词"为最基本分析单元,深入专利文本内部对产业技术标准和产业技术整体发展进行定量描述。以近24年来通信产业专利及其必要专利为样本,通过产业技术标准与产业整体专利技术内容相似度比较,揭示技术标准与产业整体技术发展关系。研究发现,产业技术标准实现产业技术内容的收敛与规范;同时,标准专利技术产生于产业先导技术,通过技术标准实现产业先导技术向主导技术的转换。为我国科技成果转化,实现创新驱动发展提供更加有针对性的路径和建议。     

Technological internationalisation in the electro-technical industry: a cross-company comparison of patenting patterns 1986-2000

This paper addresses the issue of R&D internationalisation of two multinationals in the electro-technical industry (GE and ABB), by means of a patent data analysis. The overwhelming majority of both companies’ R&D activities are concentrated in Western Europe and North America. The locational overlap between the two firms’ activities is small. These results are consistent with findings from earlier studies that (1) there is little evidence to suggest that the ‘production’ of technology is globalised in a general sense and (2) that tapping knowledge from an industry's global lead location plays a very limited role in foreign R&D investments.     

Academic organizations and new industrial fields: Berkeley and Stanford after the rise of biotechnology

The increasing intertwining of academic and commercial research networks has led to fundamental changes in the organization of modern science. Industry links not only affect the professional dynamics within individual scholarly communities but also affect the position of these communities in their broader academic environment. This paper outlines how industry ties open up opportunities for scientific institution builders to strengthen the legitimacy of their fields of scientific enquiry within this environment. How an academic environment shapes efforts by institution-builders to pursue these opportunities is examined in the context of reorganizations in the life sciences at the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University following the rise of biotechnology during the 1980s and 1990s. This study also highlights how different models of technology transfer shaped the organizational structures of the expansionist initiatives pushed through at these two universities by molecular biologists with close industry ties.     

Commercialization strategies of young biotechnology firms: An empirical analysis of the U.S. industry

We studied the commercialization strategies of young biotechnology companies in the United States building on previous studies by assuming that commercialization also includes intermediate forms like hierarchical or bilateral cooperation. Our hypotheses are derived from the Resource-Based View, Transaction Cost Economics, and Property Rights Theory. The results show that the propensity to integrate is related to the appropriability regime, direct capabilities, financial resources, and synergies between the products. Our results show that the Resource-Based View and Property Rights Theory contribute a great deal to explaining commercialization strategies, whereas Transaction Cost Economics explains less.     

跨国公司高科技产品专利国际化战略实证研究——以通信行业LTE技术为例

由于高科技产品的创新性及边际效益递增效应,使各公司越来越重视国际市场的开拓,专利国际化布局战略不仅为了保护其技术,更反映了其对国际市场先行布局的意图。通信行业中的LTE(Long Term Evolution)产品是继第三代移动通信技术后的新一代产品,不少国家已建成了该产品的商用网及试验网,基于该项技术上处于领先地位的12家公司专利数据的实证研究,分析比较各跨国公司专利的国际化布局演进路径,从而揭示不同公司在高科技产品国际化布局中的规律,也为公司寻找潜在的专利合作伙伴及规避可能遭遇的专利诉讼风险提供理论参考。     

从专利引文看公共科学对技术创新的重要作用

定量考察公共科学对技术创新的贡献大小 ,可以为政府支持基础研究提供有用的论据。专利引文分析 ,是测度基础研究对技术创新的贡献的一个重要方法论。通过对专利引证的科学论文的计量研究 ,发现 :工业技术与公共科学的联系不断加强 ,公共科学在技术创新中起着重要的作用。其政策意义在于 ,政府应该继续支持基础研究 ,而企业应该加强对外部知识资源的“吸收能力”的建设。     

Academic discipline and risk perception of technologies: An empirical study

This article brings together two areas of research: studies on risk perception of technologies and studies on vocational/career choice. This is an important link since decisions concerning technologies are influenced by decision makers’ risk perceptions and these in turn may be related to educational and career paths.We analyze students of different academic disciplines with regard to their risk perception of four technologies. The aim is to find out whether there is a relationship between area of study (as a precursor of vocational and career choice) and risk perception of technologies regarding health, environment and society. The four technologies under study are renewable energies, genetic engineering, nanotechnology and information and communication technologies (ICT). Key results are: irrespective of academic discipline risk of genetic engineering on average is rated highest and renewable energies lowest. This holds for all the risks studied (environmental, health, societal risks). On average, students from different academic disciplines differ in their risk perception. Factor analyses show that common dimensions of risk are the technologies and not the kind of risk. Regression analyses show that the variables influencing perceived risks vary between the technological fields.     

Mapping the importance of the real world: The validity of connectivity analysis of patent citations networks

Recent empirical findings have questioned the use of patent citations as a measure. This points to the need of validation of patent citations methodologies, which we address by testing a recent methodology for studying technological evolution, namely connectivity analysis of citation networks. We find connectivity analysis to be a valid tool to identify the reliable knowledge which opens the way to further technological evolution of a surgical prosthesis, the artificial spinal disc. We also illustrate how connectivity analysis represents how this reliable knowledge differs depending on the stage of technological evolution. The corroborated validity of connectivity analysis of patent citations may trigger a renaissance in the use of this kind of patent data.     

多维邻近性对跨区域技术创新合作的影响——基于中国共同专利数据的实证分析

区域间的邻近性是影响跨区域技术创新合作的重要因素.本文界定了区域间的认知邻近性、制度邻近性、地理邻近性,提出了多维邻近性对跨区域技术创新合作关系的概念模型,基于1999-2009年中国30个区域间的共同申请专利数据进行了实证研究.结果表明认知邻近性、制度邻近性、地理邻近性是跨区域技术创新合作的显著影响因素.其中国区域间认知邻近性过高,制约了跨区域技术创新合作的发展;区域间制度邻近性对跨区域技术创新合作有促进作用,而地方保护主义对中国跨区域技术创新合作的影响已不显著;地理邻近性仍然是跨区域技术创新合作的重要促进因素;区域创新能力相似性对多维邻近性与跨区域技术创新合作的关系有正向调节作用.     

Opening the ivory tower's door: An analysis of the determinants of the formation of U.S. university spin-off companies

This paper presents findings from an analysis of the determinants of the formation of university spin-off companies within the university's research park. We find that university spin-off companies are a greater proportion of the companies in older parks and in parks that are associated with richer university research environments. We also find that university spin-off companies are a larger proportion of companies in parks that are geographically closer to their university and in parks that have a biotechnology focus.     

基于财务信息的企业知识资产评价模型及应用研究

从知识资产理论、企业价值理论和企业经营机制理论出发,借鉴了Lev和Sougiannis,Feltham and Ohl-son,Wonheum.Lee和SuMi.Choi等人的理论,导出知识资产评价模型和各资产对企业总价值的贡献程度。并选取了2005-2007年在沪深上市的80家浙江上市公司为研究对象,进行实证研究。根据实证结果,技术资产对企业价值的贡献度不高;营销资产的投入加大,没能带来期待的收益和企业价值的贡献。     

Resources and research: An empirical study of the influence of departmental research resources on individual STEM researchers involvement with industry

This paper investigates the influence of departmental level characteristics and resources on individual involvement with industry using a national survey of STEM faculty. An integrative model of industry involvement is developed and tested that integrates a multi-level perspective on university–industry relations. Three measures of industry involvement are tested: the amount of time a researcher spends with industry, the number of activities a researcher engages in, and the intensity of those activities. Results of the model show that the quality of human capital in a researcher's home department is a significant influence on industry involvement. Non-federal R&D expenditures and direct industry funding also positively increase the likelihood of industry involvement. Policy and managerial implications of the results are discussed.     

Market-level information and the diffusion of competing technologies: An exploratory analysis of the LAN industry

Market-level information diffused by print media may contribute to the legitimation of an emerging technology and thus influence the diffusion of competing technological standards. After analyzing more than 10,000 trade media abstracts from the Local Area Networks (LAN) industry published between 1981 and 2000, we found the presence of differential effects on the adoption of competing standards by two market-level information types: technology and product availability. The significance of these effects depends on the technology's order of entry and suggests that high-tech product managers should make strategic use of market-level information by appropriately focusing the content of their communications.     

Technology acquisition channels and industry performance: An industry-level analysis of Chinese large- and medium-size manufacturing enterprises

Through an industry-level analysis of Chinese large- and medium-size manufacturing enterprises over the period of 1996-2001, this article investigates the direct and interactive contributions of four technology acquisition channels to industry performances in terms of innovation performance and productivity. These channels include in-house R&D, foreign technology transfer, domestic technology transfer, and inter-industry R&D spillover. We have found evidence of an important role of inter-industry R&D spillover in shaping and improving industry performance in China, which has been neglected by previous empirical studies concerned with Chinese industrial firms. The empirical results indicate that inter-industry R&D spillover and foreign technology transfer make significant contributions to both labour productivity and the level of total factor productivity in Chinese manufacturing industries. We have also found that in-house R&D and inter-industry R&D spillover share a complementary relationship in shaping innovation performance and total factor productivity in Chinese industry, and that in-house R&D relates to foreign technology transfer as a complement for labour productivity. Finally, on the mixed results among existing literature in the context of developing countries, this article argues that the commonly followed strategy in technology development, combined with government regulations, will play an essential role in determining the relationship between in-house R&D and foreign technology transfer.