Building potential patent portfolios: An integrated approach based on topic identification and correlation analysis

Purpose： This paper suggests a framework to identify important patents for building potential patent portfolios based on patents owned by different assignees so as to highlight the value of individual patents in technology transfer and identify potential collaborators for patent assignees. Design/methodology/approach： The analysis framework includes the following steps： l） co-classification analysis based on the International Patent Classification （IPC） codes and Derwent Manual Codes （DMC） to detect sub-tech fields, 2） keyword co-occurrence analysis aiming to understand the core technology information in each patent, and 3） social network analysis used for identifying important technologies and partnerships of key assignees. A case study was conducted with 27,401 chemistry patents filed by a Chinese national research institute. Findings： The results show that this framework is effective in building potential technological patent portfolios based on patents owned by different assignees and identifying future collaborators for the assignees. This integrated approach based on topic identification and correlation analysis that combines network-based analysis with keyword-based analysis can reveal important patented technologies and their connections and help understand detailed technological information mentioned in patents. Research limitations： In keywords analysis, only titles and abstracts of patent documents were used and weights of keywords in different parts of the documents were not considered.Practical implications： The analysis framework provides valuable information for decision- makers of large institutions which have many patents with broad application prospects. Originality/value： Different from previous patent portfolio studies based on the use of a combination of patent analysis indicators, this study provides insights into a method of building patent portfolios to discover the potential of individual patents in technology transfer and promote cooperation among different patent assignees.

Analysis of Strategy for Extending Patent Protection of Rucaparib

As a knowledge-intensive and promising strategic emerging industry, the biomedical industry has high entry thresholds, large R&D investment, long cycle, high risk and high return. In all technical fields, the biomedical industry has the highest dependence on intellectual property rights, and the protection of pharmaceutical intellectual property rights by domestic and foreign biomedical enterprises also runs through the whole process of drug research and development. Extending the patent protection period of drugs as well as forming and strengthening patent fortresses requires a patent network that surrounds drugs to maximize the value of intellectual property protection, which is also the focus of every pharmaceutical company with patent rights. By analyzing the patent portfolio of Clovis Oncology Company in the United States on Rucaparib and the patent portfolio of other companies or applicants on Rucaparib, we can have a clearer understanding of the strategy of extending the patent protection period of a new drug product.

The Aircraft Industry in Japan： Niche Construction and Patent Portfolio Strategy

The Japanese aircraft industry changed its course in approximately 2007. Mitsubishi Heavy Industry （MHI） Co. launched a project in which regional jets （Mitsubishi Regional Jet （MILl）） reentered the airliner manufacturing market. Honda announced plans to develop, manufacture, and sell small passenger jets, or Honda Jets, in the United States （US） market. This paper summarizes the historical development of the industry using aircraft production statistics and analyzes the patent portfolio strategy from 1995 to 2006, a period in which MHI and Honda accumulated patents for the upcoming market entry. The author uses the following two measurements to evaluate niche widths among aircraft manufacturing companies： the Morishita＇s index and the principal component analysis. The former index is used in population ecology to measure overlapping species. The latter measurement is presented to clarify the validity of the Morishita＇s index. The author identifies MHI as a market leader, Kawasaki Heavy Industry （KHI） Co. as a challenger, Fuji Heavy Industry （FHI） Co. as a follower, and Honda as a nicher in the aircraft patent portfolio strategy in Japan.