Abstract
Nanotechnology is an emerging field of science with the potential to generate new and enhance existing products and transform the production process. US patent data is used to track the emergence of nanotechnologies since 1978. The nanotechnologies that have undergone the most development are identified using patent citation data and co-citation patterns of patents are examined to define clusters of related nanotechnologies. The potential for economic impact of the emerging nanotechnologies is assessed using a generality index.
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Notes
The number of citations data of each patent was collected in July 2009. Any citations after that date would not be in the dataset.
The sensitivity of the 50% threshold was analyzed by constructing clusters assuming thresholds of 40 and 60% of forward citations shared. When clusters were constructed with the stricter alternative threshold, 60%, the technology clusters identified did not change. Three of the clusters identified at the 50% level shrunk by one patent. When the looser threshold was used, two of the identified clusters expanded to include additional patents and one additional cluster was identified relating to creating structures with carbon nanotubes. We assumed the technology identified in this cluster was closely related to another cluster previously identified, Carbon nanotube production, and assumed inclusion of the additional cluster would be redundant.
To confirm the results of the co-citation cluster analysis, five faculty members at the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering were asked to review the results. They compared the 101 most cited patents and the seven nanotechnologies identified through cluster analysis. They concluded that the technologies identified captured significant developments in nanoscale technology development.
For example a patent that has 10 citations in 10 different patent classes will have a generality index of G = 1 − (0.102 + 0.102 + 0.102 + 0.102 + 0.102 + 0.102 + 0.102 + 0.102 + 0.102 + 0.102) = 0.9. A patent that has 10 citations evenly distributed across two patent classes will have a generality index of G = 1 − (0.502 + 0.502) = 0.5.
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Schultz, L.I., Joutz, F.L. Methods for identifying emerging General Purpose Technologies: a case study of nanotechnologies. Scientometrics 85, 155–170 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-010-0244-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-010-0244-2