Technology Forecasting

Various patent indicators, such as number of citations, technology-cycle-time (TCT), number of claims, renewal status have been used to measure the value of patents with respect to economic value through competitive advantage a company patent holding company gains by holding legal rights to sale of the described technology.  Another use of patent indicators attempts to gain insight into the emerging innovation landscape or “technology lifecycle”. Analysis of knowledge stock demonstrated by a group of patents can forecast potential novel technologies which will hold advantages over existing ones. Forward Citations A patent’s forward citations are references to it received by a later filed patent as opposed to a backward citation which are references listed on a patent grant (or application) itself.  The use of forward citations as a positive measure of a patents importance has been reviewed numerous times in academic literature. The more (forward) citations a firm’s patents receive, the…