Analysis of International Patent Applications for Inventions Like Traditional Herbal Medicines

Numerous applications have been filed for patents based on bio-inventions in the Indian patent office. Although there is not any international patent, there is a system of international patent applications whereby the applicant may designate name of countries where they wish to file application for patents nationally. According to international patent classification, the concern class for such a patent applications is A61K36/00. More particularly, the international class (IC) A61K36/00 relates to medicinal preparations of undetermined constitution containing material from algae, lichens, fungi or plants, or derivatives thereof (e.g., traditional herbal medicines). International applications filings under patent cooperation treaty (PCT) for patent purposes can be accessed at the Patentscope (patent search tool of WIPO). All international patent applications for such TK-based inventions have been accessed online at Patentscope using the classification code A61K36 for this study.

Big Data for Prediction

Technical field of big data for prediction lures the attention of different stakeholders. The reasons are related to the potentials of the big data, which allows for learning from past behavior, discovering patterns and values, and optimizing business processes based on new insights from large databases. However, in order to fully utilize the potentials of big data, its stakeholders need to understand the scope and volume of patenting related to big data usage for prediction. Therefore, this chapter aims to perform an analysis of patenting activities related to big data usage for prediction. This is done by (1) exploring the timeline and geographic distribution of patenting activities, (2) exploring the most active assignees of technical content of interest, (3) detecting the type of the protected technical according to the international patent classification system, and (4) performing text-mining analysis to discover the topics emerging most often in patents' abstracts.

Recommending blue ocean technologies for subcontractors: A framework based on business reports of prime contractors and patents

Subcontractors depend heavily on their prime contractor and thus find it very risky to enter a new business on their own. This study proposes a framework for these subcontractors to develop blue ocean technologies related to their prime contractor. First, the primary technologies predicted to be promising are extracted from the business reports of the prime contractor. Sub-technologies are then selected through a patent-based search using keywords and International Patent Classification codes of the primary technologies. From them, blue ocean technologies are proposed by optimizing the weighted mean of the min-max normalized market value, degree of competition in the technology market, and subcontractors’ potential technological capabilities for each sub-technology. This study shows that subcontractors can enhance their technology competitiveness by finding a low-risk blue ocean technology. Our empirical research on the subcontractors of a semiconductor firm identified technological patent fields for them to pursue. From our framework, subcontractors can identify blue ocean technologies by considering their prime contractor’s future industrial areas and technologies of interest as well as their own technological capabilities. Furthermore, the prime contractors can gain the synergy effect of technology expansion through cooperation.

Technological Advances to Reduce Apis mellifera Mortality: A Bibliometric Analysis

Bees play a fundamental role in the ecological balance of ecosystems, due to the pollination process they carry out on crops, including the production of honey. However, the mortality of bees is a significant concern; bee mortality can occur for several reasons, such as pesticides, mites, viruses, climate change, pathogens and a reduction in food resources and nests. The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the most widely used bee for commercial pollination and honey production. Therefore, the main objective is to compare the development of patent families and article publications related to the reduction in A. meliífera mortality. Data on patent families were collected on the Orbit platform, while data on scientific articles were collected on the Scopus database, with a time interval of 1980–2019. Subsequently, the data were analyzed in order to show the main priority countries, main assignees, and main IPC (International Patent Classification) codes, an analysis of the technology life cycle and the correlation between the data of patent families and articles published. The technologies that help to decrease bee mortality showed a technological maturity rate of 27.15% for patent families data and 53.35% for data from articles published in journals. It was noticed that the principal interest regarding the reduction in A. mellifera mortality is focused on universities, mainly in the United States and China.

The nature of ICT in technology convergence: A knowledge-based network analysis

This study aims to understand the nature of information and communication technology in technology convergence. We form a knowledge network by applying social network theories to Korean patent data collected from the European Patent Organization. A knowledge network consists of nodes representing technology sectors identified by their International Patent Classification codes and edges that link International Patent Classification codes when they appear concurrently in a patent. We test the proposed hypotheses using four indices (degree centrality, E-I index, entropy index, and clustering coefficient). The results show that information and communication technology is easily attached but tends to converge with similar technology and has the greatest influence on technology convergence over other technologies. This study is expected to help practitioners and policymakers understand the structure and interaction mechanisms of technology from a systematic perspective and improve national-level technology policies.

Technologies Applied to Wood Heat Treatments, a Review

Heat treatments are carried out on the wood to modify the hygroscopic properties and its dimensional stability. This allows low-grade wood to be used in exposed applications. This document provides a systematized bibliographic review related to the available technologies that allow heat treatment of wood. For this, scientific databases were consulted where previous studies with high temperature drying were found that served as the basis for the development of technologies that are used today. Patent databases were also consulted making the systematic use of the International Patent Classification (IPC) and Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC), the most promising codes were selected according to the histogram analysis. Finally, a marked trend was observed in recent years in the study and development of heat treatments applied to different timber species.

Patents as a Competitive Advantage? Analysis of the German Watch Manufacturer Junghans

This paper investigates the relevance of patents as a competitive advantage with regard to the luxury industry. Within the framework of an explorative research design, more than two thousand patents were analyzed, using the international patent classification (IPC) to cluster those patents. The analysis shows that the sole ownership of patents as a resource is not sufficient to achieve business success. In addition, the findings suggest a two-sided relevance of patents within the luxury goods industry as two main groups can be identified: First, traditional manufacturers focusing more on craftmanship, secrecy, and tradition than on novelties and patents. Second, large business groups and high technology businesses dominating the IPC group G04 and emphasizing on the latest technology as well as on patents. Furthermore, the internationalization is also reflected in the patent applications: European patents within category G04 have gained in importance over the last 20 years, while national patents have declined.

Investigating the impacts of artificial intelligence technology on technological innovation from a patent perspective

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has been widely applied in various fields in recent years. Nevertheless, no systematic study has yet been conducted on the effects of AI technology on different fields. In this study, the impacts of the latest AI technology on technological innovation in different fields were analysed and quantized systematically from a patent perspective. Moreover, trends on AI technological innovation in some fields were analysed thoroughly. We conducted this study on a dataset of patents related to AI technology. Based on the patent dataset, we carried out a statistical analysis on technology fields, which we defined and classified based on international patent classification (IPC) number. Distributions of IPC in different fields were also analysed to determine the trends on AI technological innovation. The research conclusions can provide useful information to investors and enterprises, who are interested in the state of the art concerning AI technology.

Applications of Silver Nanoparticles in Dentistry: Advances and Technological Innovation

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been successfully applied in several areas due to their significant antimicrobial activity against several microorganisms. In dentistry, AgNP can be applied in disinfection, prophylaxis, and prevention of infections in the oral cavity. In this work, the use of silver nanoparticles in dentistry and associated technological innovations was analyzed. The scientific literature was searched using PubMed and Scopus databases with descriptors related to the use of silver nanoparticles in dentistry, resulting in 90 open-access articles. The search for patents was restricted to the A61K code (International Patent Classification), using the same descriptors, resulting in 206 patents. The results found were ordered by dental specialties and demonstrated the incorporation of AgNPs in different areas of dentistry. In this context, the search for patents reaffirmed the growth of this technology and the dominance of the USA pharmaceutical industry over AgNPs product development. It could be concluded that nanotechnology is a promising area in dentistry with several applications.