Comparative Research of Patent Citations of Patent Applicants and Patent Examiners:A Case Study in the Field of 5G Communication Technologies

Abstract

[Purpose/Significance] The research and application of patent citation data analysis are very extensive, which has important significance to understand the industry evolution and find opportunities for emerging technologies. The research is based on an in-depth understanding of factors such as citation motivation and actual function. [Method/Process] From the subject research perspective, this paper used the highly cited patents in the 5G communication engineering from the patent database (Derwent Innovations Index, DII), as the object, and downloaded the patent datasets of the citations of the patent examiners and the patent applicants. We revealed the attribute characteristics of two types of citations and the hidden value through the comparative analysis of the different citation datasets and observed the certain similarities and differences in two types of citations datasets in the publishing time, quotation of references, and the concentration field of technologies through social network analysis. [Results/Conclusions] The empirical conclusion shows that the examiner dataset tends to cite mature patents published earlier, and the examiner dataset has a higher concentration in both citation type and IPC. The analysis shows that most patents in the 5G field tend to apply the international applications, and the United States, China, and Europe are the important areas for the deployment of 5G technologies. The patentees or institutions of the applicant dataset are mostly small and medium-sized companies or research institutes engaged in the communication industry, while the citation examiners are relatively concentrated in large, established multinational communication equipment companies. Besides, examiners are more likely to refer to patents with a higher number of partners. In terms of the patent technology content, the applicant citations focus on the research and development of communication equipment and devices, as well as the research of communication protocols and technical methods, while the examiner citations focus on the technical research of communication methods and transmission.