1

Construction of Japanese Patent Database and Preliminary

Findings on Patenting Activities in Japan

Akira Gotoand

Kazuyuki MotohashiRCAST, University of Tokyo

EPIP Conference, Milan, 24-25, February 2006

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Outline

1. Introduction

2. Methodology and Basic Features of Japanese Patent Database

3. Comparing Japanese citation data with those of Europe and the U.S. Overview of innovation activities by Japanese Patent Database

4. Citation Analysis by Japanese Patent Database

5. Conclusion

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1.Introduction

“Nothing exists until it is measured”

----- Niels Bohr

Difficulty in measuring knowledge despite the talk of “knowledge society”

Patent as a source of information on technological knowledge

Great contribution of NBER patent citation database to innovation research

4

Need for a patent database using JPO patentsIIP PATENT DATABASE

IIP: Institute of Intellectual Propertyhttp://database.iip.or.jp/patentdb/index.html

(only for Japanese)

An English version will be available at http://www.iip.or.jp/

　　　　　　　

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2. Methodology and Basic Features of Japanese Patent Database

Original Data Source; JPO Seiri hyojunka Data (Literally translating, “Arranged and Standardized Data”, hereafter, JPO Patent Database) It contains the information generated through ac

ceptance of application to examination process by JPO.

About 50 boxes of half inch tape.

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From this original data, we chose variables important for innovation research, using NBER database as benchmark.

It covers patents applied after 1964.

The number of patent applications included is 9,027,486.

It is made of the following five files.

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①Patent application files (9,027,486records)

Application number Application date Examination request date Applicant number Number of claims at patent application Lead IPC code at patent application Aggregated technology category

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Aggregated Technology Category

1Agriculture A01 ExceptA01N)（ 62 Food Stuffs A21 ～ A24 63Personal and Domestic Articles A41 ～ A47 64Health and Amusement A61 ～ A63 Except A61K（ ） 35Drugs A61K 36Separating, Mixing B01 ～ B09 17Machine tools, Metal working B21 ～ B23 58Casting, Grinding, Layered Product B24 ～ B32 Except B31（ ） 59Printing B41 ～ B44 610Transporting B60 ～ B64 511Packing, Lifting B65 ～ B68 512Non organic chemistry, Fertilizer C01 ～ C05 113Organic chemistry, Pesticides C07 ､ A01N 114Organic molecule compounds C08 115Dyes, Petroleum C09 ～ C11 116Biotechnology, Beer, Fermentation C12 ～ C14 317Genetic Engineering C12N15/ 318Metallurgy, Coating metals C21 ～ C30 519Textile D01 ～ D07 620Paper D21 ､ B31 621Construction E01 ～ E06 622Mining, Drilling E21 623Engine, Pump F01 ～ F04 ､ F15 524Engineering elements F16 ～ F17 525 Lighting, Steam generation, Heating F21 ～ F28 626Weapons, Blasting F41 ～ F42 ､ C06 627Measurement, Optics, Photography G01 ～ G03 428Clock, Controlling, Computer G04 ～ G08 229Display, Information Storage, Instruments G09 ～ G12 230Nuclear physics G21 431Electronics components, semiconductor H01 ～ H02 ､ H05 432Electronics circuit, communication tech. H03 ～ H04 233Others B81 ､ B82 6

Tech No Ti t l e Correspondi ng I PC NBER

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②Patent registration file (2,618,699records)

Application number Registration number Registration date Rights expiration date Rights holder number Number of claims at patent registration Lead IPC code at patent registration Aggregated technology category

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③Applicant file(626,708 records)

Applicant number Applicant name Applicant type (individual, corporation or

government) Country and prefecture code JPO applicant code

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④Rights holder file(204,622 records)

Rights holder number Rights holder name

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⑤Citation information file(5,318,225records)

Citing patent application number Cited patent application number Citation type

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3.Overview of innovation in Japan by IIP patent Database

9,027,486 applications, 4,427,840 requests for examinations, 2,594,044 grants from 1964 through 2003.

Information on patent right termination is also available.

Data truncation problem

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Patent application by technology

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

450000

500000

1964

1967

1970

1973

1976

1979

1982

1985

1988

1991

1994

1997

2000

2003

Chemical ICT Medical&Drugs Electronics Machinery Other Unclassified

15

Patent application by applicant type

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

400,000

450,000

1964

1966

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

Foreign Individual Private Enterprise Non Profit Org.

16

Patent registration by technology

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

1973

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

Chemical ICT Medical&Drugs Electronics Machinery Other

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Number of claims by technology

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1971

1973

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

Chemical ICT Medical&DrugsElectronics Machinery Other

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Patent Life Length by Applicant Type

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Foreign Individual Private Enterprise Non Profit Org.

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Patent Life Length by Application Date

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Before 1970 1970's 1980's After 1990

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3. Citation in IIP patent Database

Two types of information on citation---both are given by patent examiner, not inventor

(1)as prior art to reject application: subject to change according to examination practices

(2)In Patent Gazett, reference to previous patent is made occasionally. Notable previous related patents. Only for patents granted, and after 1985.

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Patent counts with citation made

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

1964

1967

1970

1973

1976

1979

1982

1985

1988

1991

1994

1997

2000

2003

No Citation Examiner Rejection Patent Publication Both

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4. Comparing JP Citation Data with those of Europe and US

JP Citation data: (1) prior art for a reject application by examiner and (2) those in Patent Gazett (again by examiner’s citation)

EP Citation data: minimum number of important reference documents

US Citation data: applicant’s citations (but over 40% of citations are made by examiner, Alacer and Gittleman, 2004), citation inflation?

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Correction of patent data biases by OECD patent family data

JP-1

EP-1

JP-2

JP-4

JP-5

US-1

JP-101

JP-102

JP-103

JP-104

Family A

Family B

Family AA

Family BB

EP-101

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Data

JP Citation: IIP Patent DatabaseEP Citation: EP Citation DatabaseUS Citation: NBER Patent Database + B. Hall ExtensionOECD Patent Family: 1978-2002 Data

Total Citation AverageFamily # Number Family #

J P 117700 77045 1.53EP 113490 80991 1.40US 566756 205974 2.75

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Overlapping Citing Cited Pairs? JP Patent

US Patent EP Patent

2,609

21,295

11,532

6,437

83,149

97,122531,320

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What about citation lags?

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

J P EP US

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Correlation of citation count

EP US J PEP -US 0.22 -J P 0.23 0.24 -

Backward citation count (citation made)

EP US J PEP -US 0.42 -J P 0.42 0.36 -

Forward citation count (citation received)

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5. Citation Analysis

Selecting granted patents from all citing and cited pairs to capture cumulative process of innovation

5,318,225 -> 1,602,130 for 2,618,699 granted patents

Comparing patent counts, generality and originality index across applicant’s type and technology field

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Share of patents with citing made and citation received

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

1964

1966

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

Citing Cited

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Indicators for backward citation (citation made)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

1964

1966

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

Number of citing (left scale) Originarity (right scale)

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Indicators for forward citation(citation received)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

1964

1966

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

Number of cited (left scale) Generality (right scale)

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Descriptive regressions of patent indicators (1)

Share Mean # Mean Share Mean # Mean Citing (%) Citing Originality Cited (%) Cited Generality

1970's 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.614 0.086(.) (.) (.) (.) (11.53)** (9.85)**

1980's 0.144 0.197 0.021 0.037 0.626 0.096(8.07)** (4.63)** (1.28) (2.95)** (11.80)** (11.11)**

1990's 0.299 0.416 0.048 -0.128 0.353 0.060(16.82)** (9.81)** (2.89)** (10.27)** (6.66)** (6.89)**

2000's 0.376 0.453 0.059 -0.319 0.000 0.000(21.00)** (10.43)** (3.50)** (25.34)** (.) (.)

Firms 0.057 0.118 -0.012 0.036 0.152 -0.013(3.75)** (3.26)** (0.82) (3.33)** (3.83)** (1.95)

Public Organization 0.005 -0.021 -0.001 0.026 -0.007 -0.001(0.33) (0.56) (0.06) (2.38)* (0.17) (0.18)

33 technology field dummies…………R-squared 0.67 0.45 0.19 0.77 0.48 0.48

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Descriptive regressions of patent indicators (2)

High citing patent counts: printing, machine tools, non-organic chemistry, drug,

organic molecule, dyes, metallurgy, textile, optics, communication technology

High cited patent counts: printing, paper, drug, organic molecule, display and

information storage High generality index:

separating and mixing, organic molecule, metallurgy

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6. Conclusion

Construction of IIP Patent Database: filling a hole of patent database initiative in the triad

Open up opportunities for further research of on innovation and further data developments: for example IIP patent data base can be linked with JPO’s Survey on Intellectual Property Activities

Citation data analysis Substantial differences: not only by patent system (JP-EP vs US), but a

lso home biases On the other hand, substantial cross co-relation for citation received inf

ormation (indicator of important patent for cumulative innovation) Preliminary citation analysis conducted

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Future works

Data cleaning of applications name Using Japanese character makes things better Standardized name and JPO applicant coded after 1992 International coordination: match to Derwent codes? Us

ing patent family information Adding other variables such as inventor informatio

n, post grant opposition etc. Linkage with firm level data such as financial repo

rt data