Words in Patents: Research Inputs and the Value of Innovativeness in Invention

54 Pages Posted: 27 Oct 2012 Last revised: 15 Jul 2023

See all articles by Mikko Packalen

Mikko Packalen

University of Waterloo - Department of Economics

Jay Bhattacharya

Stanford University - Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: October 2012

Abstract

Intelligently allocating research effort and funds requires deciding whether to build on recent advances or on more established knowledge. When recent advances create superior opportunities for invention, their adoption as research inputs in the invention process promotes technological progress. The gains from pursuing such innovative research paths may, however, be very limited, due to the undeveloped nature of new knowledge, quick obsolescence of fast-improving knowledge, and the vast scope of the existing knowledge base. In this paper, we first develop a new approach to identifying research inputs in invention. Next, we estimate the value of pursuing innovative research paths that are created by the arrival of new research inputs. We identify research inputs based on a natural language analysis of 10 billion word and word sequence patent pairs in 6 million patents granted during 1920-2010. This novel textual analysis empirically reveals which single and general purpose technologies and scientific discoveries have been popular as research inputs in invention. We estimate the value of innovative research by comparing patents that mention these research inputs early against the value of other patents. For this comparison, we develop also a new measure of patent value. The measure distinguishes between citations that reflect the cumulative nature of invention and citations that may merely reflect similarity.

Suggested Citation

Packalen, Mikko and Bhattacharya, Jayanta, Words in Patents: Research Inputs and the Value of Innovativeness in Invention (October 2012). NBER Working Paper No. w18494, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2167597

Mikko Packalen (Contact Author)

University of Waterloo - Department of Economics ( email )

Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
Canada

Jayanta Bhattacharya

Stanford University - Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research ( email )

Center for Health Policy
179 Encina Commons
Stanford, CA 94305-6019
United States
650-736-0404 (Phone)
650-723-1919 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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