Determinants of patent citations in biotechnology: An analysis of patent influence across the industrial and organizational boundaries

Abstract

The present paper extends the literature investigating key drivers leading certain patents to exert a stronger influence on the subsequent technological developments (inventions) than other ones. We investigated six key determinants, as (i) the use of scientific knowledge, (ii) the breadth of the technological base, (iii) the existence of collaboration in patent development, (iv) the number of claims, (v) the scope, and (vi) the novelty, and how the effect of these determinants varies when patent influence-as measured by the number of forward citations the patent received-is distinguished as within and across the industrial and organizational boundaries. We conducted an empirical analysis on a sample of 5,671 patents granted to 293 US biotechnology firms from 1976 to 2003. Results reveal that the contribution of the determinants to patent influence differs across the domains that are identified by the industrial and organizational boundaries. Findings, for example, show that the use of scientific knowledge negatively affects patent influence outside the biotechnology industry, while it positively contributes to make a patent more relevant for the assignee's subsequent technological developments. In addition, the broader the scope of a patent the higher the number of citations the patent receives from subsequent non-biotechnology patents.This relationship is inverted U-shaped when considering the influence of a patent on inventions granted to other organizations than the patent's assignee. Finally, the novelty of a patent is inverted-U related with the influence the patent exerts on the subsequent inventions granted across the industrial and organizational boundaries.

Investigating the determinants of patent acquisition in biotechnology: an empirical analysis

“…Consistently, previous studies revealed that the number of claims is positively related with the probability of patent litigation (Lanjouw and Schankerman 2001;Su, Chen, and Lee 2012). Therefore, having a high number of claims may positively impact the value of the patent (Gambardella, Harhoff, and Verspagen 2008;Lee et al 2007;Messeni Petruzzelli, Rotolo, and Albino 2015) and its attractiveness within MFTs. Nevertheless, this positive influence may decrease after a certain threshold.…”

“…Differently, patents with a broader scope may be more likely to be developed by internal R&D departments, consistently with an organisation's long-term strategy. Patents characterised by a Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 23:37 05 April 2015 4 A. Messeni Petruzzelli et al broader scope may in fact result from specific firms' strategic decisions (Merges and Nelson 1990), thus making them less valuable for other organisations (Messeni Petruzzelli, Rotolo, and Albino 2015). Accordingly, we posit that: Hypothesis 1.…”

“…As a consequence, organisations may be more interested in acquiring patents with a high scientific content, since they are deemed as more valuable (Messeni Petruzzelli, Rotolo, and Albino 2015), although the advantages provided by employing scientific knowledge in innovation processes vary according to the specific sector and application (Cassiman, Veugelers, and Zuniga 2008;Mansfield 1995). Specifically, scholars suggested that the more patents contain scientific references, the more they refer to basic research (Fischer and Henkel 2012;Meyer 2000;Narin, Hamilton, and Olivastro 1997), and this relationship has been proved to be particularly relevant in specific industries as the biotechnology sector, where science significantly nurtures the innovation process (McMillan, Narin, and Deeds 2000).…”

“…These, in fact, have been shown to significantly characterise patents value and related potential applications (Fischer and Leidinger 2014;Gambardella, Harhoff, and Verspagen 2008;Messeni Petruzzelli, Rotolo, and Albino 2015), thus making them as suitable indicators contributing to explain the organisations' strategic choice of acquiring patents.…”

Research and Development Strategy in Biological Technologies: A Patent Data Analysis of Japanese Manufacturing Firms

“…Kang and Park [13] examined the influence of government R&D support and inter-firm collaborations on innovation in 147 Korean biotechnology companies using patent and survey data. In addition to these innovation studies, Petruzzelli et al [14] clarified the determinants of patent citations in biological technology, focusing on patent influence using data for 293 U.S. biotechnology companies from 1976 to 2003.…”