<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_jdis.201603_s_006_w2aab2b8c87b1b7b1aab1c15b1Aa"><h3>Purpose</h3><p>In this contribution we try to find new indicators to measure characteristics of a firm’s patents and their influence on a company’s profits.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis.201603_s_007_w2aab2b8c87b1b7b1aab1c15b2Aa"><h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3><p>We realize that patent evaluation and influence on a company’s profits is a complicated issue requiring different perspectives. For this reason we design two types of structural h-indices, derived from the International Patent Classification (IPC). In a case study we apply not only basic statistics but also a nested case-control methodology.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis.201603_s_008_w2aab2b8c87b1b7b1aab1c15b3Aa"><h3>Findings</h3><p>The resulting indicator values based on a large dataset (19,080 patents in total) from the pharmaceutical industry show that the new structural indices are significantly correlated with a firm’s profits.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis.201603_s_009_w2aab2b8c87b1b7b1aab1c15b4Aa"><h3>Research limitations</h3><p>The new structural index and the synthetic structural index have just been applied in one case study in the pharmaceutical industry.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis.201603_s_010_w2aab2b8c87b1b7b1aab1c15b5Aa"><h3>Practical implications</h3><p>Our study suggests useful implications for patentometric studies and leads to suggestions for different sized firms to include a healthy research and development (R&amp;D) policy management. The structural h-index can be used to gauge the profits resulting from the innovative performance of a firm’s patent portfolio.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis.201603_s_011_w2aab2b8c87b1b7b1aab1c15b6Aa"><h3>Originality/value</h3><p>Traditionally, the breadth and depth of patents of a firm and their citations are considered separately. This approach, however, does not provide an integrated insight in the major characteristics of a firm’s patents. The <italic>S<sub>h</sub></italic>(<italic>Y</italic>) index, proposed in our investigation, can reflect a firm’s innovation activities, its technological breadth, and its influence in an integrated way.</p></sec></abstract>

PurposeIn this contribution we try to find new indicators to measure characteristics of a firm’s patents and their influence on a company’s profits.Design/methodology/approachWe realize that patent evaluation and influence on a company’s profits is a complicated issue requiring different perspectives. For this reason we design two types of structural h-indices, derived from the International Patent Classification (IPC). In a case study we apply not only basic statistics but also a nested case-control methodology.FindingsThe resulting indicator values based on a large dataset (19,080 patents in total) from the pharmaceutical industry show that the new structural indices are significantly correlated with a firm’s profits.Research limitationsThe new structural index and the synthetic structural index have just been applied in one case study in the pharmaceutical industry.Practical implicationsOur study suggests useful implications for patentometric studies and leads to suggestions for different sized firms to include a healthy research and development (R&D) policy management. The structural h-index can be used to gauge the profits resulting from the innovative performance of a firm’s patent portfolio.Originality/valueTraditionally, the breadth and depth of patents of a firm and their citations are considered separately. This approach, however, does not provide an integrated insight in the major characteristics of a firm’s patents. The Sh(Y) index, proposed in our investigation, can reflect a firm’s innovation activities, its technological breadth, and its influence in an integrated way.

Gauging a Firm’s Innovative Performance Using an Integrated Structural Index for Patents

Journal of Data and Information Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

PurposeIn this contribution we try to find new indicators to measure characteristics of a firm’s patents and their influence on a company’s...

Gauging a Firm’s Innovative Performance Using an Integrated Structural Index for Patents

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Sep 01, 2017

Page range: 6 - 27

Received: Jan 28, 2016

Accepted: Feb 25, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20309/jdis.201603

Keywords
Patent analysis, Structural h-index, Market value of patents, Technological value of patents, Pharmaceutical industry, Nested case-control

© 2016 Xiaojun Hu, Ronald Rousseau

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Gauging a Firm’s Innovative Performance Using an Integrated Structural Index for Patents

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Sep 01, 2017

Page range: 6 - 27

Received: Jan 28, 2016

Accepted: Feb 25, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20309/jdis.201603

KeywordsPatent analysis, Structural h-index, Market value of patents, Technological value of patents, Pharmaceutical industry, Nested case-control

© 2016 Xiaojun Hu, Ronald Rousseau

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Patent analysis, Structural h-index, Market value of patents, Technological value of patents, Pharmaceutical industry, Nested case-control