Exploring the Future of Patent Analytics: A Technology Roadmapping approach

In a connected world, where successful technological development depends increasingly on collaboration between different partners, effectively utilizing patent data analytics has huge, yet unexploited potential. Given suitable analytics solutions, this high-quality data can be used for decision making on a strategic level in all kind of organizations. The paper contributes to expanding the field of patent analytics for more effective exploitation of the worldwide largest repository of technological information. We do this by developing a domain level technology roadmap following a three-stage technology roadmapping and problem-solving approach. Firstly, from desk research and expert discussions, we identified five main problem themes in the patent analytics field (patent data, database interconnectedness, data analysis, data visualisation, and patent quality). Secondly, we verified and expanded these problem themes through an online survey with 70 respondents. Thirdly, we explored the future direction of the field through a workshop, with inputs from the preparatory stages above, with 28 leading experts. The approach served to develop a technology roadmap to facilitate collaboration and coordinated action within the patent analytics community. We identify thirteen priority technologies, such as artificial intelligence and neural networks, fifteen complementary technologies, such as block chain, and five new technologies, such as technologies for linking databases, to be adopted in the field and are important in overcoming the problems. We also identify twenty-one enablers for potential breakthrough progress of the field that cluster around four themes: technology development cycles and methodologies; legislation and standardisation for patent data quality; continuous professional development; and cooperation between industry and academia. Key next actions include the generation of use cases for different users, the standardization and harmonization of patent ontologies and the implementation of reporting standards.