Search Results (8)

Against the backdrop of China’s rapid digital economy growth and the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals, this study investigates the spatiotemporal evolution, regional correlation, and innovation entity quality structure of digital technology patents in China. Using patent data (1994–2025) from the incoPat database, this study employs descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression to examine patent application trends, provincial distribution patterns, and the characteristics of major patent assignees. The results reveal that China’s digital technology patent applications have experienced explosive growth since 2016, establishing global leadership in quantity, yet exhibit a structural pattern of “quantity leading, quality lagging” with limited high-value patents. Spatially, patents are highly concentrated in eastern coastal provinces, forming a “strong east, weak west” pattern. Correlation and regression analyses show a robust positive association between patent counts and provincial GDP, while population size also exhibits a significant positive effect, albeit with slightly lower explanatory power. Among the top ten global patent holders, six are Chinese enterprises concentrated in Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Beijing, but their share of high-value patents remains limited compared to international counterparts. These findings indicate a dual agglomeration effect, which may pose challenges to achieving balanced regional development. Full article

This study focuses on the long-standing issue of θ-assignment in the generative enterprise literature. Despite the asymmetry of θ-assignment regarding structural positions (Head–Complement/Specifier–Head) being sanctioned by the Duality of Semantics, I argue that it is possible to eliminate the asymmetry in full accordance with third-factor principles by proposing two independent frameworks. In the first framework, I propose that θ-assignment is executed by applying Minimal Search to locate the assigner and the assignee, where both the external argument and the internal argument receive the θ-role in the same way. In the second framework, which does not hinge on the assumptions or results of the first one, I propose that θ-assignment is a postsyntactical operation; thus, the Duality of Semantics, as well as concepts like θ-assignment in the syntax or θ-position, may be disregarded. For a proper θ-interpretation to be possible, the assigner and the assignee must be in the same transfer domain. Nonetheless, the empirical coverage of the Duality of Semantics is largely retained, suggesting merge can and must be simplest with respect to θ. Full article

The integration of digital pathology (DP) with artificial intelligence (AI) enables faster, more accurate, and thorough diagnoses, leading to more precise personalized treatment. As technology is advancing rapidly, it is critical to understand the current state of AI applications in DP. Therefore, a patent analysis of AI in DP is required to assess the application and publication trends, major assignees, and leaders in the field. We searched five major patent databases, namely, those of the USPTO, EPO, KIPO, JPO, and CNIPA, from 1974 to 2021, using keywords such as DP, AI, machine learning, and deep learning. We discovered 6284 patents, 523 of which were used for trend analyses on time series, international distribution, top assignees; word cloud analysis; and subject category analyses. Patent filing and publication have increased exponentially over the past five years. The United States has published the most patents, followed by China and South Korea (248, 117, and 48, respectively). The top assignees were Paige.AI, Inc. (New York City, NY, USA) and Siemens, Inc. (Munich, Germany) The primary areas were whole-slide imaging, segmentation, classification, and detection. Based on these findings, we expect a surge in DP and AI patent applications focusing on the digitalization of pathological images and AI technologies that support the vital role of pathologists. Full article

Bees play a fundamental role in the ecological balance of ecosystems, due to the pollination process they carry out on crops, including the production of honey. However, the mortality of bees is a significant concern; bee mortality can occur for several reasons, such as pesticides, mites, viruses, climate change, pathogens and a reduction in food resources and nests. The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the most widely used bee for commercial pollination and honey production. Therefore, the main objective is to compare the development of patent families and article publications related to the reduction in A. meliífera mortality. Data on patent families were collected on the Orbit platform, while data on scientific articles were collected on the Scopus database, with a time interval of 1980–2019. Subsequently, the data were analyzed in order to show the main priority countries, main assignees, and main IPC (International Patent Classification) codes, an analysis of the technology life cycle and the correlation between the data of patent families and articles published. The technologies that help to decrease bee mortality showed a technological maturity rate of 27.15% for patent families data and 53.35% for data from articles published in journals. It was noticed that the principal interest regarding the reduction in A. mellifera mortality is focused on universities, mainly in the United States and China. Full article

In recent years, assessing patent risks has attracted fast-growing attention from both researchers and practitioners in studies of technological innovation. Following the existing literature on risks and intellectual property (IP) risks, we define patent risks as the lack of understanding of the distribution of patents that lead to losing a key patent, increased research and development costs, and, potentially, infringement litigation. This paper aims to propose an explorative approach to investigating patent risks in the target technology field by integrating social network analysis and patent analysis. Compared to previous research, this study makes an important contribution toward identifying patent risks in the overall technological field by employing a patent-based multi-level network model that has not appeared in existing methodologies of patent risks. In order to verify the effectiveness of this approach, we take artificial intelligence (AI) as an example. Data collected from the Derwent Innovation Index (DII) database were used to build the patent-based multi-level network on patent risks from market, technology, and assignee perspectives. The results indicate that the lack of international collaborations among assignees and industry–university–research collaboration may lead to patent collaboration risks. Regarding patent market risks, the lack of overseas patent applications, especially the lack of distribution in the main competitive markets, is a key factor. As for patent technology risks, most of the leading assignees lack awareness of the distribution in the following technological fields: industrial electric equipment, engineering instrumentation, and automotive electrics. In summary, assignees from the U.S. with first mover advantages are still powerful leaders in the AI technology field. Although China is catching up very rapidly in the total number of AI patents, the apparent patent risks under the perspectives of collaboration, market, and technology will obviously hamper the catch-up efforts of China’s AI industry. We conclude that, in practice, the proposed patent-based multi-level network model not only plays an important role in helping stakeholders in the AI technological field to prevent patent risks, find new technology opportunities, and obtain sustainable development, but also has significance for guiding the industrial development of various emerging technology fields. Full article

Graphene serves as the most disruptive material in the twenty-first century and plays an unsubstitutable role in solving the sustainable development problems of energy crises, water shortages, and environmental pollution. Recently, obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in the field of graphene has gained increasing attention from both researchers and practitioners. However, few attempts have been made to summarize the SCA of this field by applying patent information. Basing on a patent-based multi-level perspective (MLP), this study aims to develop an approach to identify SCA in the target technological area by conducting a patent review from the comprehensive perspectives of the macro landscape, meso socio-technical system, and micro niches, and then integrate patent analysis with technology life cycle (TLC) theory to examine patents involving global technological competition. The effectiveness of the approach is verified with a case study on graphene. The results show that the graphene field is an emerging and fast-growing technological field, with an increasing number of patents over the year. The TLC of graphene technology demonstrated an approximate S shape, with China, the U.S., Korea, and Japan filing the largest number of graphene patents. Evidenced by Derwent Manual Codes, we found an increase in consideration given to technological application and material preparation topics over time, and research hotspots and fronts that have SCA. In terms of a leading country or region with SCA, the U.S., with a high foreign patent filing rate, large number of high forward citation patents, strong assignees’ competitive position, and large number of high-strength patents, was still the most powerful leader, with a higher SCA in the graphene industry. Korea also obtained a relatively higher SCA and will be a promising competitor in this field. Although China was shown to be catching-up very rapidly in the total number of graphene patents, the apparent innovation gaps in the foreign patent filing rate, high value patents, and Industry-University-Research Collaboration will obviously hamper Chinese catch-up efforts for obtaining SCA. As for patentees, the most powerful leaders with a higher SCA represented by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, International Business Machines Corp, and Nanotek Instruments Inc were identified. In addition, most of the high strength patents were owned by the above patentees. Further, valuable contributions to the understanding of SCA in graphene technology were summarized. First, the proposed patent-based MLP provides a new and comprehensive analytical framework for review research, as well as SCA analysis, and extends its research perspectives. Second, it introduces patent indicators to the previous MLP model, and provides a new theoretical perspective for the study of technological innovation in the previous MLP model. Third, this paper employs the TLC theory to explore the dynamic SCA in the given technology field, which further develops the concept of the MLP model from the temporal dimension. Finally, future research directions were demonstrated. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic review of this field using patent analysis, comprehensively acknowledging the current technological competition and development in the graphene field and that of the future, and can be applied to various other emerging technology fields. Full article

In recent years, many CO₂ capture technologies have been developed due to growing awareness about the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper, publications from the last decade addressing this topic were analyzed, paying special attention to patent status to provide useful information for policymakers, industry, and businesses and to help determine the direction of future research. To show the most current patent activity related to carbon capture using membrane technology, we collected 2749 patent documents and 572 scientific papers. The results demonstrated that membranes are a developing field, with the number of applications growing at a steady pace, exceeding 100 applications per year in 2013 and 2014. North American assignees were the main contributors, with the greatest number of patents owned by companies such as UOP LLC, Kilimanjaro Energy Inc., and Membrane Technology and Research Inc., making up 26% of the total number of published patents. Asian countries (China, Japan, and Korea) and international offices were also important knowledge sources, providing 29% and 24% of the documents, respectively. Furthermore, this paper highlights 10 more valuable patents regarding their degree of innovation and citations, classified as Y02C 10/10 according to the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) criteria. Full article

This paper examines existing research on the impact of terrorism on expatriate coping strategies. We consider pre-assignment fear of terrorism, in-country coping strategies, and anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with repatriation. The extant research is small but growing. Our model for expatriate coping at the pre-departure, in-country, and repatriation stages includes strategies specific to each stage. Preparation using proactive coping, systematic desensitization, problem and emotion focused coping, social support, and virtual reality explorations are recommended. Selecting expatriate candidates who are well-adjusted, emotionally intelligent, and possessing good coping skills is essential for successful assignments in terror-prone regions. Full article