Out of sight: patents that have never been cited

Neil Gandal; Michal Shur-Ofry; Michael Crystal; Royee Shilony

doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-020-03849-z

Out of sight: patents that have never been cited

Neil Gandal, Michal Shur-Ofry, Michael Crystal, Royee Shilony

Tel Aviv University, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Patent citations have become an acceptable proxy for inventions’ quality. Our study offers the first systematic exploration of uncited patents. Analyzing data on all US patents issued between 1976 and 2008, we examine the ratio of uncited patents out of all patents granted each year. We find a robust pattern, consistent across technological fields, whereby the percentage of uncited patents declined between 1976 and the mid-1990s, but has been significantly increasing since then. We discuss policy implications of these findings and suggest that the ratio of uncited patents can serve as a complementary measure for evaluating the patent system.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2903-2929
Number of pages	27
Journal	Scientometrics
Volume	126
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-020-03849-z
State	Published - Apr 2021

Keywords

Big data
Innovation
Negative knowledge
Networks
Patent citations
Patent quality
Patents
Uncited patents

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Library and Information Sciences
Computer Science Applications
General Social Sciences

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-020-03849-z

Cite this

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title = "Out of sight: patents that have never been cited",

abstract = "Patent citations have become an acceptable proxy for inventions{\textquoteright} quality. Our study offers the first systematic exploration of uncited patents. Analyzing data on all US patents issued between 1976 and 2008, we examine the ratio of uncited patents out of all patents granted each year. We find a robust pattern, consistent across technological fields, whereby the percentage of uncited patents declined between 1976 and the mid-1990s, but has been significantly increasing since then. We discuss policy implications of these findings and suggest that the ratio of uncited patents can serve as a complementary measure for evaluating the patent system.",

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AB - Patent citations have become an acceptable proxy for inventions’ quality. Our study offers the first systematic exploration of uncited patents. Analyzing data on all US patents issued between 1976 and 2008, we examine the ratio of uncited patents out of all patents granted each year. We find a robust pattern, consistent across technological fields, whereby the percentage of uncited patents declined between 1976 and the mid-1990s, but has been significantly increasing since then. We discuss policy implications of these findings and suggest that the ratio of uncited patents can serve as a complementary measure for evaluating the patent system.

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KW - Negative knowledge

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KW - Patent citations

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ER -

Out of sight: patents that have never been cited

Abstract

Keywords

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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