Do patent citations indicate knowledge linkage? The evidence from text similarities between patents and their citations

Highlights：

• We validate the basic assumption of the patent citation analysis method: patent citations can indicate knowledge linkage.

• Patents are generally more relevant to their citations (cited patents) than other patents in text similarities.

• Patent applicant citations and examiner citations can indicate knowledge relevance and knowledge diffusion.

• Examiner citations indicate knowledge linkage better than applicant citations, especially for the part of patent claims.

• Preferably, examiner citations are a good indicator of knowledge linkage rather than an incomplete and noisy indicator.

摘要

•We validate the basic assumption of the patent citation analysis method: patent citations can indicate knowledge linkage.•Patents are generally more relevant to their citations (cited patents) than other patents in text similarities.•Patent applicant citations and examiner citations can indicate knowledge relevance and knowledge diffusion.•Examiner citations indicate knowledge linkage better than applicant citations, especially for the part of patent claims.•Preferably, examiner citations are a good indicator of knowledge linkage rather than an incomplete and noisy indicator.

论文关键词：Patent citation,Knowledge linkage,Text similarity,Citing-cited patent pairs,Non-citing-cited patent pairs,Examiner citation,Applicant citation

论文评审过程：Received 20 October 2015, Revised 10 April 2016, Accepted 10 April 2016, Available online 21 November 2016, Version of Record 21 November 2016.