Surveying The Value of Knowledge Resources based on the Importance Factor (Backward-looking Factor, Forward-looking Factor): Case Study of Patents

Abstract

This study aimed at analyzing the impact and<br />importance of power and electronics patents in technology<br />development. Citation analysis was used as the research method,<br />using the especial formulas of the forward-looking and backwardlooking<br />measures. The research population includes all patents in the<br />field of power and electronics recorded from 1987 to 2006 in the<br />USPTO.<br />Analyzing the importance of patents in knowledge flow and their<br />past and future effect on technology development indicated that at<br />least 10 years should be passed from their release in order to their real<br />effect on technology be seen. The mean of generality grade to<br />determine the effect and application of patents in different subject<br />areas showed that in addition to patents’ effect in electronics field,<br />they have a high tendency to have relations with other subject areas. It<br />was also found that there existed a significant relation between<br />forward and backward looking measures, showing the dependence of<br />future effect of a patent to its backward citations.