Detecting technological originality through cross-domain knowledge in company

Interdisciplinary knowledge flow results the appearance of research front and initiate a serious study on front evolution. Such situation is also evident as novel technologies emerge. Many scholars consider the breakthrough technologies as results of cross-domain knowledge obtained. The technological knowledge diffusion is commonly measured by patentometrics, and cross-domain knowledge obtained is analysed by the spectrum of patent classifications cited. However, the reference cited by patent not only shows patenttype document, but also Non-Patent Reference (NPR) that also presents the knowledge obtained from prior art. The purpose of this study is to advance our understanding of the advantage of employing cross-domain knowledge. U.S. patents acquired by IBM, Philips, and Samsung from 2004 to 2013 are used to identify the relationship between inventive output and cross-domain knowledge obtained. The technological originality of each company is measured by the spectrums of NBER technology field distribution in patent-type reference and ESI journal fields distribution in journal paper cited. Finally, we found Philips performs different patent originality to IBM and Samsung in Computer Hardware & Software, Semiconductor Devices, and Miscellaneous-Elec. fields.