Exploring the Technology Diffusion Trajectories and Groups of Basic Patents of Business Methods: Using the Patent Citation Network

In the face of rapid change in technological development, the capabilities of enterprises in keeping ahead of new technologies, monitoring technological development, and acquiring the most advanced and appropriate technologies are critical to competing successfully. Among the many technology forecast indicators, patents are a mature and objective indicator. In a patent document, an inventor must describe the prior art of the invention, which is usually presented by citing former patents or previous literature. The more frequently a certain patent is cited by subsequent patents, the more the related technology can be said to be diffused, implying that technology is more widely applied and valuable. Therefore, patent citation is often regards as one of tracing the spread of technology. Since 1996, the number of patents on business methods, computer software, and electronic commerce has increased drastically. This paper is in the field of business methods technology and draws upon the largest patent database in the world - USPTO as its resource of information. This paper used patent citation network to obtain three objectives - to establish an indicator and process for finding basic patents, to find basic patents on business method technologies, and to illustrate the technology diffusion trajectories and groups of these basic patents.