Applying International Patent Classification (IPC) to strategic planning processes of an R&D organization: The case of NECTEC, Thailand

The International Patent Classification (IPC) is a technology hierarchical classification system used by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to classify patents. The fact that IPC covers wide areas of technology (70,000 groups) and is universally used makes its benefits not just limited to a classification of patent but also applicable to other types of R&D output. This paper shares the experience from the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC), an R&D organization of Thailand, in its study to identify the organization´s technological strengths. The organization applied IPC to classify its prototypes and papers, then analyzed and compared the organization´s R&D performance for each IPC. The analysis was conducted using several factors that represent the quality and quantity of prototypes, patents, and papers. Research results suggested which technologies the organization should focus and allocate more resources on, which should be retained, and which should be dropped.