Technological Trends Analysis of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle using Patent Information

Patent citation information is created based on the applications submitted by the inventors and a search report presented by examiners from the patent organization. This information contain the difference between rarely cited and frequently cited patents. For the patents registered in the U.S.A., Europe, and Japan, the references are presented with the application when created and examined. Therefore, the analysis of these references provide the number of forward citations of a specific patent, which is a useful index for estimating the quality of a specific patent. The quality of a patent can also be expressed through its impact and the degree of importance. As the understanding of environmental conservation is globally expanded, there is an increasing demand for gas emission reduction and an interest in fuel cell electric vehicles as environmental friendly alternatives in preparation for the fossil fuel crisis. In science and technology research, patents are becoming an important source of information together with general academic information, since a patent is made based on the latest technology and theory in its area. Using the citation information as well as the technological content in the patents the claims and scope of patents themselves can be analyzed to understand technological trends and to predict the direction of newly emerging technology. The citation information of patents can be used to objectively identify the technological level of assignees and research groups who carry out similar research. In this study, the patent information related to fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) were analyzed by patent trends, patent share by assignee, the focus of research and development of major assignees, new research areas, patent levels compared to the number of patent registrations by country, the relationship between backward and forward citations, and market power and assignees with the most patents.