Patent Analysis for the Formulation of Technology Policy: Evidence from 4G LTE Industry

Policy-makers seek a more rigorous method of selecting potentially successful technologies to fulfil the requirements of different stakeholders. Patent analysis should be able to assist policy-makers in (1) understanding the development trajectory of technologies and monitoring the status of technological development to gain a dynamic view of the current competition situation; (2) applying the concept of relative patent advantage (RPA) to grasp the comparative advantages or disadvantages of specific technology domains in each nation; and (3) combining the patent data and multivariate methods of analysis to clarify the current state of an industry’s leading technologies. With the goal of combining the methods of patent data analysis and multivariate analysis, we assess the 4G LTE techniques and explore the comparative technological advantages of Top 10 countries with most patents. This study aims to provide suggestions to serve as an important reference for each nation in formulating its future technology policies.