Using international patent data to identify and assess opportunities for technology acquisition from government research agencies

In today's environment of rapid technological change and global competition, it is becoming increasingly difficult for firms to keep up with the advances being made around the world in various high technology fields. This article illustrates how firms can make use of international patent data to identify and assess possible sources of new technology for acquisition, particularly government laboratories. The technological activities of eight French research agencies are assessed through quantitative analyses of the patent applications they filed during the 1980s. The aspects of their technological activities that are examined include: (1) the level and direction of technological activity, measured by counts of international patent families; (2) the technological significance of the work being performed, measured by the number of subsequent patent citations; and (3) the commercial potential of the work, measured by the number of foreign countries in which patent protection for the resulting inventions is sought. It is then shown how firms can interpret this data to identify the technological work of government laboratories that may be of interest for possible licensing or joint venture agreements.