Technological areas 



Chemicals 



Electronic components 



Nonelectrical machinery 



Communication devices 



Scientific, photographic & optical 



equipment 



Computers & electronic data 



processors 



Metals and alloys 



Transportation systems & devices 



Pharmaceuticals 



Ceramics and other nonmetals .. 



Total 



Examples 



Number of 

 advances 



20 

 25 

 22 

 20 



19 



17 

 16 

 16 



12 

 6 



17" 



Organo-phosphoric acids 



Oral antidiabetic agent 



Thermoelectric devices 



Permutation decoder 



Tunnel diode 



Permanent magnetic materials 



Wavefront reconstruction 



Low energy electron sterilization 



Processing of nuclear reactor 



fuel elements 

 Multiple speed transmission 



Dependence on basic research. One important 

 indicator of the relationship between basic 

 research and technology is the extent to which 

 new technologies or major advances in existing 

 ones depend upon results from basic research. A 

 measure of the incidence of such relationships is 

 shown in figure 3-23. These findings show that 

 other patents were cited more frequently than 

 published research, but that differences between 

 the two in citation frequency have narrowed 

 considerably. The frequency of citation (number 

 of citations per basic patent) increased by 17 

 percent for the basic and by 8 percent for the 

 combined basic and applied research categories 

 from the first to the second decade. On the other 

 hand, the frequency of citation to other patents 

 decreased almost 25 percent. These results 

 suggest that more recent technological advances 

 may depend increasingly on new scientific 

 discoveries reported in the research literature. 



Seven different fields of science and engineer- 

 ing were represented in citations to the research 

 literature (figure 3-24). Almost an equal 

 percentage of basic patents cited research in 



Each technological advance is represented by a 

 single "basic patent" in which the fundamental 

 concept or idea embodied in the invention is 

 presented for the first time in a patent applica- 

 tion. The documentation provided with the 

 application, as well as information added in the 

 patent examination process, was reviewed in 

 order to identify the research which was cited as 

 the basis for the advance. Of the 179 examples, 

 slightly more than 50 percent of the associated 

 basic patents cited published research literature 

 and/or other patents. ^5 Xhe data presented here 

 are based on those patents in the sample which 

 contained such citations.^" 



^5 The absence of citations in the remaining basic patents 

 may have several causes, including the possible lack of candid 

 disclosure by the patent applicant. Failure to make required 

 disclosure has, in fact, resulted in a doubling of the number of 

 patent invalidations over the past tvi'nety years, 



-'" For further information on the methodology of the 

 study, see Imiicalon of Ihe Role of Science in Patenleii Technology. 

 Franklin Pierce College Law Center and the PTC Research 

 Foundation, 1974 (A study commissioned specifically for this 

 report). 



Figure 3-23 



Citations per Basic Patent, by 



Type of Citation, 1950-61 and 1962-73 



(Citations per Basic Patent) 

 2.2 



2.0- 



1.6- 



1.4- 



1.2- 



1.0- 



0.8 



0.6- 



0.4- 



0.2 



0.0- 



I 1950-61 



1962-73 



Basic 

 research 



Basic and/or 

 applied 

 researcii 



Other 

 patents 



SOURCE: FranHin Pierce College Law Center 

 and the PTC Research Foundation. 



78 



