Nanopatenting Patterns Raise Issues for Managers, Countries

The US, Japan, China, Germany, and Korea in that order, received the largest number of nanotech patents between 1994 and 2005, according to a data mining study. Of the institutional assignees, 10 of the top 11 are Asian (led by Samsung and Sony). The lone American organization appearing in this set is the University of California (in 3rd place). Using VantagePoint, maps were generated showing shared interests of the leading patent assignees in the US, Japan and Germany, based on shared International Patent Classifications subclasses. Then the leading assignees' emphases were categorized based on patent "uses" into the three value chain groupings. The dynamic of innovation in this emerging area demonstrates distinctly different patenting strategies. The results raise interesting considerations for companies pursuing nanotechnology. The results also pose counterpart national policy challenges.