Us Semi Industry

Scientometrics (2010) 82:175–183 DOI 10.1007/s11192-009-0080-4

Profitability decided by patent quality? An empirical study of the U.S. semiconductor industry

Yin-Hui Cheng Æ Fu-Yung Kuan Æ Shih-Chieh Chuang Æ Yun Ken

Received: 21 September 2008 / Published online: 14 August 2009 ´ ´ Ó Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, Hungary 2009

Abstract The investment in research and development (R&D) for semiconductor industry is never small as the technology cycle time (TCT) is relatively short comparing to other industries, thus a semiconductor company requires lots of technological innovations and capital offerings to maintain. The semiconductor industry contributes primarily part of the micro-electronic industries. Advancing technology and patent application are the centre of attention within the semiconductor sector. This research examines the relationship between patent quality and the profits a patent creates for a company in this selected field. This study distinguishes itself from prior research by including cross-sectional data, time series data to simultaneously collect and analyze. The study result shows that some indicators of patent quality are statistically significant to return on assets. Keywords Patent Á Patent citation Á Patent quality Á Profitability

Introduction Along with the continuous development of the industry, the management of intangible assets and corporate knowledge is becoming high valuable; the evaluation of a company’s R&D capabilities is of equal importance. During the innovating process, the study uses patenting to protect and consolidate the invented technologies. A patent features three criteria: novel, useful and not obvious, and a patent allows a company to create incentives

Y.-H. Cheng National Taichung University, Taichung City, Taiwan F.-Y. Kuan National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan S.-C. Chuang (&) National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi County, Minsyong, Taiwan e-mail:...