Novelty or Noise? The Hunt for the Perfect Patent Novelty Metric

Holmer Kok, Kristina B. Dahlin

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Abstract

Why are there so many measures of patent novelty? Novelty is a central concept in innovation studies but the way it is measured is in a state of confusion. We examine patent-based novelty measures and find that they are rarely grounded in theory or empirically verified. Even though all measures are based on the same data, they use different parts of patents, often constrain which patents they include in comparisons, and frequently impose conditions with unknown effects. Not surprisingly, some measures are highly similar and correlated, while others are not at all. However, we presently do not know exactly why or how these measures differ. We need a better model of how patent data captures novelty to produce robust research with reliable results. Besides calling for external validation of measures, we propose a framework that makes explicit what reference data and decision model are used, and why, with the objective to guide the design of more valid novelty measures.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the Eighty-third Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management
EditorsSonia Taneja
Number of pages1
Place of PublicationBriarcliff Manor, NY
PublisherAcademy of Management
Publication date2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023
EventThe Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2023: Putting the Worker Front and Center - Boston, United States
Duration: 4 Aug 20238 Aug 2023
Conference number: 83
https://aom.org/events/annual-meeting/future-annual-meetings/2023-putting-the-worker-front-and-center

Conference

ConferenceThe Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2023
Number83
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityBoston
Period04/08/202308/08/2023
Internet address
SeriesAcademy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings
ISSN0065-0668

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