Potential Value of Patents With Provisional Applications: An Assessment of Bibliometric Approach

This article used nine patent value indicators to compare the differences in the characteristics of U.S. patents for which provisional applications (PAs) were submitted and other patents without PAs (NPAs). The findings revealed significant differences in the average numbers of backward and forward citations, patent and nonpatent references, and patent claims, patent family size (number of patents and number of countries), and duration of examination between the two groups of patents granted between 2005 and 2017 by United States Patent and Trademark Office. Increasing trends were observed in the average number of backward citations and average percentage of patents renewed per year in both PA and NPA groups, whereas decreasing trends were observed in the average numbers of forward citations, countries, claims, and average duration of examination per patent and per year in PA and NPA groups. Differences in patent characteristics based on type and field were observed. This article also revealed more significant differences in PAs than in NPAs because of a larger number of pairs of fields. The results of this study confirmed that PAs have a stronger association with patent value and provided further justification for filing PAs, in addition to obtaining an early effective date for new inventions.