Will patents with more interdisciplinary scientific knowledge have higher technological impact? Empirical evidence from USPTO patents

Yuan Xu, Xi Chen, Jin Mao and Gang Li ()
Additional contact information
Yuan Xu: Wuhan University
Xi Chen: Wuhan University
Jin Mao: Wuhan University
Gang Li: Wuhan University

Scientometrics, 2025, vol. 130, issue 4, No 2, 2037-2068

Abstract: Abstract Understanding the impact of interdisciplinary scientific knowledge on technological innovation is crucial for fostering the transformation of scientific outcomes into technological achievements and the early identification of key patents. While previous studies have primarily measured the interdisciplinarity of scientific papers, this study focuses on patents, addressing the relatively unexplored relationship between interdisciplinary knowledge and technological impact, including long-term effects reflected in indirect patent citations. Using approximately 300 million patents in the USPTO from 2002 to 2009, this study examines the variety, balance, and disparity of disciplines of patent-cited papers as measurements of interdisciplinary scientific knowledge integrated in patents. Technological impact is measured by direct and indirect citations. Negative binomial regression analysis reveals a significant positive correlation between interdisciplinary scientific knowledge and the technological impact of patents. Specifically, higher disciplinary variety, balance, and disparity are associated with greater long-term impacts (indirect citations) compared to short-term impacts (direct citations). These findings contribute to the understanding of how interdisciplinary scientific knowledge influences the technological impact of patents, providing valuable insights for policymakers aiming to enhance the transformation of scientific outcomes into technological achievements and identify high-value patents early.

Keywords: Non-patent reference; Technological impact; Interdisciplinarity; The relationship between science and technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-025-05280-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:scient:v:130:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s11192-025-05280-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11192

DOI: 10.1007/s11192-025-05280-8

Access Statistics for this article

Scientometrics is currently edited by Wolfgang Glänzel

More articles in Scientometrics from Springer, Akadémiai Kiadó
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().