What is Technical Relevance (TR)?
Technical Relevance (TR) is a citation-based indicator of technological relevance.
IPlytics calculates TR for individual patent publications by counting later patent publications that cite them. These are called forward citations, or subsequent art.
Each distinct citing publication counts once for the publication being assessed. Citations from the patent owner and its subsidiaries are included.
IPlytics adjusts the count for publication age, patent office citation practices and technology field, using the main IPC/CPC classification. It then transforms the result into a displayed TR score between 0 and 20.
How is Technical Relevance interpreted?
High TR: A higher score indicates stronger citation-based technological relevance after the adjustments described above. It may help identify publications influential in later patenting.
Low TR: A lower score indicates weaker citation-based technological relevance after these adjustments. It does not necessarily mean that the invention is unimportant or has little commercial value.
How is Technical Relevance used in the platform?
Technical Relevance is one of the IPlytics patent valuation indicators. TR is calculated for individual patent publications. Where results are aggregated to an INPADOC patent family, the family is assigned the highest TR score among its member publications.
TR contributes to the overall characterization of technological impact within a portfolio in analytical views such as the Indicators tile.