What is Technical Relevance (TR)?
Technical Relevance (TR) is an indicator that reflects the technological importance of a patent. It is calculated based on the number of prior art citations (forward citations) a patent receives from subsequent patents, adjusted for factors such as publication year, patent office practices, and technology classification (IPC/CPC). Self-citations as well as subsidiary citations are not counted. Finally, counts are normalized by year, country of jurisdiction and main IPC/CPC.
How is Technical Relevance interpreted?
| /High/ | /Low/ |
A high TR value reflects a high technical relevance of a patent, since subsequent patents have to cite the patent as prior art. Patent citations are reviewed and verified by objective and qualified patent examiners. A high TR value thus identifies leading technologies of a particular market segment. | A low TR value reflects a low technical relevance of a patent, since subsequent patents are not citing the patent as prior art. A low TR value reflects that a patent either protects a niche technology or a technology that is not of relevance to other market participants. |
High Technical Relevance (TR)
A high TR value indicates that a patent is frequently cited by subsequent patents.
- Reflects high technological importance
- Indicates that the patent has influenced further technological developments
- Can help identify key technologies within a specific market or field
Low Technical Relevance (TR)
A low TR value indicates that a patent is cited less frequently by subsequent patents.
- Reflects lower technological importance
- May indicate that the patent relates to a more specialized or less influential technology area
How is Technical Relevance used in the platform?
Technical Relevance is one of the IPlytics patent valuation indicators and is calculated at the patent family level. When aggregated across patent families, it contributes to the overall characterization of technological impact within a portfolio in analytical views such as the Indicators tile.