由專利家族觀點探討核心技術能耐的建構〈2010年崇越論文大賞　博士組最優論文〉

Using Patent Family to Explore Core Technological Competence Development 〈The Best Doctoral Paper of the 2010 TOPOC Thesis Award〉

專利是公司技術能力的重要指標，藉由分析公司的專利佈局資料可以了解其技術的發展軌跡，而由技術的發展軌跡又能揭露公司的核心技術能耐。核心技術能耐的建立，需要公司長期的投入研發，可藉由分析其專利佈局來洞悉公司的策略意圖。有關核心技術能耐的建構，雖吸引不少管理學者的研究投入，然而因資料取得不易，故少有此方面的實證分析。不同於其他研究多以專利引用的資料為基礎，本研究基於公司策略的掌控性考量，以專利家族的優先權為基礎來檢視公司的專利佈局，實證其核心技術能耐的建構過程。透過個案說明，公司可藉由專利家族的申請策略，來逐步構建公司的核心專利組合，以形成核心技術能耐，並可藉由此專利組合所形成的技術發展路徑，來預測其技術的未來發展方向。

Patents are generally regarded as important indicators of a firm's technical capabilities. We can interpret a firm's technological development path by analyzing its patent portfolio and the development path can explore the core technological competence (CTC) of the firm. Time and efforts invested in the R&D of developing CTC is huge, so we can analyze a patent portfolio to explore the strategic intentions of a firm. The topic of developing technological competence has attracted considerable attention in recent research, but has not sparked much empirical analysis. Based on the premise of strategic controllability, rather than patent citation data, this study relied on patent family members and claiming of priority patents to examine the patent portfolio of a firm, empirically validating the development of its CTCs. In our case, the company may construct a core patent portfolio of its technological competencies by filing patent applications and claiming priority. Besides, our results facilitate the prediction of a firm's future R&D direction from its patent portfolio.