치과 임플란트 분야의 특허분석을 통한 정량적 기술수준평가

The rapid advancement of technology has changed the business environment to a great extent. Recognizing technological leadership as the mainstay of competitive strength, most companies make an increasing investment in research and development activities. Along this line, this study outlines the evaluation of technology levels for different countries by analyzing an extensive amount of patent information in dental implant systems. Dividing technologies relevant to dental implant into three categories (i.e, fixture, abutment and surface treatment), extracted and analyzed are 2,873 patents registered in Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the United States, EU, Japan and Korea for the last 20 years from 1994 to 2013. The patent trend analysis revealed that Korea came to the second place after the United States in terms of the number of patent applications. In particular, the ratio of patent applications by technology category indicated that a relatively large portion of research has been directed to the category of surface treatment in Korea. On the other hand, Korea is placed last in terms of overall technology level mainly due to the lack of cites per patent. The results of this study may provide valuable information for developing strategies for ensuring the sustained growth and market leadership in the future.