Patent indicators for the technology life cycle development

Investments in a technology have to consider its current life cycle stage. The widespread approach of studying technology life cycles by measuring patent activity indices, especially patent applications, raises a practical problem: it requires the survey of all applications and applicants on a technological field. On the basis of an empirical study on pacemaker technology the paper identifies several patent indices as appropriate life cycle stage indicators which do not require the survey of the complete patent activity. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.