Identifying technological development trajectories in blockchain domain: a patent citation network analysis

Abstract

In the past few years, blockchain technology has attracted more and more attention, and it has been widely used in various fields. But there is still a lack of relevant research reports on the innovation path identification of blockchain technology from a patent perspective. By downloading a total of 14,560 patents from Derwent Innovations Index and conducting main path analysis, this paper illuminates the overall picture of the development of blockchain for experts in this domain from a technology perspective. As an objective and quantitative network-based method, main path analysis identifies important patent, structural backbone and development trajectories in the blockchain development. This provides a reference for the scientific communities to understand the current state of blockchain technology, thereby illuminating future research.