Fundamental technology characteristics that affect product R&D strategies

— In the case of the food and biotechnology fields —

Abstract

As a product research and development (R&D) strategy, the idea of balancing innovation between ‘exploitation’ and ‘exploration’ is known. In this study, we analyzed patents registered in Japan during a certain period in the food and biotechnology fields based on the International Patent Classification to determine whether they were patents for improvements or modifications of existing products, new products without similar products, or otherwise. As a result, most patents in the food field were for improvements and modifications of existing products, whereas most patents in the biotechnology field, which consists of nucleic acid medicine, regenerative medicine, protein pharmaceuticals, and other pharmaceuticals, were for new products. When we examined the fundamental technologies used in each patent, we found that the food field tends to adopt an ‘exploitation’ R&D strategy as a characteristic of fundamental technologies, while the biotechnology field, especially in the aforementioned medicines and pharmaceuticals, tends to adopt an ‘exploration’ R&D strategy as a characteristic of fundamental technologies.