A measure to estimate the novelty of component combinations in technologies

We propose a measure to estimate the novelty of component combinations included in technologies. We used the International Patent Classification (IPC) included in patent publications as proxies of technology components. We analyzed the inventions related to photocatalysts of granted and rejected patent applications filed with the Japan Patent Office. We calculated the novelty of component combinations (NCC) value using IPCs. We conducted comparison studies of NCC values between patent publications before and after 1994, the year in which scientific phenomenon in photocatalysts was discovered, and those between granted and rejected patent applications. As a result, the NCC values of patent publications were demonstrated to be different before and after this discovery and also between granted and rejected inventions.