Comparison Between U.S. and International Patent Classification as Input Data of a Technology Competition-Oriented Cluster Analysis

In addition to the utilization of U.S. patent classification, the authors compare the results of a second analysis using the international patent classification. It is shown that the international patent classification is appropriate to conduct technology-oriented competition analyses, as long as a preparatory work of experts foregoes which classifies single classification symbols to technology fields as detailed as necessary to meet the demands of the individual analysis.