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The Development of Synthetic Biology-A Patent Analysis
The Development of Synthetic Biology-A Patent Analysis
DOI 10.1007/s11693-013-9121-7
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Thomas Reiss
Received: 7 November 2012 / Revised: 10 July 2013 / Accepted: 29 July 2013 / Published online: 22 August 2013
The Author(s) 2013. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract In the past decades, synthetic biology has identification of drivers explaining the observed patent
gained interest regarding research and development efforts application trends in synthetic biology.
within the biotechnology domain. However, it is unclear to
what extent synthetic biology has matured already into Keywords Synthetic biology Patent analysis
being commercially exploitable. By means of a patent Emerging technologies Innovation dynamics
analysis, this study shows that there is an increasing trend
regarding synthetic biology related patent applications. The
majority of retrieved patents relates to innovations facili- Introduction
tating the realisation of synthetic biology through improved
understanding of biological systems. In addition, there is Within life sciences, the concept of synthetic biology has
increased activity concerning the development of synthetic gained interest over the past decade due to its believed
biology based applications. When looking at potential potential to improve biotechnology-based translational
application areas, the majority of synthetic biology patents applications (Burbelo et al. 2010). Its transformation from
seems most relevant for the medical, energy and industrial a philosophical construct towards a real discipline has led
sector. Furthermore, the analysis shows that most activity to awareness among stakeholders in a position to influence
has been carried out by the USA, with Japan and a number or become affected by synthetic biologys diffusion into
of European countries considerably trailing behind. In society. However, in spite of its expansion over the past
addition, both universities and companies are major patent decade, a lack of specific market-based studies limits the
applicant actor types. The results presented here form a potential to properly assess synthetic biologys progress
starting point for follow-up studies concerning the regarding R&D and market penetration attempts.
A number of science and technology indicators can be
applied to asses technological progress, including patent
statistics (Hinze and Schmoch 2004). Patent indicators can
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this
article (doi:10.1007/s11693-013-9121-7) contains supplementary be used for a number of reasons (ibid.). First of all, patent
material, which is available to authorized users. indicators can be considered early signals for future com-
mercial applications. Due to the general underlying costly
D. van Doren (&) T. Reiss
and time-consuming nature of patent application, patent
Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI),
Breslauer Strae 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany statistics indicate a certain amount of optimism or expec-
e-mail: [email protected] tation concerning described features within patents show-
T. Reiss ing economic potential (Basberg 1987). Secondly, patent
e-mail: [email protected] analysis can be valuable in analysing technology devel-
opment in relation to competition between sectors or
S. Koenigstein
countries (Liu and Shyu 1997). Thirdly, based on assess-
Department of Technology Design and Development, University
of Bremen, Badgasteiner Str. 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany ments of current technology trends, patent analyses can be
e-mail: [email protected] used in planning technology oriented national strategies
123
210 D. van Doren et al.
(Abraham and Moitra 2001). Finally, patent analysis data application trends within synthetic biology. Based on the
can be used in modelling practices concerning market applied patent analysis approach, the retrieved patent col-
development of emerging technologies (Ashton and Sen lection has been used to perform several analyses with
1988). respect to cross-country comparisons, actor identification
Innovation research based on patent analyses seems to and sector relevant patenting dynamics.
indicate that emerging technologies generate specific pat-
terns. Traditionally, patent development within specific
sectors was believed to follow an S-shaped pattern (Liu and Methods
Shyu 1997). A more recent study, based on analyses of
over 40 different science-based emerging technologies, This patent analysis contains the following steps:
expanded this pattern by identifying the following phases
(Schmoch 2007):1 Step 1: Setting technology independent search criteria
Patents can be filed on both national and international
1. An initial start of mainly experimentation and knowl-
level. Search criteria are set to define in which patent
edge gain
office patents will be searched for. In addition, the time-
2. Increased development of R&D once commercial
frame is set to limit the years of patent applications that
exploitability has been reached
will be included in the final patent search.
3. Disillusionment of industry as a result of being non-
Step 2: Develop a technology dependent search strat-
competitive compared to alternative technologies on
egy The search strategy is developed based on (a) patent
industrial scale
content (keywords, keyword-combinations, keyword-
4. Regained interest of industry, as a result of being
strings), and (b) the IPC.
competitive compared to alternative technologies on
Step 3: Retrieve patents Based on the developed search
industrial scale
strategy, international patent databases are queried;
5. Decreasing patent applications as a result of field
retrieved patents are then examined on relevance for the
saturation of the technology
field of synthetic biology.
Regarding this model, analysing patent trends of syn- Step 4: Analysing patents Based on the retrieved
thetic biology could provide valuable information in what synthetic biology patent-pool, a number of analyses
developmental phase synthetic biology could be placed. are made, including (1) comparative cross-country
Furthermore, a patent analysis provides an opportunity to analysis, (2) actor analysis, (3) sector analysis, and
perform cross-country comparisons regarding patent filing (4) content analysis.
dynamics. In addition, a patent analysis could assist in the
identification of actors and organisations active in synthetic
Step 1: Setting technology independent search criteria
biology. Finally, the analysis of synthetic biology patents
could provide more detailed knowledge concerning the
Patent office
nature, presence and temporal development of translational
synthetic biology patent applications.
For the patent search, the World Intellectual Property
The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, a
Organization (WIPO) has been set as inclusive filter cri-
methodological approach is presented for analysing pat-
teria. The selection of patents filed directly to this inter-
enting activities in synthetic biology. One of the difficulties
national patent office is due to three reasons. First of all,
in performing patent analyses for emerging technologies
WIPO patents are regarded as being subjected to high
relates to their unspecific classification within the interna-
application standards. Secondly, the international nature of
tional patent classification (IPC). Due to potential group-
WIPO patent applications enhances international compar-
overlapping nature of emerging technology patent content,
ison due to standardised patent filing conditions and cri-
such patents are in general classified under multiple
teria,2 thereby avoiding the introduction of statistical bias
existing groups. Therefore, patent content analysis is
related to national patent office conditions and character-
required to identify emerging technology patents within the
IPC. This paper presents a methodology, based on both the
IPC and patent content, which can be applied to extract
2
patent applications related to synthetic biology. The second Patent applications at WIPO fall under the PCT (Patent Classifi-
contribution of this paper is the identification of patent cation Treaty). The PCT is an international treaty, administered by the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), between more than
140 Paris Convention countries (http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/faqs/
1
The resulting pattern was labelled as representing double-boom faqs.html), including the most active European, Asian and North-
cycles. and South-American countries.
123
The development of synthetic biology 211
istics.3 Finally, patents filed at international patent offices, of biological systems (Young and Alper 2010); (Rollie
in comparison to applications at national offices, indicate a et al. 2011) were selected; terms for the objects of
relative high economic and global potential of its described biotechnology were combined with terms that indicate
invention. The European Patent Office (EPO), another the realization of the guiding principles relevant in the
important international patent office, has been left out in synthetic biology research area, including the engi-
order to avoid a potential bias towards European inventors. neering principles of standardisation, decoupling and
Since only WIPO patents were retrieved and analysed, the abstraction.
inclusion of potential multiple patent applications within Part 2: Enabling technologies of synthetic biology
identical patent families was eliminated. Keywords that indicate enabling technologies, that are
believed to be crucial for the maturing of synthetic
Time-scale biology or for the realisation of the guiding principles,
were selected.
Due to the institutionalised structure of patent processing, Part 3: Applications of synthetic biology Keywords that
patent applications are in general published 18 months indicate potential applications of synthetic biology
after the earliest priority date of patent application. This were selected.
time-lag, in combination with the dated database of the
The keywords have been identified and characterised by
main patent search engine (PATSTAT, database September
means of a qualitative literature analysis, including review
2012), the year 2010 is the most recent year with a com-
articles and other secondary documents.
plete coverage of filed patents. In order to acquire a historic
perspective on patent trend development of the synthetic
Selection of IPC-(sub) classes and (sub) groups
biology field, patents filed in the period 19902010 were
selected for final analysis.
The IPC consists of five different aggregation levels (http://
www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/en/):
Step 2: Develop a technology dependent search strategy
Level 1 Section; for example Section C chemistry and
Selection of keywords, keyword-strings and keyword- metallurgy
combinations Level 2 Class; for example Class C12 biochemistry;
beer; spirits; wine; vinegar; microbiology; enzymology;
For synthetic biology, the identification of suitable key- mutation or genetic engineering
words is problematic. As it is still not agreed among Level 3 Subclass; for example Subclass C12N micro-
experts how to exactly define synthetic biology, the iden- organisms or enzymes; compositions thereof
tification of proper keywords is challenging. Level 4 Group; for example Group C12N1 micro-
Keywords have been identified, selected and categorised organisms, e.g. protozoa; compositions thereof
based on an existing framework developed to position Level 5 Subgroup; for example Subgroup C12N1/21
synthetic biology within the field of biotechnology.4 This bacteria; culture media therefore modified by introduc-
three-dimensional biotechnology framework, based on the tion of foreign genetic material
identification of drivers relevant for historic biotechnology
Descriptions of all sections, (sub) classes and (sub)
development, explains the emergence of synthetic biology
groups within the IPC have been reviewed for synthetic
through the interplay of three distinct drivers, being (1)
biology relevance (http://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/
understanding biological systems, (2) technological reso-
en/). IPC sections, (sub) classes and/or (sub) groups were
lution, and (3) engineering principles. The frameworks
included into the strategy when at least one of the three
rationale has been used as a starting point for finding
dimensions of the applied synthetic biology framework was
suitable keywords. The translation of the frameworks
identified within their description.
rationale into a patent search strategy was executed into
three separate parts:
Step 3: Retrieve patents
Part 1: Knowledge generation and engineering Key-
words that indicate important facets at different levels Combinations of selected IPC-(sub) classes/(sub) groups
with obtained keywords (combinations/strings) were sear-
3
One example of such bias is the exclusion of patents filed in distant ched for within three patent databases: (1) DERWENT
languages using different symbols (Asian, Russian, Arabic).
4
World Patents Index (http://thomsonreuters.com/ products_
Forthcoming book chapter for the Edward Elgar Series on Science,
Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, in progress. See also
services/legal/legal_products/a-z/derwent_world_patents_
van Doren and Reiss 2012. index/), (2) Espacenet (http://worldwide.espacenet.com/
123
212 D. van Doren et al.
Table 1 Strategy patent analysis synthetic biology, divided into three parts representing the three dimensions of the field. The asterisk (*) is a
wildcard character that matches any occurrence of 0 or more characters
Strategy part IPC classes Keywords, string and combinations
Strategy part 1: Knowledge generation and B01; C12N, Keywords: riboswitch* Strings: synthetic biology; synthetic amino
engineeringUnderstanding and engineering tiers C12P, C12Q, acid; synthetic base pair; synthetic genome; synthetic genet*;
of biological systems C12S, C40B synthetic nucleic acids; synthetic *nucleotide; synthetic
sequence; artificial amino acid; artificial base pair; artificial
genome; artificial genet*; artificial nucleic acids; artificial
*nucleotide; artificial sequence; genetic circuit; signalling
pathway; systems biology; metabolic engineering; synthetic
protocell; synthetic cell; artificial cell; minimal cell; cell chassis;
vesicul* bioreactor; vesicle bioreactor; minimal genome;
synthetic gene cluster; synthetic regulatory network; gene circuit
design; biological parts; dna assembly; rational protein design;
computational protein design; de novo enzyme design;
noncanonical amino acid; unnatural amino acid; rna design;
rational design; dna origami; rna nanostructure*; dna
nanostructure*; gene* switch; synthetic gene network; artificial
gene network; genome engineering; gene oscillator; synthetic
shRNA; artificial shRNA; heterologous nucleic acid; biological
circuit Combinations: molecular machine AND protein;
molecular machine AND bio; RNA AND computational design;
RNA AND rational design
Strategy part 2: Enabling technologies for synthetic B01; C12N, Keywords: cad; cam; microfluidics Strings: design platform;
biology C12P, C12Q, computer aided design; systems biology model*; metabolomic*
C12S, C40B model*; transcriptomic* model*; protein folding model*;
protein folding prediction; RNA folding model*; RNA folding
prediction; multiplex ligation; multiple amplification; dna
synthesis; gene synthesis Combinations: multiplex AND
genome; multiplex AND gene
Strategy part 3: Applications of synthetic biology C12N; C12P; Combinations: smart material AND bacter*; fuel AND bacter*;
C12Q; C12S; energy AND bacter*; medicine AND bacter*; photosynth* AND
C40B bacter*; nano* AND bacter*; nano AND bacter*; industr* AND
bacter*; remediation AND bacter*; smart material AND
microbio*; fuel AND microbio*; energy AND microbio*;
medicine AND microbio*; photosynth* AND microbio*; nano*
AND microbio*; nano AND microbio*; industr* AND
microbio*; remediation AND microbio*; smart material AND
microbia*; fuel AND microbia*; energy AND microbia*;
medicine AND microbia*; photosynth* AND microbia*; nano*
AND microbia*; nano AND microbia*; industr* AND
microbia*; remediation AND microbia*
C12N; C12P; Combinations: environment AND degradation
C12Q; C12S
advancedSearch?locale=en_EP), and (3) EPO Worldwide In Table 1, the final search strategy is listed. The strat-
Patent Statistical Database (PATSTAT, Version September egy is developed in three parts as discussed in Step 2 of the
2012; see also http://www.epo.org/searching/subscription/ methodology. Patents have been retrieved based on both
raw/product-14-24.html-PATSTAT queries were con- the complete strategy and its individual parts.
ducted with Oracle SQL*Plus).
Combinations were searched for in both patent titles and Step 4: Analysing patents
abstracts. Abstracts of search hits were analyzed regarding
their relevance to the field of synthetic biology as described Selection of countries
by the applied framework. Ambiguous search terms
resulting in false positive hits were identified and adjusted In this study, the total amount of filed patents, or growth
accordingly in order to improve the overall result rele- curve, has been used to estimate the development of the
vance. The PATSTAT database was used to retrieve the field synthetic biology (1) in general, and (2) a selection of
final patent-pool that was subsequently used for analyses. countries (Bengisu and Nekhili 2006). All countries were
123
The development of synthetic biology 213
included in the patent search. Since patents can be filed by applications were used to identify the top-20 most active
multiple applicants from different countries, patents were patent filers. These major applicants were categorised to
accordingly weighted regarding the involved nationalities obtain insights concerning their institutional background.
of patent applicants.5 The following applicant categorisation has been made:
In addition, two normalisation calculations were per-
Company
formed. First, in order to correct for country population, the
University and college
amount of patent application per million capita was cal-
Individual
culated (Reiss and Lacasa 2008).6 And second, in order to
Research institute
assess the relative growth of synthetic biology patent
applications within total WIPO patent applications, the
proportion of synthetic biology patents in relation to the Analysis of synthetic biology patents in the IPC
total amount of WIPO patent applications was determined.
These proportions were accordingly normalised with ref- Retrieved patents have also been analysed according to
erence year 1990. Total amounts of WIPO patent appli- how they have been placed within the IPC. As a result of
cations for the period 19902010 were identified by means how the IPC is managed and updated, emerging technol-
of PATSTAT query. ogies do often not have a dedicated location within this
system. In order to obtain insights regarding patentable
Analysis of both content and application domains domains relevant for synthetic biology, the IPC locations of
of synthetic biology retrieved patents were analysed.
100
and patent abstract. After categorisation, keyword searches 90
related to the established categories were made to catego- 80
rise the individual retrieved patents. 70
60
50
Analysing actors in synthetic biology 40
30
20
Based on the retrieved patent-pool, synthetic biology patent 10
applicants have been identified. Weighted patent 0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
5
For example, when patent x was filed by applicant A from USA and USA Japan Germany United Kingdom
applicant B from Germany, both applicants receive 1/2 of the co- France Canada South Korea Australia
Russia Spain Netherlands Denmark
applied patent. As a result, final analyses regarding patent amounts Switzerland China Italy Rest of World
can contain fractions.
6
Source country population data: http://www.nationsonline.org/ Fig. 1 Trend of patent applications in the period 1990-2010: Top-15
oneworld/population-by-country.htm. countries and rest of world
123
214 D. van Doren et al.
1,195 retrieved patents. Trailing behind the USA, Japan including Australia and the Netherlands also rank higher,
(103.8 patents) and Germany (81.6 patents) show also whereas relative high population countries including Japan
significant patent filing activity. Germany (from 1 patent in and Russia rank considerably lower.
1990 to 6.2 patents in 2010) and Japan (from 0 patents in When analysing the proportion of synthetic biology
1990 to 6.0 patents in 2010) also show the largest relative patent applications in relation to total annual WIPO patent
increase in patent application. Other countries showing applications, we observe an increase of proportion in the
considerable activity (at least more than 50 patents in period 19912001 (Fig. 4). From 2002 onwards, this pro-
19902010) are United Kingdom (64.2 patents) and France portion decreases again towards a comparable proportion
(58.8 patents). of synthetic biology patent applications with respect to the
Relative to country population size, minor shifts reference year 1990.
regarding country ranking with respect to synthetic biology
patent applications are observed (Fig. 3). Although the Nature of synthetic biology trends
USA still ranks high, it is overtaken by the relative low
population European countries Denmark and Switzerland Besides the complete strategy, parts of the strategy have
regarding the highest density of synthetic biology patent been used for searches reflecting the development of the
applicants. Other relative low population countries different dimensions of synthetic biology (Fig. 5).
The patenting trend related to knowledge and engi-
China Italy neering of synthetic biology (part 1) shows much similarity
2% 1%
Denmark Switzerland
2% 2% Rest of
Netherlands World
200000 1.4
France 40000
0.2
5% 20000
United Kingdom 0 0
5% 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
Germany Annual WIPO patent applications
7% Japan Proportion synthetic biology patent applications
9%
Fig. 4 Annual WIPO patent applications and the proportion of
Fig. 2 Patent applications for synthetic biology: Share of top-15 synthetic biology patent applications within. Normalisation reference
countries and rest of world year is 1990
Patent applications per million capita
4.50 60
4.00
3.50 50
Patent applications
3.00
40
2.50
2.00
30
1.50
1.00
20
0.50
0.00
10
Denmark
Switzerland
USA
Netherlands
Australia
United Kingdom
Germany
France
Canada
Japan
South Korea
Spain
Italy
Russia
China
0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
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The development of synthetic biology 215
in comparison with the overall strategy. The overall trend Table 2 Overview patent applicants
for this strategy part is increasing from 8 patents filed in Applicant Amount of filed Institutional
1990 to 40 patents filed in 2010. The maximum amount of patents (weighted) background
patents filed is 51 in 2007; the minimum amount of patents
The regents of the University 9.1 University
filed is 5 in 1991. It is apparent that research regarding
of California and college
improved understanding of biological systems has not
Hybridon, Inc. 6.6 Company
decreased in importance over the last 20 years. This indi-
Yale University 4.8 University
cates that basic research is still highly important to develop and college
the synthetic biology field. Novo Nordisk a/s 4.2 Company
Patent applications regarding enabling technologies of Zeneca Limited 4.0 Company
synthetic biology (part 2) show a somewhat different pat- The Scripps Research 3.9 Research
tern. In general, patent filing activity shows an increase from Institute institute
3 (1990), with an intermediate peak in 2002 (15 patents), to Cellectis 3.9 Company
22 patents being filed in 2005. From 2005 onwards, there is a Agritope, Inc. 3.3 Company
decline towards 2 patents filed in 2009. However, patent Avigenics, Inc. 3.2 Company
application activity regarding synthetic biology enabling Board of Regents, the 3.1 University
technologies increases again in 2010 (10 patents). University of Texas system and college
The patenting trend regarding applications of synthetic President and Fellows of 3.0 University
biology (part 3) indicates increasing patent filing activity Harvard College and college
over the whole analysed period. First signs of considerable Schultz, Peter, G. 2.8 Individual
activity start to emerge around 1997. From 1997 onwards, Cornell Research Foundation, 2.7 Company
patent filing activity increases towards a peak of 39 patents Inc.
in 2009. Fred Hutchinson Cancer 2.6 Research
Research Center institute
Ronald Breaker R. 2.3 Individual
Synthetic biology actors
Dsm ip Assets B.V. 2.3 Company
Genencor International, Inc. 2.2 Company
A total of 3,988 different applicants were involved in filing
the 1,195 retrieved synthetic biology patents. Of these Degussa AG 2.2 Company
3,988 applicants, the 20 most active applicants filed more Baylor College of Medicine 2.2 University
and college
than 2 patents (weighted value with respect to the amount
Novozymes A/S 2.1 Company
of applicants per patent application) (Table 2; Fig. 6).
Concerning the institutional background of patent appli-
cants, the majority originates from companies. analyse and produce these. Topics of such focus include
The most active synthetic biology applicant is the Uni- DNA synthesis and sequencing methods, evolutionary
versity of California, holder of the synthetic biology approaches to construct artificial nucleotide sequences, the
institute in Berkeley. An equally active synthetic biology production of selective growth cultures, understanding of
patent applicant is Hybridon, a biotechnology company processes related to cell metabolism, the development of
based in Cambridge (Massachusetts). Hybridon, who test-systems, and methods related to multiplication,
merged with Idera Pharmaceuticals in 2004, concentrates expression and nucleic acid modelling.
on the development of therapeutics and diagnostics using When looking at relevant application areas regarding
synthetic DNA. Most active individual patent applicant in synthetic biology patents (strategy part 3 applications of
the period 19902010 was Peter Schultz, who is conduct- synthetic biology), the large majority seems most relevant
ing basic research related to molecular biological building for industrial biotechnology (38.4 % of in total 391 pat-
blocks at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, ents) (Fig. 7). A patent share of 13.8 % seems most rele-
California. Ronald Breaker, another active individual pat- vant for the medical domain. One focus of patents related
ent applicant, performs fundamental research at Yale to medical application includes neural DNA-injection and
University in New Haven concerning structures and func- the production of potentially active pharmaceutical com-
tions of RNA and DNA molecules. ponents for a wide variety of medical indications, including
nucleic acids, peptides and proteins. Another focus of
Synthetic biology application areas medical patent applications concerns the unravelling of
disease mechanisms and the role of signal transduction
Many of the retrieved patents have a strong focus towards therein. Patents relevant for energy production (11.8 %)
both engineered biological parts and the methodology to seem to focus on dominant themes including hydrogen
123
216 D. van Doren et al.
Individual 45
7.2%
40
35
Patent applications
Research
institute 30
9.2%
25
20
15
Company 10
52.1%
5
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
University & Industrial biotechnology Medicine Energy
College Chemical Fuel Nanotechnology
31.4%
Environmental remediation Material
Environmental Material
remediation 0.5%
7.7% C12S
Nanotechnology C40B
0.60% 0.83%
9.0% C12Q
20.84%
Industrial
biotechnology
38.4%
Fuel
9.2%
Chemical
9.7%
C12P
15.62% C12N
Energy 62.1%
11.8% Medicine
13.8% Fig. 9 Relative share of synthetic biology patents regarding the
international patent classification (IPC)
Fig. 7 Division of synthetic biology patent applications, in the period
19902010, according to their application area. Based on part 3
applications of synthetic biology strategy Discussion
Main findings
production, photosynthesis process enhancements and
feedstock production improvements. This analysis does not intend to provide full explanations
Concerning the chronological development of synthetic of the observed trends in patent development within the
biology patents, it seems that especially application field of synthetic biology. In order to compare the activities
domains related to fuels, nanotechnology and environ- of different countries in more detail, a deeper analysis into
mental remediation have received increased attention over drivers of national innovation performance is required.
the past decades (Fig. 8). Furthermore, it is not clear to what extent a patent analysis
suffices in giving a comprehensive representation of syn-
IPC classification of synthetic biology patents thetic biologys development. Patent statistics is only one
of many available science and technology indicators that
Class C12 (Biochemistry) is by far the most prominent can be applied to assess development of the synthetic
class in which synthetic biology patents are being catego- biology sector. Accordingly, analyses of the retrieved
rised (Fig. 9; Table 3). Concerning this categorisation, patent data, including derived conclusions regarding the
C12Q 1/68 (measuring or testing processes involving patent analyses, should be interpreted with care.
nucleic acids) is the most dominant IPC subgroup within Taking these limitations into account, the presented
the C12 class (Fig. 10). analysis provides some hints towards potential explanations
123
The development of synthetic biology 217
related to the development of the synthetic biology field. One their underlying drivers could be posed. Initial activity in
of the main outcomes is the confirmation of the prematurity basic research might have fuelled patent development of
of synthetic biology in terms of patenting activity. This might enabling technologies. Increased focus on the development
indicate that synthetic biology activities are still in an early of these enabling technologies might have been stimulated
developmental phase, with still a large focus on exploration through a number of large scale research projects. The
through basic research. combined effect of knowledge generation and enabling
Considering the observed patenting trends of the dif- technologies might have led to a significant increase in
ferent strategy parts, some possible hypotheses regarding developing application oriented patents around 2005
123
218 D. van Doren et al.
123
The development of synthetic biology 219
of medicine and chemistry, sectors which are dominated by domain, there is considerable discussion regarding the
traditional large companies. The patenting activity of these appropriateness of alternative strategies with regard to
large companies could also indicate their high expectations intellectual property management (e.g., see Henkel and
concerning the future potential of synthetic biology. Maurer 2009). Standardisation, open source and collabo-
ration oriented business model innovation might already
Limitations of the study influence the role and value of synthetic biology patent
applications. Therefore, the results obtained through this
Within this study, there are a number of limitations that study should be interpreted as a partial representation
need to be mentioned. regarding synthetic biology developments.
One limitation lies within the relative low amount of
retrieved patents. Although this amount could reflect the Further research
developmental state of the field, it introduces a large
influence of noise, hampering interpretation of the strat- The main aim of this research was to provide a meth-
egys output. It is therefore difficult to judge to what extent odological approach to identify synthetic biology patents.
fluctuations in the observed trends are real changes of Based on the developed methodological approach, iden-
activity related to synthetic biology, or merely artefacts of tified patent applications were analysed to enable insights
present noise. regarding the dynamic, nature and actor specificity within
A second limitation of this analysis is the lack of the field of synthetic biology. These dynamics could serve
qualitative indices for patent strength, including citation- as a foundation for future research in explaining and
indices or regression models. Citation-indices can be used identifying both technological and non-technological
to (1) indicate the importance of a patent for other patents, factors driving the observed synthetic biology patent
or (2) to describe the relationships between patents or their activity.
developers through the visualisation of citation networks The provided analysis provides some initial indications
(Brinn et al. 2003). Regression models can be used to and nation-based trends concerning the development of the
analyze the relationship between (1) patent development, emerging field synthetic biology. However, this paper does
and (2) R&D spending at the firm level (Wang et al. 1998). not provide answers for all observed phenomena within the
However, the relative low amount of patent application of analysis. Further research is required to provide explana-
synthetic biology limits the extent statistical tools can be tions concerning the nature of underlying drivers for these
used to create a more robust picture. phenomena and the validity of the proposed potential
A third limitation concerns the development of the explanations.
overall strategy. Although the applied search criteria have And finally, the analysis of technology trends alone
arguably facilitated the retrieval of synthetic biology rele- cannot incorporate the organizational and political sce-
vant patents, they also limit the absolute scope of a patent narios that will influence the development and direction of
search. As a result, synthetic biology relevant patents that future technologies (Daim et al. 2006). A deeper investi-
are hard to identify by means of specific search criteria gation into potential drivers of innovation, including pro-
might have been unintentionally excluded from the anal- cesses underlying market regulation and social acceptance,
ysis. Although this is a general limitation within the could facilitate deeper insight of key actor behaviour. Such
applied methodological approach, it limits the abstraction analyses could provide improved understanding with
of conclusions regarding the absolute developmental state respect to the observed patent trends in synthetic biology.
of the synthetic biology field. In addition, due to the het-
erogeneous collection of present synthetic biology per- Acknowledgments This paper is based firstly on research con-
ceptions, defining a strategy that could be agreed upon ducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation
Research (ISI), under contract of the University of Bremen as part of
unanimously is challenging. This issue was addressed in the study SynBioTA-Technology Assessment of Synthetic Biology
the strategy by integrating the suggested three fundamental by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF,
drivers for the development of synthetic biology. Although sign 16I1611). Secondly, the paper also draws on research carried out
the applied framework seems to be a valid representation of by Fraunhofer ISI within a technology assessment project of The
Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag. Finally,
current discussions concerning delineation of the synthetic this paper was also developed in relation to the EU FP7 Marie Curie
biology, this analysis should be regarded as a particularly Research Training Network ManETEI (Management of Emerging
and temporary interpretation of this emerging field. Technologies for Economic Impact).
A final limitation regards to what extent the observed
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the
patent dynamics represent comprehensively and com- Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, dis-
pletely research, development and market activities for tribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original
emerging technologies. Especially in the synthetic biology author(s) and the source are credited.
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