Patent citing patterns of foreign firms: an analysis of Indian IT services industry

ABSTRACT This study captures the origin and pattern of foreign knowledge inflows to the Indian IT services industry using patent citation data. It examines the patterns of backward patent citations by the US origin and non-US origin foreign IT services firms operating in India using the USPTO patent citation data from 2013 to 2017. To analyze the citing patterns of firms, we classified backward citations into two categories: self-citations and non-self-citations. Our study finds that patents granted to the US origin firms hold a relatively higher number of backward citations and a higher average number of inventors. It indicates that the Indian IT services industry receives more complex technology inflows from the US origin firms compared to non-US origin firms. It also shows a positive relationship between self-citations and lowers patent grant lag. Further, this study suggests that more self-citations by the US origin firms reinforce more patents that develop a patent cycle for a firm. Therefore, the US origin firms in the Indian IT services industry dominate in patenting activities at USPTO.