Patent landscape analysis: A methodology in need of harmonized standards of disclosure

• We identify and analyze trends in the use of patent landscape analysis.
• Patent analysis is used for varied objectives and with varied methodologies.
• We track trends in patent analysis usage attributable to research field.
• We find a need to harmonize methodological disclosure in patent analyses.

Statistical analyses based on patent data appeal to researchers and policy-makers from diverse fields because patents can serve as quantitative indicators of phenomena that are difficult to measure, including innovation, knowledge spillovers, collaboration, and technological space. This article conducts a comprehensive literature review of studies employing patent landscape analysis—assessing research objectives, sources of patent data, dataset sizes, the structured or unstructured nature of data, and modes of data interpretation—in order to provide an overview of methods of patent analysis across research fields. This article concludes that, while studies in certain fields seem to follow consistent norms of methodological disclosure, these norms are not universal. It emphasizes a need for greater awareness of the limitations of patent data, for improved transparency through harmonized standards for the disclosure of patent methodology, and for cross-disciplinary sharing of best practices in order to develop methodologies tailored to specific research objectives.