•  
  •  
 

Keywords

scientific instruments, key core technologies, technology competitive situation, entity list of the export administration regulations, technological gap

Abstract

Scientific instruments serve as tools for humanity to comprehend the world and are essential for scientific research and the control of industrial production processes. However, from an industrial practice standpoint, China’s scientific instrument industry faces significant shortcomings, with over 70% of high-end scientific instruments heavily reliant on imports. Moreover, scientific instruments are a critical focus of Western technological blockade against China, with 42.08% of the clauses in the U.S. commercial control list directly targeting scientific instruments. Technological competition situation assessment refers to the process of analyzing and judging the external scientific and technological information that can have a significant impact on the competitive position of the organization, so as to help grasp the competitive position of the competitor and the research and development status of the competitor. This study aims to explore the competitive situation of key core technologies in the field of scientific instruments to promote China’s independent innovation and achieve domestic substitution. First, identify key core patents in the field of scientific instruments. This is achieved by reviewing the literature and conducting expert interviews to retrieve original patent data in the field of scientific instruments，constructing an evaluation index system that encompasses three dimensions: technicality, economic viability, and legality, to identify key core patents. Secondly, the distribution of key core patents in the field of scientific instruments, examining the development trends of key core technologies through the lens of national distribution and International Patent Classification (IPC) distribution, comparing the patent layouts of various countries within the scientific instrument sector, and identifying research hotspots. Lastly, it assesses the competitive situation of key core technologies by evaluating national competitiveness and technological gaps. National competitiveness is determined by calculating the average number of patent claims, average forward and backward citations, and the average number of applicants, which collectively measure the competitive standing of countries in the scientific instrument sector. The technology gap is calculated by the technology gap index formula, and according to the index, key core technologies are divided into three categories: superior technology, catch-up technology, and backward technology. The research findings indicate that the United States significantly leads in patent holdings for key core technologies in scientific instruments, and the application market for key core technologies in scientific instruments is mainly in the United States, the World Intellectual Property Organization, China, and Japan. The top three IPC classifications for core patent quantities in this field are A61B, G01N, and A61F. Through analyzing the patent strength index of various countries, it is evident that the overall patent strength of China’s scientific instrument technology is relatively low, and there is a significant gap between China and the United States, which ranks first, in various indicators. A comparison of technological gaps reveals that China exhibits strong competitiveness in certain key technological themes, particularly in high-frequency electrical equipment and medical imaging technologies. However, significant gaps remain in the core technological areas of high-precision instrument technology, advanced sensing technology, and intelligent manufacturing technology compared to developed nations. Based on these conclusions, the management implications are as follows: China should learn from the experiences of the United States and Japan in developing the scientific instrument industry to reduce technological gaps; it is essential to strengthen basic research and achieve breakthroughs in critical core technologies in key areas.

DOI

10.16315/j.stm.2024.05.004

Download

Share

COinS