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Discovering shifts in competitive strategies in probiotics, accelerated with TechMining

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Abstract

Profiling the technological strategy of different competitors is a key element for the companies in a given industry, as well to technology planners and R&D strategists. The analysis of the patent portfolio of a company as well as its evolution in the time line is of interest for technology analysts and decision makers. However, the need for the participation of experts in the field of a company as well as patent specialists, slows down the process. Bibliometrics and text mining techniques contribute to the interpretation of specialists. The present paper tries to offer a step by step procedure to analyze the technology strategy of several companies through the analysis of their portfolio claims, combined with the use of TechMining with the help of a text mining tool. The procedure, complemented with a semantic TRIZ analysis provides key insights in disclosing the technological analysis of some competitors in the field of probiotics for livestock health. The results show interesting shifts in the key probiotic and prebiotic ingredients for which companies claim protection and therefore offers clues about their technology intention in the life sciences industry in a more dynamic, convenient and simple way.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the contribution of the research institute IRTA, to the TRIZ company triz XXI and to Fernando Palop and their wise insights and guidance. The authors thank the usage of Search Technology’s VantagePoint and IHS-Markit’s Goldfire.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain

    Jose M. Vicente-Gomila & Miguel A. Artacho

  2. IRTA Institut de Recerca Agroalimentária, Catalonia, Spain

    Anna Palli, Begoña de la Calle & Sara Jimenez

Authors
  1. Jose M. Vicente-Gomila
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  2. Anna Palli
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  3. Begoña de la Calle
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  4. Miguel A. Artacho
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  5. Sara Jimenez
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Correspondence to Jose M. Vicente-Gomila.

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Vicente-Gomila, J.M., Palli, A., de la Calle, B. et al. Discovering shifts in competitive strategies in probiotics, accelerated with TechMining. Scientometrics 111, 1907–1923 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2339-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2339-5

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