Internet of things (IoT): Technological indicators from patent analysis

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a computing concept that describes the idea of everyday physical objects being connected to the Internet and being able to identify themselves to other devices. The connection of the various devices occurs over the Internet for the exchange of information in the industry. Currently, it is one of the most important topics in the technology discussion because it helps the digital transformation. In addition, IoT is one of the cornerstone industry 4.0. It decentralizes analysis and decision making, allowing responses to occur in real time. This study mapped the technological development on Internet of Things using patent indicators from documents indexed in the Derwent Innovations Index database between the years 2010 and 2017. We evaluate the patent activity, the role of countries and the main technological subdomains. Among the main results, the year 2016 stands out with 4647 patent documents. China stood out with 79.80% of patent documents linked to IoT and approximately 50% of the patent documents analyzed are linked to the technological domain of electronic-electricity.