The Evolution of Technology: an Analysis on Subject Classes of Patents for Recognition of RFID Technology

The aim of the current research is the analysis of patent classes to recognize the subject areas of RFID technology. The research is a descriptive one and uses the clustering and the social network analysis techniques for data analysis. The research population consisted of 35, 627 patents that the term “RFID” or “Radio Frequency Identification” occurred in their abstracts or titles. Data analysis was performed through softwares
like Excel, SPSS, NetDraw, and RavarMatrix. The findings showed that the growth of patents in the intended technology followed an exponential regression. The important subclasses were determined by two factors: number of years and frequency of use. It resulted in 803 important subclasses. The result of clustering for main classes also revealed that the RFID technology was associated with 31 subject areas. The axes or runts of these areas were Telecommunication and Electrical Communication.
Social Network Analysis confirmed that the “Electrical Communication” have-had the most significant role for bridging other classes.