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us_inventor_coauthorship — U.S. patent inventors, co-inventors, citations, classes and lawyers (1975-2010)

Description

The inventors of the utility patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from 1975 to 2010, disambiguated by G.-C. Li, R. Lai, A. D'Amour et al. (the Fung Institute, U.C. Berkeley), and their co-inventorship networks. The names of the inventors on the patents were disambiguated (determining which records belong to the same person) with a Bayesian supervised learning approach based on the "Author-ity" algorithm of V. Torvik and N. Smalheiser, comparing the names, locations, assignees, technology classes and co-inventors of the records. The disambiguation is given in two versions, a "lower bound" and an "upper bound" of the number of distinct inventors, obtained with different thresholds of the probability that two records belong to the same inventor (the "lower bound" merging more records).

  • inventor_patent_lower, inventor_patent_upper: the undirected bipartite networks of the inventors and the patents (granted 1975-2010), where an edge links a patent to each of its inventors, in the lower-bound and upper-bound disambiguations (the full disambiguation results).
  • coinventor_1975_lower, coinventor_1975_upper, coinventor_1978_lower, ..., coinventor_2008_upper: the co-inventorship networks of the patents applied for in three-year windows starting in 1975, 1978, ..., 2008 (the last one covering 2008-2010 incompletely), as given by the authors: the nodes are the inventors of the patents of the window, and an edge links two inventors who are co-inventors of at least one of them, weighted by the number of their shared patents. The data give one edge per pair of inventors and application year, so that a pair can have several (parallel) edges, with different app_year.

  • coinventor_us_lower, coinventor_us_upper: the co-inventorship networks of all the patents, as given by the authors ("entire US graph").

  • citations: the directed network of the citations of the patents granted 1975-2010 (from the raw citation tables of the authors, as extracted from the patent documents): an edge goes from a patent to each patent document it cites (one edge per row of the data). The cited documents include U.S. patents granted before 1975, U.S. design and reissue patents and applications, and foreign patent documents (identified by their country and number as given), so that most nodes are cited documents only.

  • patent_class: the undirected bipartite network of the patents and the technology classes of the USPTO classification (class and subclass, e.g. 360/130.24; the data also contain classes of other schemes, e.g. G9B/15.08), where an edge links a patent to each class assigned to it (the primary class marked).
  • patent_lawyer: the undirected bipartite network of the patents and their lawyers, attorneys or agents (persons or firms), where an edge links a patent to each lawyer listed on it. The lawyers are identified by their first name, last name, firm name and country exactly as given (not disambiguated, so that the same lawyer can appear as several nodes); the names are as in the data, often with the last name in the field of the first name, followed by a semicolon.

The other raw tables of the authors (inventor, assignee, patent, non-patent references, related documents, abstracts and titles, and the input tables of the disambiguation) are not included; the citations between the patents up to 1999 are also in the entry us_patents.

The networks have the following properties:

  • (Node) is_patent (bipartite networks): whether the node is a patent (otherwise it is an inventor, a class or a lawyer).
  • (Node) name: the identifier of the inventor given by the disambiguation (the identifier of one of its records, as <patent number>-<position of the inventor on the patent>), the patent number (in citations, the number of the patent document), the class (as <class>/<subclass>), or the name of the lawyer (first and last name, or the name of the firm).
  • (Node) country (citations): the country of a cited foreign patent document (empty for U.S. documents).
  • (Node) class, subclass (classes, patent_class): the class and subclass.
  • (Node) first_name, last_name (lawyers, patent_lawyer): the name of the lawyer.
  • (Node) organization (lawyers, patent_lawyer): the firm.
  • (Node) country (lawyers, patent_lawyer): the country of the lawyer (mostly unknown).
  • (Node) first_name, last_name (inventors): the name of the inventor.
  • (Node) city, state, country, assignee, assignee_number (inventors, co-inventorship networks): the location and the assignee of one of the records of the inventor.
  • (Node) patents (inventors, co-inventorship networks): the number of patents of the inventor in the network.
  • (Node) app_year (patents, bipartite networks): the year of the application.
  • (Node) grant_year (patents, bipartite networks): the year of the grant.
  • (Node) app_date (patents, bipartite networks): the date of the application, as Unix time (-1 if unknown).
  • (Node) assignee, assignee_number (patents, bipartite networks): the assignee of the patent, e.g. a company, and its identifier.
  • (Node) class (patents, bipartite networks): the technology classes of the USPTO classification, separated by /.
  • (Edge) invseq (bipartite networks): the position of the inventor on the patent.
  • (Edge) city, state, country, zipcode, latitude, longitude (bipartite networks): the location of the inventor given on the patent.
  • (Edge) weight (co-inventorship networks): the number of patents shared by the two inventors.
  • (Edge) app_year (co-inventorship networks): the application year given to the edge in the data.
  • (Edge) cit_date (citations): the date of the cited document, as Unix time (-1 if not given, as for the patents of 1975-1999).
  • (Edge) cit_name (citations): the name of the first inventor or the applicant of the cited document, as given (from 2000).
  • (Edge) cit_kind (citations): the kind code of the cited document, if given.
  • (Edge) category (citations): the category of the citation (e.g. cited by the examiner or by the applicant), if given.
  • (Edge) cit_seq (citations): the position of the citation on the patent (-1 if not given, as from 2000).
  • (Edge) primary (patent_class): whether the class is the primary class of the patent.
  • (Edge) law_seq (patent_lawyer): the position of the lawyer on the patent.
Tags
Social Collaboration Affiliation Citation Bipartite Multigraph Weighted Metadata
Added
2026-10-31
Citation
  • G.-C. Li, R. Lai, A. D'Amour, D. M. Doolin, Y. Sun, V. I. Torvik, A. Z. Yu, L. Fleming, "Disambiguation and co-authorship networks of the U.S. patent inventor database (1975-2010)." Research Policy 43(6), 941-955 (2014) 10.1016/j.respol.2014.01.012 Sci-Hub
  • L. Fleming et al., "Disambiguation and Co-authorship Networks of the U.S. Patent Inventor Database (1975 - 2010)." Harvard Dataverse, V5 (2013) 10.7910/DVN/5F1RRI Sci-Hub
Upstream URL OK
https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/5F1RRI
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/5F1RRI
Upstream license
CC0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Networks
Tip: click on a column header to sort the list, or hover over it for a description.
Column legend
$\left<k\right>$
Mean degree
$\sigma_k$
Standard deviation of the degrees
$\lambda_h$
Largest eigenvalue of the Hashimoto (non-backtracking) matrix
$\tau$
Random walk mixing time
$r$
Degree assortativity
$c$
Global clustering coefficient
$\oslash$
(Pseudo-) diameter
$S$
Relative size of the largest component
NPs
Node properties
EPs
Edge properties
Name Nodes Edges $\left<k\right>$ $\sigma_k$ $\lambda_h$ $\tau$ $r$ $c$ $\oslash$ $S$ Kind Mode NPs EPs gt GraphML GML csv
inventor_patent_lower 6,909,681 9,358,182 2.71 5.33 63.48 6310.87 -0.02 0.00 72 0.63 Undirected Bipartite is_patent name first_name last_name assignee assignee_number class app_year grant_year app_date invseq latitude longitude city state country zipcode 132.5 MiB 218.5 MiB 208.8 MiB 256.9 MiB
inventor_patent_upper 6,947,539 9,358,182 2.69 5.31 63.48 9339.58 -0.02 0.00 73 0.62 Undirected Bipartite is_patent name first_name last_name assignee assignee_number class app_year grant_year app_date invseq latitude longitude city state country zipcode 133.0 MiB 218.9 MiB 209.3 MiB 257.6 MiB
coinventor_1975_lower 198,034 205,408 2.07 3.31 29.19 33193.78 0.28 0.63 61 0.04 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 6.5 MiB 8.8 MiB 8.6 MiB 9.3 MiB
coinventor_1975_upper 198,814 205,623 2.07 3.30 29.19 33205.34 0.28 0.63 61 0.04 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 6.5 MiB 8.9 MiB 8.6 MiB 9.4 MiB
coinventor_1978_lower 203,263 221,360 2.18 3.36 24.41 8199.12 0.31 0.61 40 0.04 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 6.7 MiB 9.1 MiB 8.9 MiB 9.7 MiB
coinventor_1978_upper 203,731 221,534 2.17 3.35 24.41 6713.19 0.31 0.61 40 0.03 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 6.7 MiB 9.1 MiB 8.9 MiB 9.7 MiB
coinventor_1981_lower 206,154 237,574 2.30 3.31 22.00 39948.99 0.48 0.61 64 0.07 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 6.9 MiB 9.4 MiB 9.1 MiB 9.9 MiB
coinventor_1981_upper 206,612 237,733 2.30 3.31 22.00 39942.40 0.48 0.61 64 0.07 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 6.9 MiB 9.4 MiB 9.1 MiB 10.0 MiB
coinventor_1984_lower 241,047 307,676 2.55 3.61 23.14 3865.65 0.43 0.59 40 0.08 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 8.0 MiB 11.0 MiB 10.7 MiB 11.8 MiB
coinventor_1984_upper 241,595 307,904 2.55 3.61 23.14 3865.80 0.43 0.59 40 0.08 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 8.2 MiB 11.2 MiB 10.9 MiB 11.8 MiB
coinventor_1987_lower 307,605 463,014 3.01 4.39 32.06 40457.68 0.43 0.58 85 0.16 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 10.4 MiB 14.5 MiB 14.1 MiB 15.2 MiB
coinventor_1987_upper 308,405 463,359 3.00 4.38 32.06 69193.77 0.43 0.58 80 0.16 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 10.6 MiB 14.7 MiB 14.3 MiB 15.3 MiB
coinventor_1990_lower 355,769 593,537 3.34 4.86 29.62 57854.52 0.46 0.57 90 0.21 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 12.2 MiB 17.2 MiB 16.7 MiB 17.9 MiB
coinventor_1990_upper 356,538 593,889 3.33 4.85 29.62 57993.13 0.46 0.57 90 0.21 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 12.2 MiB 17.1 MiB 16.6 MiB 17.8 MiB
coinventor_1993_lower 435,698 855,693 3.93 5.73 32.23 6440.14 0.48 0.57 52 0.27 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 15.1 MiB 21.5 MiB 21.0 MiB 22.6 MiB
coinventor_1993_upper 436,989 856,426 3.92 5.72 32.23 6442.95 0.48 0.57 52 0.27 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 15.1 MiB 21.6 MiB 21.0 MiB 22.6 MiB
coinventor_1996_lower 554,816 1,125,762 4.06 5.78 36.38 8747.50 0.42 0.54 53 0.33 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 19.7 MiB 28.0 MiB 27.2 MiB 29.2 MiB
coinventor_1996_upper 556,723 1,126,678 4.05 5.77 36.38 7491.42 0.42 0.55 53 0.33 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 19.6 MiB 27.8 MiB 27.0 MiB 29.4 MiB
coinventor_1999_lower 668,829 1,512,891 4.52 6.49 49.66 3151.21 0.42 0.53 44 0.39 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 23.9 MiB 34.8 MiB 33.6 MiB 36.1 MiB
coinventor_1999_upper 671,713 1,514,306 4.51 6.48 49.66 3151.71 0.42 0.54 42 0.39 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 24.3 MiB 35.1 MiB 33.9 MiB 36.1 MiB
coinventor_2002_lower 678,919 1,630,908 4.80 6.81 75.63 7302.40 0.44 0.53 47 0.41 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 24.7 MiB 35.8 MiB 34.6 MiB 37.2 MiB
coinventor_2002_upper 681,929 1,632,407 4.79 6.80 75.63 13409.26 0.44 0.53 47 0.41 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 24.5 MiB 35.6 MiB 34.5 MiB 37.1 MiB
coinventor_2005_lower 518,423 1,183,758 4.57 6.32 50.50 3670.47 0.44 0.56 42 0.37 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 18.9 MiB 27.0 MiB 26.2 MiB 28.1 MiB
coinventor_2005_upper 520,117 1,184,575 4.56 6.31 50.50 3407.37 0.44 0.56 42 0.36 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 18.6 MiB 26.9 MiB 26.1 MiB 28.0 MiB
coinventor_2008_lower 136,734 224,669 3.29 4.03 36.06 26056.61 0.70 0.75 52 0.06 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 4.8 MiB 6.6 MiB 6.4 MiB 6.9 MiB
coinventor_2008_upper 136,898 224,780 3.28 4.02 36.06 26032.21 0.70 0.75 52 0.06 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 4.8 MiB 6.6 MiB 6.4 MiB 7.0 MiB
coinventor_us_lower 1,301,336 3,736,647 5.74 12.79 76.16 1677.66 0.41 0.40 33 0.51 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 28.2 MiB 46.5 MiB 43.9 MiB 48.9 MiB
coinventor_us_upper 1,320,587 3,739,037 5.66 12.70 76.16 1679.47 0.41 0.40 33 0.50 Undirected Unipartite name first_name last_name city state country assignee assignee_number patents weight app_year 28.4 MiB 46.9 MiB 44.3 MiB 49.4 MiB
citations 13,602,529 53,527,305 3.94 18.90 275.65 1146.31 -0.01 0.02 40 0.99 Directed Unipartite name country cit_date cit_seq cit_name cit_kind category 280.0 MiB 579.6 MiB 559.8 MiB 584.1 MiB
patent_class 4,317,200 17,642,776 8.17 50.92 192.99 6829.44 -0.09 0.00 25 1.00 Undirected Bipartite is_patent name class subclass primary 40.9 MiB 97.8 MiB 94.2 MiB 101.7 MiB
patent_lawyer 2,320,237 2,718,997 2.34 44.11 70.92 239154.55 -0.12 0.00 65 0.67 Undirected Bipartite is_patent name first_name last_name organization country law_seq 9.0 MiB 20.4 MiB 20.4 MiB 24.8 MiB