Investigating the Structure of the Internet of Things Patent Network Using Social Network Analysis

The Internet of Things (IoT) makes the world around us more intelligent and more responsive by developing cyber–physical systems. The IoT is about to change how we live and how we work. It is essential to have a perspective on this technology’s innovation path to creating more novel applications. Due to increasing Internet connectivity through smartphones, IoT is expected to be an all-pervasive technology, and lately, its patents have grown significantly. Patents contain valuable information, especially including the path of utilizing IoT in different fields. Patent analysis provides valuable information about innovation in IoT technology. This article performs a patent analysis based on the international patent classification (IPC) co-occurrence network in different patents. This network is analyzed by social network analysis (SNA) algorithms. In addition, the most critical nodes are identified by SNA measures and the TOPSIS method. The findings illustrate the structure of the innovation path of IoT, and they will help create more applications and combinations of IoT with other fields. These results provide a guideline that shows how steps for innovation should start.