Objective: To collect the competitive intelligence information of the international table tennis patent technology research and development in order to serve the development of sports goods enterprises, r&d institutions and competitive sports in China. Method: using literature metrological visualization analysis software BIBEXCEL, UCINET6.0 and CiteSpaceII to make a metrological analysis of the 4187 international table tennis patent documents included in "Derwent Innovations Index" patent database from 1963 to 2016 and presenting the index characteristics of time distribution, subject areas, patentee, hot technique fields and distribution of core patent technology in the form of knowledge map. Result: The annual application volume of international table tennis patent in 1963-2016 is on the rise in a wave-like way. The research fields involve 21 disciplines, including instrument, sports science, engineering design, chemistry, computer science, polymer science, material science and communication technology. The patentees are from the large enterprises in UK, Japan and Germany as well as some Chinese universities or individuals. Hot Technological fields include table tennis racquet material, plastic board, ball, table, net, training equipment, ground material, measurement and control equipment, sports shoes, game lighting technology, etc. The core patent technology of table tennis is mainly in the hands of Japan, the United States, Germany and some other developed countries. |