Research on the Feature of Patent Strategy of EUV Machine Manufacturer ASML: A Patent Analysis Utilizing KH Coder

When it comes to the topic of why ASML (a Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer) could succeed on the R&D of EUV (extreme ultraviolet) machine, it is figured out that ASML, relied on its development partners for technical resources and shared technical issues in aim to resolve it with outside organizations during R&D activities. Previous studies regarding to this topic are mainly implemented as a comparative analysis, using the information and data of ASML and its competitors Canon and Nikon, the two Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturers, from the perspective of co-authoring activities and outsourcing situation of these three companies. Therefore, it is obvious that the patent analysis has not been deeply implemented on the topic of the characteristics of EUV machine R&D activities of ASML. Thus, in this research, the patent information of ASML and the two Japanese companies will be extracted from J-PlatPat (Japan Platform for Patent Information), to create a patent map using KH Coder, a free software for qualitative data analysis, quantitative content analysis and text mining. Then the characteristics of the patent strategy that led to the ASML's success on EUV machine R&D will be discussed.