Suggestions for the Direction of Technological Innovation Using Failed Domestic Golf Patents and Utility Models

This study aims to identify the main factors affecting patent applications through keyword analysis of failed patents and to suggest strategic directions for patent utility models. To this end, we analyzed data from 19,285 cases, excluding 1,077 cases without summary information, out of 20,362 cases that were withdrawn, extinguished, abandoned, invalidated, or rejected from 1971 to 2024. We performed keyword frequency analysis using Python and four centrality analyses, including degree centrality, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, and eigenvector centrality, and visualized the results. The analysis results showed that general keywords such as “information,” “golf,” and “golf ball” were mainly found, and there were many cases where technological differentiation and marketability were not secured. This suggests that the main failure factors were lack of boundary setting with existing technologies, lack of technological innovation, and failure to reflect market demand. In particular, the lack of technological differentiation and specificity in information-based systems and user data utilization application technologies stood out. To solve this, a differentiated idea that combines innovative elements such as digital technology, AI, IoT, new materials, and design, and a patent strategy centered on marketability are needed. This study has the limitations of the scope of analysis that is limited to the golf industry and the limitation of focusing on quantitative analysis. In follow-up studies, it is expected that more specific patent strategies will be established through expanding the scope to include patents in various industrial groups, conducting quantitative and qualitative analyses in parallel, and conducting comparative studies on successful and failed patents.