Higham, K. W.Governale, M.Jaffe, A. B.Zulicke, U.2019-07-042019-07-042019-07-042019-06-1710.1103/PhysRevE.99.060301https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/158822WOS:000471986600001We have constructed a fitness parameter, characterizing the intrinsic attractiveness for patents to be cited, from attributes of the associated inventions known at the time a patent is granted. This exogenously obtained fitness is shown to determine the temporal growth of the citation network in conjunction with mechanisms of preferential attachment and obsolescence-induced aging that operate without reference to characteristics of individual patents. Our study opens a window to understanding quantitatively the interplay of the rich-gets-richer and fit-gets-richer paradigms that have been suggested to govern the growth dynamics of real-world complex networks.Physics, Fluids & PlasmasPhysics, MathematicalPhysicsinnovationemergencedynamicstext::journal::journal article::research article