JP2012053516A - Patent retrieval expression generating device, patent retrieval expression generating method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a patent retrieval expression generating device capable of easily generating a proper patent retrieval expression.SOLUTION: A patent retrieval expression generating device comprises: a candidate keywords acquisition unit 103 for acquiring related terms which are associated with a term consisting with a keyword received by a keyword reception unit 102 but does not include a character string consisting with the keyword from related terms information having terms and related terms stored in a related terms information storage unit 101 as candidate keywords for a patent retrieval expression; a candidate keywords display unit 104 for displaying the acquired candidate keywords; a specification instruction reception unit 105 for receiving a specification instruction that is an instruction to specify one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keywords acquisition unit 103 as retrieval keywords which are keywords used for the patent retrieval expression; and a patent retrieval expression generating unit 107 for generating the patent retrieval expression including candidate keywords specified by the specification instruction.

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for generating a patent search expression.

  As a device used for conventional patent search, it has a storage unit storing a patent document database composed of a plurality of patent document data and a classification database composed of patent classifications and explanations of the classifications, and at least a keyword or patent classification or Classification extraction for extracting patent classifications included in a collection of searched patent document data in a patent search apparatus capable of searching a collection of patent document data from the patent document database by a search expression including both Means, a description extraction means for extracting a description sentence of the classification corresponding to the extracted patent classification from the classification database, a display means for displaying a list of the extracted description sentences, and a collection of target patent document data. A selection specification means that can select and specify the explanatory text from a list of explanatory texts. Which is characterized in that to be able to search, including the patent classification to the search formula corresponding to the constant has been description has been known. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-160885 (first page, FIG. 1 etc.)

  In a conventional patent search, it is necessary to use a search expression including an appropriate keyword in order to obtain an appropriate search result. However, for general users who are not necessarily proficient in patent application and search, it is not easy to select an appropriate keyword according to the search purpose, and as a result, an appropriate patent search expression cannot be generated. There was a problem.

  The patent search expression generation device of the present invention includes a related term information storage unit that stores one or more related term information having terms and related terms that are terms related to the terms, and a keyword reception unit that receives one or more keywords. From the related term information, a related term that is associated with a term that matches each keyword and that does not include a character string that matches the keyword is a candidate keyword that is a candidate for a keyword used in a patent search formula. A candidate keyword acquisition unit acquired as a candidate keyword display unit that displays candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit, and a keyword search that uses one or more of the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit as patent search expressions A designation instruction receiving unit that accepts a designation instruction that is an instruction to be designated as a keyword, and designated by a designation instruction A patent search expression generation unit for generating a patent search expression containing a candidate keyword, a patent search type generator with a patent search expression output section for outputting a patent search expression.

  With this configuration, unnecessary search keywords that do not change the search results are displayed because the keywords related to the keywords received by the keyword receiving unit are displayed as candidate keywords and the candidate keywords having character strings overlapping with the keywords are not displayed. Can be prevented from being selected, and an appropriate patent search formula can be easily generated.

  In addition, the patent search expression generation device of the present invention includes a related term information storage unit that stores one or more related term information having a term and a related term that is a term related to the term, and a keyword that accepts one or more keywords. A candidate keyword acquisition unit that acquires a related term associated with a term that matches each keyword from the reception unit and related term information as a candidate keyword that is a candidate for a keyword used in a patent search formula; and a candidate keyword acquisition unit A candidate keyword display unit that displays the candidate keywords acquired by the user, and a designation instruction that receives a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit as a search keyword that is a keyword used in the patent search formula A patent search that generates a patent search expression including the candidate keyword specified by the receiving unit and the designation instruction The candidate keyword acquisition unit includes an expression generation unit and a patent search expression output unit that outputs a patent search expression. The candidate keyword acquisition unit is designated as a search keyword from a candidate keyword acquired from related term information according to a designation instruction received by a designation instruction reception unit. Patents that acquire candidate keywords excluding candidate keywords that include character strings that match the candidate keywords that have been made, and that the candidate keyword display unit updates the display with the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit upon receipt of the designation instruction A search expression generation device.

  With such a configuration, the search results are displayed by displaying the terms related to the keywords received by the keyword receiving unit as candidate keywords and not displaying candidate keywords having character strings overlapping with the candidate keywords specified as the search keywords. An unnecessary search keyword that does not change can be prevented from being selected, and an appropriate patent search formula can be easily generated.

  The patent search expression generation device of the present invention is the patent search expression generation device, wherein the candidate keyword acquisition unit acquires the keyword received by the keyword reception unit as a candidate keyword that has been designated as the search keyword. Device.

  With this configuration, the keyword received by the keyword receiving unit can also be displayed as one of the candidate keywords.

  In the patent search expression generation device of the present invention, in the patent search expression generation apparatus, the designation instruction reception unit further accepts a cancellation instruction that is an instruction to cancel the specification of a search keyword, and the candidate keyword acquisition unit includes a related term Exclude candidate keywords that contain character strings that match the candidate keywords specified in the search keywords that remain without being specified as search keywords by the cancellation instructions received by the specification instruction receiving unit from the candidate keywords acquired from the information The candidate keyword display unit is a patent search expression generation device that displays candidate keywords including the candidate keyword acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit in response to acceptance of the release instruction.

  With this configuration, when a candidate keyword designated as a search keyword is released from the search keyword, the candidate keyword that has been hidden by this candidate keyword can be displayed again.

  Further, the patent search expression generation device of the present invention is the patent search expression generation device, wherein one or more terms included in the technical document information, which is information indicating a technical document, and a patent classification for the technical document information are classified. One or more patent classification code information, which is information of the code to be shown, is stored in association with each technical document information and a term storage unit, and a candidate keyword designated by a designation instruction is used as a search key to search from the term storage unit Patent classification code information is retrieved from the patent classification code information retrieved by the patent classification code information retrieved by the patent classification code information retrieval unit and the patent classification code information retrieved by the patent classification code information retrieval unit. A patent classification code information selection unit to be selected, and the patent search expression generation unit further includes patent classification code information selected by the patent classification code information selection unit. A patent search expression generation device that generates expression.

  With such a configuration, an unnecessary search keyword that does not change the search result is prevented from being selected, and in addition to the search keyword, an appropriate patent search formula including patent classification code information acquired using the search keyword Can be easily generated.

  In the patent search expression generation device of the present invention, in the patent search expression generation apparatus, the patent classification code information selection unit matches the search key of the number of each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit This is a patent search expression generation device that selects patent classification code information using a ratio to the number of technical document information including the term to be processed or the number of patent classification code information associated with the technical document information.

  With such a configuration, an unnecessary search keyword that does not change the search result is prevented from being selected, and in addition to the search keyword, an appropriate patent search formula including patent classification code information acquired using the search keyword Can be easily generated.

  According to the patent search expression generation device and the like according to the present invention, an appropriate patent search expression can be easily generated.

The block diagram of the patent search expression production | generation apparatus in embodiment of this invention A flowchart showing the operation of the patent search expression generation device Figure showing the related term information The figure which shows the example of a display of the input screen of the same keyword Figure showing the acquisition related terms Figure showing the search specification management information Figure showing the candidate keyword management table Figure showing the search management specification information Figure showing the candidate keyword management table The figure which shows the example of a display of the candidate keyword Figure showing the search specification management information Figure showing the candidate keyword management table The figure which shows the example of a display of the candidate keyword The figure which shows the example of a display of the search specification management information Figure showing the candidate keyword management table The figure which shows the example of a display of the candidate keyword Figure showing the terminology management table Figure showing the patent classification code information management table Figure showing the international patent classification The figure which shows the calculation result of the appearance frequency Figure showing the terminology management table The figure which shows the management information which matches and manages the value used for the weight according to each said publication number, and the international patent classification corresponding to each publication number Diagram showing weighting values by international patent classification The figure which shows an example of the external appearance of the computer system The figure which shows an example of a structure of the computer system

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a patent search expression generation device and the like will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, since the component which attached | subjected the same code | symbol in embodiment performs the same operation | movement, description may be abbreviate | omitted again.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a patent search expression generation device 1 according to the present embodiment.
The patent search formula generation device 1 includes a related term information storage unit 101, a keyword reception unit 102, a candidate keyword acquisition unit 103, a candidate keyword display unit 104, a designation instruction reception unit 105, a search designation management information storage unit 106, and a patent search formula generation. Unit 107, patent search expression output unit 108, term storage unit 109, patent classification code information search unit 110, and patent classification code information selection unit 111.

  The related term information storage unit 101 stores one or more pieces of related term information. The related term information is information having a term and a related term that is a term related to the term. The term is a term relating to technology, for example. Technical terms are, for example, technical terms and technical terms. Related terms are, for example, synonyms, broader terms, and lower terms for terms. For example, a broad term is a term of a broad concept, and a narrow term is a term of a low concept, for example. The synonym here is a concept including abbreviations in which terms are omitted, terms obtained by translating terms into other languages, terms indicating their reading, and the like. The related term information may be considered as information on a dictionary such as a synonym dictionary, a broader word dictionary, or a lower word dictionary about a term. In this case, the term relating to the technology associated with the related term may be considered as a headword used for the search key.

  The process in which the related term information is stored in the related term information storage unit 101 does not matter. For example, related term information may be stored in the related term information storage unit 101 via a recording medium, and related term information transmitted via a communication line or the like is stored in the related term information storage unit 101. Alternatively, the related term information input via the input device may be stored in the related term information storage unit 101.

  In addition, each piece of information included in the related term information, for example, the term and the related term may be the information itself or information that can specify the information. In the latter case, the term or the like included in the related term information may be, for example, a pointer or address indicating an area in which the term or the like is stored, or may be term identification information. This is the same for information having other two information described later.

  The related term information storage unit 101 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The keyword receiving unit 102 receives one or more keywords. The keywords received by the keyword receiving unit 102 are one or more keywords that are input according to the search purpose that the user intends to search. The keyword received by the keyword receiving unit 102 is a so-called free keyword used in, for example, a search expression. The keyword is composed of a character string of one or more characters. Here, the keyword received by the keyword receiving unit 102 is appropriately referred to as a received keyword.

  When the keyword receiving unit 102 receives a plurality of keywords, these keywords may be considered as keywords input as an AND condition or as keywords input as an OR condition. Whether the AND condition or the OR condition is set, the keyword accepting unit 102 or the like may accept designation from the user by a search symbol or the like when inputting a keyword, or is designated by default or user setting. May be.

  The reception described here refers to reception of information input from an input device such as a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, reception of information transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line, recording on an optical disk, magnetic disk, semiconductor memory, or the like. It is a concept including reception of information read from a medium. The input means may be anything such as a numeric keypad, keyboard, mouse or menu screen. The keyword receiving unit 102 can be realized by a device driver for input means such as a numeric keypad and a keyboard, control software for a menu screen, and the like.

  The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 acquires candidate keywords. A candidate keyword is a keyword that is a candidate for a keyword included in a patent search formula. The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 is, for example, related terms associated with terms that match the keywords received by the keyword receiving unit 102 from the related term information stored in the related term information storage unit 101, A related term that does not include a character string that matches the keyword is acquired as a candidate keyword.

  It does not matter how the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 acquires candidate keywords. For example, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 acquires, from the related term information, a related term associated with a term that matches each received keyword by searching, and a character that matches each keyword from the related terms acquired by this search Related terms that do not include columns may be obtained. When searching from related term information, the related terms in the related term information are used as terms and the terms in the related term information are used as related terms. It goes without saying that related terms attached may be searched. Here, a related term acquired by searching from related term information and associated with a term that matches each received keyword is referred to as an acquired related term. In order to acquire related terms that do not include character strings that match each received keyword, for example, it is determined whether or not the acquired related terms acquired by searching include character strings that match each received keyword. Get related terms only if not. In addition, by deleting related terms that contain character strings that match each received keyword from the related terms obtained by search, the remaining related terms are acquired as related terms that do not contain any character string that matches each accepted keyword. Also good. In addition, instead of deleting, search related terms including character strings that match each received keyword among the related terms acquired by the search, and add information such as flag information indicating that the detected related terms are not to be acquired Thus, only related terms to which this information is not given may be acquired. Alternatively, a related term that does not include a character string that matches each received keyword among the related terms acquired by the search is searched, and information such as flag information indicating that it is an acquisition target is assigned to the detected related term, Only related terms to which this information is assigned may be acquired. Note that the acquisition-related terms once acquired by the search may be held in the search designation management information storage unit 106 described later so that they can be used when the candidate keywords are acquired again. The information may also be held in a storage medium such as the search designation management information storage unit 106 in association with the acquisition related term. In addition, the related term matched with the term corresponding to each received keyword here is specifically the related term matched with the term matched with any one of each received keyword. In addition, the related term that does not include a character string that matches each keyword here is specifically a related term that does not include a character string that matches any of the received keywords. The match here is preferably a complete match with each received keyword, but may be a partial match.

  Note that the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 acquires, by searching, related terms that do not include a character string that matches any of the received keywords from the related term information, and from among the related terms acquired by this search A related term associated with a term that matches any of the received keywords may be acquired.

  In addition, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 is a related term that is associated with a term that matches any one of the received keywords, and does not include a related term that matches any of the received keywords. Alternatively, it may be obtained by searching from related term information.

  In the present embodiment, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 acquires, from the related term information, an acquisition related term that is a related term that is associated with a term that matches each keyword, and the search is acquired through this search. An example will be described in which an acquisition related term that does not include a character string that matches each keyword is acquired as a candidate keyword from among acquisition related terms.

  Further, in the present embodiment, candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 matches candidate keywords specified as search keywords by a specification instruction received by specification instruction reception unit 105 described later, from candidate keywords acquired from related term information. You may acquire the candidate keyword which excluded the candidate keyword containing a character string. A candidate keyword designated as a search keyword is referred to as a designated search keyword here. For example, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 selects a related term that is associated with a term that matches the keyword received by the keyword receiving unit 102 from the related term information and does not include a character string that matches the keyword. The candidate keyword is obtained by excluding the candidate keyword including the character string that matches the designated search keyword from the candidate term information. Or you may acquire the candidate keyword which excluded the candidate keyword containing the character string which corresponds to the designated search keyword from the candidate keyword acquired immediately before. The information indicating whether or not the candidate keyword is designated as a search keyword is, for example, as will be described later, search designation management information described later in association with an acquisition related term or reception keyword corresponding to the candidate keyword. Accumulated in the storage unit 106.

  Specifically, candidate keywords having a character string that matches the designated search keyword may be searched from candidate keywords acquired from the related term information, and the candidate keywords may be acquired by excluding the detected candidate keywords. . Exclusion here can be thought of as deleting or discarding candidate keywords to be excluded from the acquired candidate keywords, and information such as flags indicating that they have been excluded from candidate keywords to be excluded It may be given, or it may be considered to acquire candidate keywords other than candidate keywords to be excluded. As described above, when a related term associated with a term that matches each keyword is acquired as a search related term and is stored in a storage medium such as a memory, the candidate keyword is excluded. In addition, information such as a flag indicating that the keyword is not acquired as a candidate keyword as described above may be added to the acquisition related term corresponding to the candidate keyword to be excluded. Or you may delete information, such as a flag which shows not acquiring as a candidate keyword as mentioned above from the candidate keyword which will be excluded.

  There is no limitation on the timing or trigger at which the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 acquires candidate keywords obtained by excluding candidate keywords including character strings that match the specified search keyword from the candidate keywords acquired from the related term information. For example, the above processing may be executed with the designation instruction accepting unit 105 accepting the designation instruction as a trigger, or processing when a command for executing the process is received from a user or the like via an accepting unit (not shown). May be executed.

  Here, the candidate keywords acquired from the related term information are related terms associated with terms that match the keywords received by the keyword receiving unit 102 and do not include character strings that match the received keywords. Although the case where the related term is used has been described, the candidate keyword acquiring unit 103 sets the related term associated with the term matching each received keyword from the related term information as a keyword candidate used in the patent search formula. As a candidate keyword, when the same process as described above, for example, when the designation instruction accepting unit 105 accepts the designation instruction as described above, the candidate keyword designated by the designation instruction is obtained from the obtained candidate keyword. Processing for excluding candidate keywords including matching character strings may be performed.

  Note that the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 may acquire the received keyword received by the keyword receiving unit 102 as a candidate keyword already specified for the search keyword, similar to a candidate keyword specified by a designation instruction described later. . Since the received keyword acquired as the designated candidate keyword is not a candidate keyword obtained from the related term information, it is not included in the search target of the candidate keyword having a character string that matches the designated search keyword. The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 preferably acquires the candidate keyword as one of the candidate keywords. This is because the keyword input by the user can always be preferentially handled as one of the candidate keywords. Note that the received keyword acquired as a candidate keyword can also be a candidate keyword that has already been designated (or has been undesignated) as a search keyword. In addition, the received keyword received by the keyword receiving unit 102 is preferably stored in the search designation management information storage unit 106 in association with search designation information, which will be described later, in the same manner as the acquisition related terms.

  In addition, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 receives the specified search keyword that has not been released from the designation as a search keyword according to the cancellation instruction received by the designation instruction reception unit 105 described later from the candidate keyword acquired from the related term information. You may make it acquire the candidate keyword which excluded the candidate keyword containing the matching character string. Specifically, characters that are no longer specified search keywords as a result of canceling the specified search keyword from the specified search keywords are excluded, and characters that match the specified search keywords remaining after this exclusion Candidate keywords having columns may be searched from candidate keywords acquired from the related term information, and the candidate keywords may be acquired by excluding the detected candidate keywords.

  Candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The candidate keyword display unit 104 displays the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103. Further, for example, the candidate keyword display unit 104 updates the display using the newly acquired candidate keyword every time the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 performs a process of acquiring the candidate keyword. For example, the candidate keyword display unit 104 updates the display with the candidate keyword acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 in response to reception of a designation instruction described later. In addition, for example, candidate keywords including candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquiring unit 103 in response to reception of a release instruction described later are displayed. For example, the candidate keyword display unit 104 may add the candidate keyword acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 in response to reception of the release instruction, or the candidate keyword display unit 104 in response to reception of the release instruction in the already displayed candidate keyword. You may make it redraw the candidate keyword which added the candidate keyword which the keyword acquisition part 103 acquired.

  In addition, the candidate keyword display unit 104 may change the display of the candidate keyword specified as the search keyword by a designation instruction or the like to be described later to a display mode different from the candidate keyword not specified as the search keyword. The different display modes here may be any display mode difference as long as the specified search keyword and the candidate keyword not specified as the search keyword are visually identifiable. . For example, it may be a difference in character attributes (for example, font, font color, font size, character background color, etc.) of candidate keywords. Further, it may be a difference in the presence or absence of symbols or objects arranged before and after the candidate keyword. In addition, check boxes such as check boxes and radio buttons arranged before and after the candidate keyword may be different. Or the position where a candidate keyword is arrange | positioned may become a different area | region.

  The candidate keyword display unit 104 determines whether each of the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 is a designated search keyword, and in advance according to the determination result of whether the candidate keyword is a designated search keyword. Each candidate keyword is displayed so that it becomes the designated display mode. The determination as to whether or not each candidate keyword is designated as a search keyword may be made in any manner. For example, the candidate keyword display unit 104 designates an acquisition related term and an acceptance keyword acquired from the related term information by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 as stored in the search specification management information storage unit 106 described later, and a search keyword. The search specification information corresponding to the candidate keyword is acquired by search from search specification management information having search specification information that is information indicating whether or not the acquired search specification information is, and the acquired search specification information is the search keyword. If it is information indicating that it is a candidate keyword specified as a search keyword, and if the acquired search specification information is information indicating that it is not a search keyword, the candidate is not specified as a search keyword Judged as a keyword. The search designation management information and the like will be described later.

  The candidate keyword display unit 104 may be considered as including or not including a display device. The candidate keyword display unit 104 can be realized by display device driver software or display device driver software and a display device. Further, the candidate keyword display unit 104 may include an MPU, a memory, and the like for performing determination processing and the like.

  The designation instruction receiving unit 105 receives a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquiring unit 103 as a search keyword that is a keyword used in the patent search formula. The designation instruction receiving unit 105 may accept the designation instruction in any way. For example, the designation instruction receiving unit 105 receives a designation instruction for the candidate keyword displayed by the candidate keyword display unit 104. For example, the candidate keyword display unit 104 displays an interface such as a check box or a button for accepting a designation instruction next to each candidate keyword, and an operation (for example, a check box) designated in advance for this interface is displayed. The designation instruction accepting unit 105 may accept a designation instruction triggered by an operation of checking the box or pressing a button).

  For example, when the designation instruction receiving unit 105 receives a designation instruction for one candidate keyword, the designation instruction receiving unit 105 corresponds to the candidate keyword already accumulated in the search designation management information storage unit 106 described later. The search specification information of the search specification management information is updated to information indicating that it is specified as a search keyword, that is, information indicating that it is a specified search keyword. The search designation information is information indicating whether or not the acquisition related information is a search keyword, that is, information indicating whether or not it is a designated search keyword. For example, it is information such as a flag indicating that the corresponding acquisition related information is a designated search keyword. Also, information such as a flag indicating that the corresponding acquisition related information is not a designated search keyword may be used.

  The designation instruction accepting unit 105 may further accept a cancellation instruction that is an instruction to cancel the designation of the candidate keyword. For example, the designation instruction receiving unit 105 receives a release instruction for a designated search keyword displayed by the candidate keyword display unit 104. For example, the candidate keyword display unit 104 displays an interface such as a check box for receiving a release instruction (for example, a checked check box) or a button for canceling the designation next to the designated search keyword. At the same time, the designation instruction receiving unit 105 receives a release instruction triggered by a predetermined operation (for example, an operation of unchecking a check box or an operation of pressing a button) performed on the interface. You may do it.

  When the designation instruction accepting unit 105 accepts a cancellation instruction for one candidate keyword, the search designation management information corresponding to the candidate keyword already stored in the search designation management information storage unit 106, which will be described later, is stored. The information may be updated to information indicating that the search keyword is not specified, that is, information indicating that the search keyword is not specified.

  In addition, when the candidate keyword acquisition part 103 acquires an acceptance keyword as a candidate keyword, it is preferable to acquire this candidate keyword as a candidate keyword already specified as a search keyword, and the search specification accumulated about this candidate keyword In the management information, the search designation information is preferably information indicating a search keyword.

  The input means for the designation instruction and the cancellation instruction may be anything such as a numeric keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, or a menu screen. The designation instruction receiving unit 105 can be realized by a device driver for input means such as a numeric keypad or a keyboard, control software for a menu screen, or the like.

  The search designation management information storage unit 106 has the acquisition-related terms acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 and search designation information that is information indicating whether or not the information is designated as a search keyword. The above search designation management information is stored. Further, the search designation management information may have identification information of the received keyword used when searching for the acquisition related terms in association with each other. Furthermore, the search specification management information corresponds to the reception keyword used when acquiring the acquisition related terms and the search specification information that is information indicating whether or not the reception keyword is information specified in the search keyword. You may have attached. In this case, the search designation management information may have the received keyword associated with the identification information of the received keyword itself. Here, the acquisition related terms and the received keywords stored in the search designation management information storage unit 106 are referred to as acquisition terms. Candidate keywords are acquired by the candidate keyword acquiring unit 103 from the acquired terms. The search designation management information may include term determination information that is information indicating whether the acquisition term is an acquisition-related term or an acceptance keyword. The term determination information is the same information as the search designation information. The search designation management information is accumulated or updated by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103, the designation instruction receiving unit 105, and the like. The search designation management information storage unit 106 may be a non-volatile recording medium or a volatile recording medium.

  The patent search formula generation unit 107 generates a patent search formula including a candidate keyword designated as a search keyword by a designation instruction, that is, a designated search keyword. The patent search formula is a search formula used for searching patent gazettes. The patent search formula is composed of, for example, a combination of one or more search keys including candidate keywords specified as a search keyword and one or more search keys, an operator for specifying a search order by the search key, and the like. This is information indicating a logical expression to be performed. The patent search formula may be considered as a search query for search. An operator that specifies how to combine a plurality of search keys is, for example, an operation that specifies which search key of a plurality of search keys hits and which search key does not hit the search result. A child. The operator is, for example, an operator that specifies whether the search is an AND search, an OR search, or a NOT search. For example, “*”, “+”, “−”, “(” , “)” And the like are used. For example, the patent search expression generation unit 107 acquires a designated search keyword at the time of generating the patent search expression, and generates a patent search expression including the designated search keyword. The designated search keyword is, for example, a candidate keyword associated with search designation information indicating a search keyword. Specifically, the patent search expression generation unit 107 determines whether or not the search designation information included in the search designation management information corresponding to each candidate keyword is information indicating that it is a search keyword. If it is a candidate keyword indicating that it is, the candidate keyword is acquired as a designated search keyword. If the candidate keyword is not a search keyword, the candidate keyword is not acquired. And a patent search formula is generated using the acquired candidate keyword. Specifically, the search specification management information corresponding to each candidate keyword is search specification management information having acquired term information or reception keywords that match each candidate keyword.

  When generating a patent search formula, when there are a plurality of candidate keywords specified as a search keyword acquired using one keyword received by the keyword receiving unit 102, these are preferably used as an OR condition. In addition, when there are a plurality of keywords received by the keyword receiving unit 102, the keyword receiving unit 102 has received the keywords among the candidate keywords (or candidate keyword groups) designated as the search keywords acquired using each keyword. In this case, it is preferable that the search expression is used under a condition in accordance with a logical condition between keywords. For example, when the keyword accepting unit 102 accepts the keyword A and the keyword B that are designated as AND conditions, the keyword A1 and the candidate keyword designated as the search keyword are finally assigned to the keyword A. Assuming that candidate keyword A2 is obtained and candidate keyword B1, candidate keyword B2, and candidate keyword B3 are obtained as candidate keywords designated as search keywords for keyword B, patent search formula generation unit 107, for example, (A1 + A2) ) * (B1 + B2 + B3) patent retrieval formula is acquired. Note that “+” indicates an operator that specifies that a search is performed as an OR condition, and “*” indicates an operator that specifies that a search is performed as an AND condition.

  Here, when there are a plurality of keywords received by the keyword receiving unit 102, the logical expression is set as a condition for candidate keywords (or candidate keyword groups) designated as search keywords acquired using each keyword. It may be determined according to the degree of association between candidate keywords received by the keyword receiving unit 102. For example, if the degree of relevance is high, the candidate keywords may be AND conditions, and if the degree of relevance is low, the patent search expressions may be generated using the candidate keywords as OR conditions.

  The patent search expression generation unit 107 may generate a patent search expression that further includes at least a part of patent classification code information searched by a patent classification code information search unit 110 described later. In particular, the patent search expression generation unit 107 may generate a patent search expression further including patent classification code information selected by a patent classification code information selection unit 111 described later. Specifically, in addition to the candidate keyword specified as the search keyword, a patent search expression using at least a part of the patent classification code information as a search key may be generated. In the patent search formula generated here, when there are a plurality of acquired patent classification code information, the plurality of patent classification code information is added to the patent search formula so as to satisfy the OR condition. Further, the acquired patent classification code information (or patent classification code information group) is added to the patent search formula so as to be an AND condition for a specified search keyword (or specified search keyword group), for example.

For example, the keyword A to be used as an AND condition is specified, the keyword B, accepted keyword receiving unit 102, the keyword A, as a candidate keyword specified in the search keyword, a _1, a _The patent search expression generation unit 107 acquires candidate keywords ₂ and a ₃ , and generates a patent search expression for candidate keywords b ₁ , b ₂ , and b ₃ as candidate keywords specified for the search keyword for the keyword B. It is assumed that the unit 107 has acquired. Also, it is assumed that patent classification code information c ₁ and c ₂ is acquired using these candidate keyword information. In this case, the generated search expression is, for example, “(a ₁ + a ₂ + a ₃ ) * (b ₁ + b ₂ + b ₃ ) * (c ₁ + c ₂ )”.

  Note that the patent search formula described here may be information that does not include an operator or the like as long as it can be substantially input to the search engine as a search formula. For example, the patent search formula may be information composed only of search keys such as candidate keywords.

  The trigger or timing at which the patent search expression generation unit 107 generates the patent search expression does not matter. For example, a patent search formula may be generated when an instruction for generating a patent search formula is received by the user. Also, a patent search formula may be generated when a designation instruction, a cancellation instruction, or the like is received.

  The patent search expression generation unit 107 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the patent search expression generation unit 107 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The patent search formula output unit 108 outputs the patent search formula generated by the patent search formula generation unit 107. The output described here refers to display on a display, projection using a projector, printing on a printer, sound output, transmission to an external device, storage in a recording medium, output to another processing device or other program, etc. It is a concept that includes delivery of processing results. For example, the patent search expression output unit 108 may input the patent search expression to a search engine, a search device, or the like that searches for patent publications.

  The patent search expression output unit 108 may be considered as including or not including an output device such as a display, a speaker, or a communication device. The patent search expression output unit 108 can be realized by output device driver software or output device driver software and an output device.

  The term storage unit 109 stores one or more terms included in the technical document information that is information indicating a technical document and one or more patent classification code information that is information about a code indicating a patent classification for the technical document information. Are stored in association with each technical document information.

  Specifically, the technical document information is information indicating a document in which information describing the content of the technology such as a patent publication or a paper is described. One piece of technical document information may be divided into items by one or more items in advance. For example, in the case of patent gazettes, it may be considered that items are classified by items such as “claims” and “specifications”, “name of invention”, “technical field”, and the like. The term included in the technical document information is information composed of one or more character strings included in the technical document information, for example, a word. The terms are similar to the above-mentioned terms, for example, technical terms such as “MPEG”, “bolt”, “nut”, “heating coil”, and the like. The term may be considered as one or more combinations of words that can be acquired by so-called morphological analysis.

  The patent classification code information is, for example, code information that can represent hierarchical patent classifications. Specifically, the patent classification code information includes IPC (International Patent Classification), F-term, FI-term, theme code, facet, US class, and the like.

  The term and the patent classification code information are associated with each technical document information. For example, the term included in each technical document information included in one or more technical document information and the patent classification for the technical document information. Code information is associated with each technical document information. Corresponding to each technical document information means that it does not matter whether or not the correspondence relationship with the corresponding technical document information is known. The association between the term and the technical document information described here may be associated directly or indirectly. The term and the patent classification code information are associated with each technical document information. For example, each technical document information included in one or more technical document information, a term included in this technical document information, and this technology That is, the patent classification code information about the document information is associated. Further, for example, technical document information is associated with one or more term groups included in the technical document information, and further, the technical document information is associated with one or more patent classification code information groups for the technical document information. It may be attached. The term and the patent classification code information are associated with the technical document information. For example, the term and the patent classification code information are information for identifying the technical document information, for example, an ID assigned to the technical document information, or the technical document information. It is to be associated with the name etc. The identification information assigned to the technical document information may be an ID assigned to the technical document information according to a certain rule or random, and if the technical document information is a patent publication or the like, a publication number or an application number Etc. Alternatively, it may be a file name of technical document information. The term and the patent classification code information are associated with each technical document information. For example, one term and one patent classification code information included in one technical document information are stored in one record of the database. It may be considered that these are managed as values of a plurality of fields. Alternatively, a relational database is obtained by combining management information that associates technical document information with terms included in the technical document information, and management information that associates technical document information with patent classification code information included in the technical document information. The term and the patent classification code information may be managed for each technical document information. Note that it is preferable that duplicate values are deleted from terms and patent classification codes associated with one piece of technical document information. The term storage unit 109 may be physically configured with a plurality of storage media.

  The term storage unit 109 includes one or more terms as described above included in the technical document information, appearance frequency information that is information indicating the appearance frequency of the term in the technical document information, and the technical document information. One or more pieces of patent classification code information as described above may be stored in association with each technical document information. As long as the appearance frequency information is information that can represent the appearance frequency of a term, it may be a value indicating the appearance frequency, or may be information on a character string indicating the level of appearance frequency or the like. For example, the appearance frequency information is obtained by dividing the number of times a term appears in one technical document information by the number of terms included in the technical document information and the number of morphemes included in the technical document information. This is information indicating the obtained value or the value obtained by dividing by the number of characters included in the technical document information. The number of morphemes can be obtained by performing morphological analysis on the technical document information. The number of terms can be acquired by counting the number of terms that match each term stored in the term storage unit 109. Appearance frequency information is a value obtained by appropriately dividing the value obtained by division, expressing the value obtained by division as a percentage, or performing statistical processing such as standardization. It may be. Further, the value obtained by the division may be converted into character string appearance frequency information such as “high” or “low” by separating using one or more threshold values. Further, the appearance frequency information may be information indicating the number of appearances. Note that the appearance frequency information stored in the term storage unit 109 may be acquired in any way. For example, after acquiring terms by morphological analysis, etc. from multiple technical document information, the number of terms that match each term was acquired when searching in the technical document information that acquired the terms, or when acquiring terms Acquired by counting the number of duplicate terms. Furthermore, the number of all terms (or a part designated in advance) included in the technical document information, the number of morphemes, or the number of characters is acquired. Then, the appearance frequency information may be acquired by dividing the number of terms matching each term by the number of terms in the acquired technical document information or by dividing the divided value.

  There is no limitation on the process of storing terms and patent classification code information in the term storage unit 109. The term storage unit 109 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The patent classification code information search unit 110 uses the candidate keyword designated by the designation instruction as a search key, and searches the term storage unit 109 for patent classification code information associated with a term that matches the search key. The candidate keyword designated by the designation instruction is, for example, a designated search keyword acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 at the time of searching for patent classification code information. Specifically, the patent classification code information search unit 110 searches for a term that matches the specified search keyword for terms stored in the term storage unit 109 in association with each technical document information, and is detected by the search. Patent classification code information stored in the term storage unit 109 in association with the same technical document information as the term is acquired. The match described here may be a complete match or a partial match.

  When there are a plurality of specified search keywords used by the patent classification code information search unit 110 for the search, the search may be performed by combining these specified search keywords. For example, any search such as an AND search, an OR search, or a NOT search may be performed using a plurality of designated search keywords as search keys. Regarding the combination of designated search keywords, it is preferable that the patent search expression generation unit 107 as described above follows the combination of designated search keywords when the patent search expression is generated using the designated search keyword. For example, it is preferable that specified search keywords acquired for the same received keyword are OR conditions, and specified search keywords (groups) acquired for different received keywords are combined and searched as an AND condition. For example, in the case of an AND search, patent classification code information is searched such that one or more associated terms have a match with each of all search keys. In the case of an OR search, patent classification code information is searched such that one or more terms that match one of all search keys are present among one or more associated terms. Specifically, when candidate keywords “map” and “automobile” are designated as search keywords, the patent classification code information search unit 110 performs an AND search “map AND” with keyword information “map” and “automobile”. "Car" may be performed, or OR search "Map OR car" may be performed. However, how to search by combining a plurality of keyword information may be set by default, for example, or may be specified by a user or the like in advance.

  Below, an example of the process of the patent classification code information search part 110 is given. Here, a case where AND search is performed will be described. For example, the term storage unit 109 includes one or more terms (term group) included in one or more technical document information, and one or more patent classification code information (patent classification code information group) for each technical document information. If each is stored in association with each other, the patent classification code information search unit 110 searches for a term group including one or more terms that match all of the candidate keywords that are search keys, and associates them with the detected term group. Obtained patent classification code information group. At this time, when the term groups associated with two or more different technical document information are detected as the term groups each including one or more terms that match all of the candidate keywords that are search keys, the respective technical document information Both patent classification code information corresponding to is acquired. When performing an OR search, in the above processing, instead of searching for a term group including one or more terms that match all of the candidate keywords that are search keys, any one of the keyword information that is the search key and A term group including one or more matching terms may be searched.

  As described above, the term storage unit 109 stores one or more terms included in the technical document information, appearance frequency information that is information indicating the appearance frequency of the term in the technical document information, and the technical document information. When one or more of the above-described patent classification code information is stored in association with each technical document information, the patent classification code information search unit 110 searches the term that matches the search key from the term storage unit 109. A combination of the patent classification code information and the appearance frequency information associated with each other may be searched. Searching for a combination of patent classification code information and appearance frequency information is considered to acquire appearance frequency information and patent classification code information associated with a term that matches the search key in a state of being associated with each other. May be.

  The patent classification code information search unit 110 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the patent classification code information search unit 110 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The patent classification code information selection unit 111 selects patent classification code information from the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 using the number of appearances of the same patent classification code information. The number of appearances here corresponds to the number of technical document information corresponding to the same patent classification code information detected by the search.

  Selecting patent classification code information using the number of appearances means, for example, selecting patent classification code information according to the value of the number of appearances. For example, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 counts the number of appearances of the same patent classification code information for the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110, and uses the count result to determine the number of appearances. Patent classification code information up to a predetermined order may be acquired.

  Alternatively, only the patent classification code information whose number of appearances exceeds a predetermined threshold value may be acquired. For example, 10 pieces of patent classification code information are retrieved, and the breakdown is “A: 3, B: 3, C: 3, D: 1” (A to D are different patent classification code information). If there is, it is possible to select only three pieces of patent classification code information excluding D which is patent classification code information having a threshold value “2” or less specified in advance. Alternatively, in this case, only the three patent classification code information from “A” to “C”, which is the patent classification code information having the highest appearance frequency, may be selected.

  In addition, acquisition using the number of appearances may be considered to be acquired using a ratio of the number of appearances. Specifically, it may be considered that patent classification code information is acquired according to the ratio of the number of appearances. According to the ratio, acquiring patent classification code information in descending order of the ratio, acquiring patent classification code information whose ratio exceeds a predetermined threshold, and the like. For example, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 associates the number of pieces of each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 with the number of technical document information including terms that match the search key, or the technical document information. The patent classification code information may be selected according to the ratio to the number of patent classification code information. The search key described here is a candidate keyword specified as the search keyword described above. Specifically, the ratio to the technical document information including the term that matches the search key is the term that matches the search key in the technical document information that includes the term stored in the term storage unit 109. This is the ratio to the number of technical document information included. The number of technical document information including a term that matches the search key here is, for example, a technical document that is associated with a term that matches at least one of the search keys among the terms stored in the term storage unit 109. You may think of it as the number of information. Specifically, it is the number of technical document information associated with a term that matches the search key, detected as a result of searching the term storage unit 109 using the search key. Further, the above ratio may be considered as the appearance frequency of technical document information associated with each patent classification code information in all search results. The patent classification code information selection unit 111 counts, for example, the number of technical document information associated with the term that matches the search key from the search result of the patent classification code information search unit 110, and each patent classification corresponding to this count result The ratio of the number of code information is calculated. Then, for example, the patent classification code information from the highest ratio to the predetermined order is selected. Alternatively, only patent classification code information whose ratio is greater than or equal to a predetermined value specified in advance may be selected. In order to simplify the processing and the like, the number of pieces of patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 is used instead of the total number of pieces of technical document information including terms matching the search key. May be.

  The patent classification code information selection unit 111 also includes patent classification code information associated with technical document information including the term that matches the search key for the number of each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110. Patent classification code information may be selected according to the ratio to the number. Specifically, the number of patent classification code information associated with a term that matches at least one of the search keys searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 is counted, and the number of patent classification code information for this count number The ratio may be used similarly to the above ratio.

  The patent classification code information selection unit 111 is a technology associated with the same patent classification code information stored in the term storage unit 109 for the number of patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110. Patent classification code information may be selected according to the ratio to the number of document information. This ratio may be considered as the appearance frequency of the technical document information associated with each searched patent classification code information with respect to the technical document information associated with the same patent classification code information. For example, regarding the technical document information associated with the patent classification code information stored in the term storage unit 109 in advance, the number is counted for each patent classification code information and stored in a storage medium (not shown) in advance. deep. The patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 counts the number of the patent classification code information, and the technical document associated with the count value and the same patent classification code information stored in advance. The ratio of the count value with respect to the number of information is calculated. Then, for example, the patent classification code information from the highest ratio to the predetermined order is selected. Alternatively, only patent classification code information whose ratio is greater than or equal to a predetermined value specified in advance may be selected. Note that the number of technical document information associated with the same patent classification code information as the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 is calculated after the patent classification code information is detected by the search. Anyway.

  Note that the above-described method for selecting two or more patent classification code information may be used in appropriate combination.

  The patent classification code information selection unit 111 normally selects the patent classification code information from all the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 according to the number of appearances. Patent classification code information may be selected from a part of the code information according to the number of appearances. It should be noted that obtaining the patent classification code information according to the number of appearances by considering the value obtained by standardizing the number of appearances by the number of patent technical documents as the appearance frequency is the patent classification code according to the appearance frequency of the patent classification code information. It may be considered that information is acquired. For example, patent classification code information having a high appearance frequency may be acquired.

  The patent classification code information selection unit 111 selects the patent classification code information according to the value obtained by weighting the appearance frequency and the number of appearances described above according to the number of appearances of the term matching the search key. You may get it. For example, in the term storage unit 109, as described above, one or more terms included in the technical document information, appearance frequency information that is information indicating the appearance frequency of the term in the technical document information, and the technical document information The one or more patent classification code information for the information can be stored in association with each technical document information, and the patent classification code information search unit 110 corresponds to the term matching the search key from the term storage unit 109. Each patent classification code of the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information searching section 110 is searched by the patent classification code information selecting section 111 so as to search the set of the attached patent classification code information and the appearance frequency information. The number of occurrences by information is obtained by weighting using the appearance frequency information paired with the searched patent classification code information, and the obtained number of appearances Correspondingly, it is also possible to select a patent classification code information. The weighting is performed by, for example, multiplying or adding a value for weighting (weighting value) to a value to be weighted (for example, a value serving as a unit for counting patent classification code information). is there. The weighting is performed using the appearance frequency information described here, specifically, the weighting is performed according to the appearance frequency indicated by the appearance frequency information. Specifically, the weighting performed here is weighting such that the weighting of the appearance frequency information indicating that the appearance frequency of the term is high becomes heavier. For example, when the weighting is performed by multiplication or addition, the appearance frequency information indicating that the appearance frequency is high means that the value used for the weighting is large. Note that weighting using the appearance frequency information may be considered to be weighted using this value when the appearance frequency information is a value indicating the appearance frequency. Alternatively, a value indicating the appearance frequency prepared in advance in association with the appearance frequency information is acquired as the search key using the appearance frequency information paired with the patent classification code information, and weighting is performed using the acquired value. You may think.

  For example, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 counts the number of each patent classification code when counting the number of appearances of each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 by patent classification code information. Weighting may be performed with the value indicated by the appearance frequency information that forms a pair with the patent classification code information. Specifically, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 uses one patent classification code when counting the number of appearances of the same patent classification code information for each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110. Instead of counting the information with the same value such as “once”, the information may be counted with a value weighted with the value indicated by the appearance frequency information paired with each patent classification code information. For example, a value (number of appearances) obtained by weighting one patent classification code information with the appearance frequency information paired with the information is “1 × value indicated by appearance frequency information” times. This “1” is the number of appearances of one patent classification code information. Accordingly, the value obtained by counting the number of appearances of the same patent classification code information by weighting the appearance frequency information paired with each of them is, for example, “1 × each patent classification code” which is the number of appearances of each patent classification code information It is the sum of “value indicated by the appearance frequency information paired with the information” times.

  Therefore, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 calculates the total for each patent classification code information of the value indicated by the appearance frequency information paired with each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110. It may be acquired as the number of appearances for each patent classification code information.

  By weighting according to the appearance frequency of the term in this way, the patent classification code information corresponding to the technical document information having a high appearance frequency of the term matching the search key is changed to the patent classification code information having a strong relationship with the search key. It is possible to select a patent classification code. Thereby, the strength of relevance of the patent classification code information to the search key can be reflected in the selection of the patent classification code, and the selection with high accuracy is possible.

  The value indicated by the appearance frequency information is specifically the value itself or a value obtained by performing a predetermined operation on the value when the appearance frequency information is a value indicating the appearance frequency. It may be. Further, when the appearance frequency information is a character string indicating the appearance frequency, the character string of the appearance frequency information among the values used for weighting prepared in advance in association with the character string that can be used as the appearance frequency information. The value acquired using the search key is a value corresponding to the appearance frequency information.

  In the same way as above, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 has a predetermined order indicated by the height of the number of appearances obtained by weighting the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110. Patent classification code information up to the order of may be selected. Alternatively, only patent classification code information in which the number of appearances obtained by weighting exceeds a predetermined threshold value may be obtained.

  Further, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 weights the number of patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 using the appearance frequency information paired with the searched patent classification code information. The patent classification code information may be selected according to the ratio of the number of appearances for each patent classification code information described above to the number of the patent classification code information acquired. Here, the number of patent classification code information retrieved by the patent classification code information retrieval unit 110 obtained by weighting using the appearance frequency information forming a set is specifically the patent classification code information retrieval unit. This is the sum of the values indicated by the appearance frequency information paired with each searched patent classification code information. According to the ratio of the number of appearances, for example, it is to select patent classification code information from a higher ratio to a predetermined rank in order. Alternatively, only patent classification code information having a ratio equal to or higher than a predetermined value may be selected. By using the ratio calculated by weighting, the strength of the association of the patent classification code information with respect to the search key can be reflected in the selection of the patent classification code information, and the selection with high accuracy becomes possible.

  Note that selecting the patent classification code information using the number of appearances, etc. means that the patent classification code information selection unit 111 automatically selects the patent classification code information according to the number of appearances, as described above. Alternatively, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 arranges and displays the patent classification code information according to the number of appearances and the like via a display unit (not shown) and the like, and the designation instruction receiving unit 105 described above. For example, the patent classification code information that has been designated may be selectively acquired. The arrangement and display of the patent classification code information according to the number of appearances means that the number of appearances, the appearance frequency, and the weighted appearance frequency values are arranged in ascending order or descending order, for example. Alternatively, the appearance frequency, the appearance frequency, and the weighted appearance frequency value are displayed in association with each patent classification code information. Thus, by displaying the patent classification code information arranged according to the number of appearances, etc., the user can easily select the patent classification code information.

  The patent classification code information selection unit 111 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the patent classification code information selection unit 111 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the patent search expression generation device 1 according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the operation of the patent search expression generation device 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  (Step S201) The patent search expression generation device 1 determines whether one or more keywords have been received. The keyword reception may be reception from a terminal device via a network such as the Internet. The keyword accepted here is the accepted keyword. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S202. If not accepted, the process returns to step S201.

  (Step S202) The candidate keyword acquiring unit 103 substitutes 1 for the counter m.

  (Step S203) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 uses the mth received keyword among the keywords (received keyword) received in step S201 as a search key, and acquires an acquisition related term by search. Specifically, for each of one or more pieces of related term information stored in the related term information storage unit 101, a term that matches the mth received keyword is searched, and the related term associated with the detected term Acquire (acquisition related terms).

  (Step S204) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 sets the search specification management information having the acquisition related terms acquired in step S203 and the acquisition term that is the mth received keyword and the search specification information for each of the search specification management information. Accumulate in the storage unit 106. When the search designation management information has already been stored, newly acquired search designation information is added here. The initial value of the search specification information corresponding to the acquisition related term is information indicating that it is not the information specified in the search keyword, and the initial value of the search specification information corresponding to the reception keyword is the information specified in the search keyword. It is information indicating that The search designation management information is preferably managed for each received keyword. For example, each search designation management information stored here may include identification information of the mth received keyword. Further, the search designation management information may include information indicating whether the acquisition term is acquisition-related information or a reception keyword.

  (Step S205) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 acquires, by searching, acquisition related information that does not include a character string that matches the mth received keyword from the search designation management information managed in association with the mth received keyword. To do. In addition to the acquisition related information, search designation information associated with the acquisition related information may also be acquired.

  (Step S206) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 temporarily stores the acquisition related terms acquired in Step S205 as a candidate keyword together with the mth received keyword in a storage medium (not shown) or the like. If candidate keywords have already been stored, newly acquired candidate keywords are added here. The candidate keyword is preferably managed in association with the mth received keyword. For example, the candidate keyword is managed in association with the identification information of the mth received keyword.

  (Step S207) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 increments the value of the counter m by 1.

  (Step S208) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 determines whether or not the received keyword received in step S201 includes the mth keyword. If there is, the process returns to step S203, and if not, the process proceeds to step S209.

  (Step S209) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 acquires the candidate keywords accumulated in step S206.

  (Step S210) The candidate keyword display unit 104 displays the candidate keyword acquired in step S209 on a monitor or the like. Note that the candidate keyword display unit 104 reads the search designation information associated with the acquired term that matches each candidate keyword from the search designation management information accumulated in step S204, and displays it in a display mode according to the search designation information. Each candidate keyword may be displayed. For example, if the acquisition related information acquired for one candidate keyword indicates that it is a candidate keyword specified as a search keyword, a check box with a check is displayed next to the candidate keyword, and acquisition is performed. When the acquired related information indicates that the candidate keyword is not designated as a search keyword, a check box without a check may be displayed next to the candidate keyword. In step S205, when the search designation information associated with the acquisition related information is acquired together with the acquisition related information, the display mode may be changed according to the value of the search designation information.

  (Step S211) The designation instruction receiving unit 105 determines whether a designation instruction or a cancellation instruction has been received for the candidate keyword. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S212. If not accepted, the process proceeds to step S219.

  (Step S212) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 updates the search specification information for the acquired term corresponding to the candidate keyword indicated by the designation instruction or the cancellation instruction in accordance with the designation instruction or the cancellation instruction received in Step S211. Specifically, search specification management information having an acquired term that matches the candidate keyword indicated by the specification instruction or cancellation instruction is searched from the search specification management information storage unit 106, and the search specification included in the detected search specification management information The information is updated according to the designation instruction or the cancellation instruction. When the designation instruction is accepted, the search designation information is updated to information indicating that the designation is designated as the search keyword. When a release instruction is received, the search designation information is updated to information indicating that the search designation information is not designated.

  (Step S213) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 acquires from the search designation management information stored in the search designation management information storage unit 106 for the same received keyword as the candidate keyword that received the designation instruction or the cancellation instruction. Search designation management information including related terms and received keywords is read out to a storage medium such as a memory. For example, the search designation management information managed in association with the identification information of the same accepted keyword as the candidate keyword for which the designation instruction or the cancellation instruction has been accepted is read.

  (Step S214) The candidate keyword acquiring unit 103 substitutes 1 for the counter n.

  (Step S215) The candidate keyword acquiring unit 103 determines whether or not the search designation management information read in step S213 includes the nth search designation management information indicating that the search designation information is designated as a search keyword. Determine whether. If there is, the process proceeds to step S216, and if not, the process proceeds to step S218.

  (Step S216) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 reads the acquired term from the nth search specification management information, and the search specification management information read in step S213 (or, of the search specification management information acquired in step S213, The search designation management information including the acquisition related term including the character string that matches the acquisition term read from the nth search designation management information is excluded from those that remain without being excluded. The acquisition related terms and the received keywords included in the search designation management information remaining without being excluded here are the updated candidate keywords. It should be noted that the acquisition-related terms among the acquisition terms can be determined from the term determination information stored in the search designation management information in association with the acquisition terms in step S204 or the like.

  (Step S217) The candidate keyword acquiring unit 103 increments the value of the counter n by 1. Then, the process returns to step S215.

  (Step S218) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 uses the acquired terms, search specification information, etc. included in the search specification management information remaining without being excluded in Step S216, of the candidate keywords accumulated in Step S206. The candidate keyword stored in association with the same received keyword as the candidate keyword indicated by the designation instruction or the release instruction is updated. Then, the process proceeds to step S209.

  (Step S219) The patent search expression generation device 1 determines whether or not a reception unit or the like (not shown) has received an instruction to generate a patent search expression. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S219. If not accepted, the process returns to step S211.

  (Step S <b> 220) The patent classification code information search unit 110 acquires the search keyword specified as the search keyword among the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103, that is, the specified search keyword. The candidate keyword here is normally the candidate keyword displayed in the immediately preceding step S210. Specifically, search specification management information having an acquired term that matches the candidate keyword is searched for search specification management information stored in the search specification management information storage unit 106, and the search specification management information of the detected search specification management information is further searched. Among them, the search specification information is searched for a value indicating that it is a search keyword, and an acquired term included in the detected search specification management information is acquired as a specified search keyword.

  (Step S221) The patent classification code information search unit 110 searches the term storage unit 109 for patent classification code information using the patent classification code information acquired in step S220.

  (Step S222) The patent classification code information selection unit 111 selects the patent classification code information detected in step S221 using the number of appearances.

  (Step S223) The patent classification code information selection unit 111 generates a patent search formula using the designated search keyword acquired in step S220 and the patent classification code information selected in step S222.

  (Step S224) The patent search expression output unit 108 outputs the patent search expression acquired in step S223. Then, the process ends.

  Hereinafter, a specific operation of the patent search expression generation device 1 in the present embodiment will be described.

(Specific example 1)
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of one or more pieces of related term information stored in the related term information storage unit 101 in advance. The related term information includes items of “term” indicating a term and “related term” indicating a related term. Here, it is assumed that each record indicates related term information, and the term included in one record and the related term are associated with each other.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a keyword input screen used for patent search.

  First, an input screen as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the monitor 40 by the user, and keywords “road” and “GPS” are input to the keyword input field 41 using a keyboard or the like as keywords to be searched. It is assumed that the button 42 for performing a synonym search is clicked by operating a mouse or the like. The plurality of keywords input to the input field 41 here are keywords used as an AND condition as an example.

  When the button 42 is clicked, the keywords “road” and “GPS” input in the input field 41 are output to the keyword receiving unit 102, and the keyword receiving unit 102 displays the keywords “road” and “GPS”. Accept. These keywords are reception keywords.

  The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 first acquires “road” as the first received keyword among the received keywords, and the value of “term” completely matches “road” from the related term information shown in FIG. The related term information is searched, and the related term of the detected related term information is acquired as acquisition related information. It should be noted that the “related term” of the related term information shown in FIG. 4 is used as a term, and the “term” of the related term information shown in FIG. 4 is further used as a related term, from the related term information shown in FIG. Needless to say, the value of “term” of the related term information whose value of “related term” completely matches “road” may be acquired as the acquisition related term. In this way, the number of related term information stored in the related term information storage unit 101 can be reduced.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating acquisition-related terms acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 for the received keyword “road”.

  The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 is information indicating whether or not the first received keyword and the acquisition related term acquired above, identification information of the first received keyword, search designation information, and an acquisition related term. The search designation management information having the term determination information associated with it is acquired and stored in the search designation management information storage unit 106. The identification information of the first reception keyword may be information that can distinguish the first reception keyword from other reception keywords, and may be the reception keyword itself or the first reception keyword. The value may be a value such as “1”, or may be another unique value. Here, “001” is used as identification information of the first accepted keyword. Also, here, the search designation information associated with the acquisition related term is set to a value “0” indicating that the retrieval keyword is not designated according to the setting designated in advance, and the retrieval designated information is associated with the reception keyword. The designation information is a value “1” indicating that it is designated as a search keyword. Further, the term determination information indicating the acquisition related term is “1”, and the term determination information indicating the received keyword is “0”.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing search specification management information accumulated in the search specification management information storage unit 106. The search designation management information includes items of “keyword identification information”, “acquired term”, “search designation information”, and “term determination”. “Keyword identification information” is information for identifying a keyword received by the keyword receiving unit 102, and “001” is information for identifying the first keyword “road”. “Acquisition term” is an acquisition-related term and a reception keyword that can be candidate keywords. “Search specification information” is information indicating whether or not the corresponding “acquired term” is information specified as a search keyword. “1” indicates that the search keyword is specified as “0”. Indicates that it is not specified. “Term determination” is information indicating whether or not the value of the corresponding “acquisition term” is an acquisition-related term. If it is “1”, it indicates that it is an acquisition-related term. If there is, it indicates that it is a reception keyword.

  Next, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 selects the first keyword as an acquisition related term managed in the search specification management information corresponding to the first keyword stored in the search specification management information storage unit 106. Search sequentially for items that do not contain a matching string. Specifically, among the search specification management information whose “keyword identification information” is “001”, in the “acquired term” of the search specification management information whose “term determination” is “1”, it matches the first keyword. Detect those that do not contain the character string to be.

  And the candidate keyword acquisition part 103 acquires the searched acquisition related term and the 1st reception keyword as a candidate keyword. Further, the keyword identification information “001” and the search designation information associated with the candidate keyword are also acquired from the search designation management information. The acquired candidate keyword, keyword identification information, and search designation information are stored in a storage medium (not shown).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a candidate keyword management table for managing candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 for the first received keyword and accumulated in a storage medium (not shown). Each item in the candidate keyword management table is the same as the search designation management information in FIG.

  Further, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 also acquires search specification management information for the second received keyword “GPS” in the same manner as the first received keyword, and accumulates it in the search specification management information storage unit 106. The accumulation here is additional writing.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the search management designation information acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 for the second received keyword and added to the search designation management information storage unit 106. The identification information of the second received keyword is “002” here.

  Furthermore, as in the case of the first received keyword, an acquisition related term that does not include a character string that matches the second keyword is acquired and acquired from the search specification management information associated with the second keyword identification information. Candidate keywords including the acquisition related terms and the second received keyword are acquired and accumulated (added) in a storage medium (not shown).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a candidate keyword management table for managing candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 for the second received keyword and added to a storage medium (not shown).

  Since the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 has completed the process of acquiring candidate keywords for all received keywords, the candidate keyword display unit 104 displays the candidate keywords accumulated in a storage medium (not shown) according to the identification information of the received keywords.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of candidate keywords by the candidate keyword display unit 104. Here, the list 11 is a candidate keyword corresponding to the first received keyword, and the list 12 is a candidate keyword corresponding to the second received keyword. A check box 13 next to each candidate keyword is a check box indicating whether or not the candidate keyword is designated as a search keyword, and whether or not the keyword is designated for the search depending on the presence or absence of the check. The difference of the display form by the difference of is expressed. Specifically, when the value of the search designation information corresponding to the candidate keyword is “1”, a check box checked by the candidate keyword display unit 104 is displayed, and the search designation information corresponding to the candidate keyword is displayed. When the value is “0”, the candidate keyword display unit 104 displays a check box that is not checked. This check box 13 is also used as an interface for accepting designation instructions and cancellation instructions for candidate keywords. Here, the characters “user specified keyword” indicating that the keyword is a reception keyword are displayed next to the reception keyword. Here, only the check box 13 for the accepted keyword is checked by default setting.

  In this way, by not displaying candidate keywords that contain the same character string as the received keyword, the keyword that is considered to obtain the same search results as when searching using the received keyword is excluded from the candidate keyword, It can be hidden. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the user from performing unnecessary keyword selection. In addition, the number of candidate keywords can be prevented from increasing unnecessarily.

  Next, the user operates the mouse or the like on the display screen shown in FIG. 10 to designate “walk”, which is one of the candidates for the first accepted keyword, as a search keyword. Suppose that the check box 131 beside is checked. When the check box is checked, the designation instruction accepting unit 105 accepts a designation instruction for the candidate keyword “sidewalk”.

  The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 sets the value of “search specification information” of the search specification management information corresponding to the candidate keyword “sidewalk” to be specified in the search specification management information shown in FIG. To update the search specification information. For example, search specification management information whose “acquired term” value matches the candidate keyword “walking” is searched, and the value of the search specification information in the detected search specification management information is replaced with “1”.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the search designation management information updated by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103.

  Next, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 acquires, from the search specification management information shown in FIG. 11, the acquisition search specification management information associated with the same keyword identification information “001” as the candidate keyword “walk” that is the target of the specification instruction. Is temporarily stored in a storage medium (not shown) or the like. In other words, the retrieval related management information including the acquisition related terms acquired from the same received keyword as the candidate keyword that received the designation instruction and the same received keyword as the candidate keyword that received the designation instruction is read.

  Next, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 includes “acquired terms” included in the first search specification management information in the search specification management information whose search specification information value is “1” in the read search specification management information. Get the value of. Then, from the search designation management information read out above, the “term determination” value is “1”, and the “acquired term” value matches the “acquired term” value obtained above. Search for search specification management information including columns. Then, the detected search designation management information is excluded (for example, deleted) from the read search designation management information. Thereby, candidate keywords including the same character string as the designated search keyword are excluded.

  Subsequently, the same processing is repeated for the search designation management information in which the value of the second and subsequent search designation information is “1”. It should be noted that, for the search designation management information whose search designation information value is “1” that has been deleted from the search designation management information that has already been read out in the course of the process repetition, this search designation management information The process of excluding search designation management information by using the value of “acquired term” included in the URL may be omitted or may be performed.

  For example, here, since the value of the search designation information of the acquisition related term “sidewalk” is newly changed to “1”, by performing such processing, “crosswalk” or “pedestrian bridge” “ Search designation management information having “acquired terms” including the character string “walk” is excluded.

  Then, the “acquired term” of the search designation management information remaining without being finally excluded is a new candidate keyword. Then, a figure stored in a storage medium (not shown) using the “acquired term” value of the search designation management information, the search designation information, and the keyword identification information value remaining without being finally excluded. Among the candidate keywords shown in FIG. 9, the candidate keyword associated with the same keyword identification information “001” as the candidate keyword “walk” to be designated is overwritten and updated.

  FIG. 12 shows the updated candidate keyword management table.

  Then, the candidate keyword display unit 104 displays the candidate keywords using the updated candidate keyword management table.

  In this way, by not displaying candidate keywords that include the same character string as the specified search keyword, keywords that are considered to obtain the same search results as when searching using the specified search keyword are selected as candidate keywords. And can be hidden. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the user from performing unnecessary keyword selection. In addition, the number of candidate keywords can be prevented from increasing unnecessarily.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a display example of candidate keywords. Since the search designation information of the candidate keyword “sidewalk” is “1”, the check box next to “sidewalk” is checked. Compared to FIG. 10, it can be seen that candidate keywords such as “pedestrian crossing” and “pedestrian bridge” are excluded.

  Here, suppose that the user operates the mouse or the like on the display screen shown in FIG. 13 to cancel “road”, which is the reception keyword of the first reception keyword, from the search keyword. Assume that the check box 131 next to is unchecked. When the check is removed from the check box, the designation instruction accepting unit 105 accepts a cancellation instruction for the candidate keyword “road”.

  The candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 sets the value of “search specification information” of the search specification management information corresponding to the candidate keyword “road” that is the target of the cancellation instruction in the search specification management information shown in FIG. To update the search specification information. For example, search specification management information whose value of “acquired term” matches the candidate keyword “road” is searched, and the value of the search specification information of the detected search specification management information is replaced with “0”.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the search designation management information updated by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103.

  Next, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 acquires, from the search specification management information shown in FIG. 14, the acquisition search specification management information associated with the same keyword identification information “001” as the candidate keyword “road” that is the target of the cancellation instruction. Is temporarily stored in a storage medium (not shown) or the like. That is, the retrieval designation management information including the acquisition related terms acquired from the same received keyword as the candidate keyword for which the cancellation instruction has been received and the same received keyword as the candidate keyword for which the cancellation instruction has been received is read.

  Next, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 103 includes “acquired terms” included in the first search specification management information in the search specification management information whose search specification information value is “1” in the read search specification management information. Get the value of. Then, from the search designation management information read out above, the “term determination” value is “1”, and the “acquired term” value matches the “acquired term” value obtained above. Search for search specification management information including columns. Then, the detected search designation management information is excluded (for example, deleted) from the read search designation management information.

  Subsequently, the same processing is repeated for the search designation management information in which the value of the second and subsequent search designation information is “1”. It should be noted that the search specification management information having the search specification information value “1” that has been deleted from the search specification management information that has already been read out in the course of the process is the search specification management information. The process of excluding search designation management information using the value of “acquired term” included in the information may or may not be performed.

  For example, here, since the value of the search specification information of the reception keyword “road” is newly changed from “1” to “0”, the character string “road” such as “highway” or “overpass” The search designation management information having “acquired terms” including “” remains without being excluded. Note that for the search designation management information in which the value of “acquired term” is “road” that is the reception keyword, the value of “term determination” is “0”, not “1” indicating an acquisition-related term. This search designation management information is not excluded. Therefore, even if the reception keyword includes a character string that matches another acquisition related term, the reception keyword is always displayed as a candidate keyword.

  Then, the “acquired term” of the search designation management information remaining without being finally excluded is a new candidate keyword. Then, by using the “acquired term” value of the search designation management information remaining without being finally excluded, the search designation information, and the value of the keyword identification information, among the candidate keywords shown in FIG. The candidate keyword associated with the same keyword identification information “001” as the candidate keyword “walk” to be designated is overwritten and updated.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an updated candidate keyword management table.

  Then, the candidate keyword display unit 104 displays the candidate keywords using the updated candidate keyword management table.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a display example of candidate keywords. Since the search designation information of the candidate keyword “road” is “0”, the check box next to “sidewalk” is unchecked. Compared with FIG. 13, it can be seen that the keyword is added to the candidate keywords “highway” and “elevated road”.

  As described above, when the designation of the search keyword with respect to the designated search keyword is canceled, the candidate keyword that is not displayed is restored by the designated search keyword.

  Here, in the state shown in FIG. 13 (that is, before the keyword “road” is unchecked), the user clicks the button 160 for generating a search expression by operating the mouse or the like. Then, the designation instruction accepting unit 105, a not-shown accepting unit, etc. accept the designation instruction. And the patent classification code information search part 110 starts the search of patent classification code information.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a term management table that manages the terms stored in the term storage unit 109 in association with the publication numbers of patent publications that are technical document information from which the terms are acquired. “Public number” indicates the public number of the patent publication. The “term” indicates a term included in the patent publication.

  FIG. 18 shows a publication number of a patent gazette that is technical document information from which terms are acquired and an international patent that is patent classification code information associated with the patent gazette, stored in the term storage unit 109. It is a figure which shows the patent classification code information management table which matches and manages a classification | category.

  Next, the patent classification code information search unit 110 acquires candidate keywords whose search designation information is “1” from the candidate keyword management table as shown in FIG. 12, and corresponds to the terms that match the acquired candidate keywords. The attached public number is searched using the term management table shown in FIG. Here, as an example, candidate keywords acquired for the same received keyword are used for search as an OR condition, and candidate keyword groups with different corresponding received keywords are searched as an AND condition. That is, in the candidate keyword management table shown in FIG. 12, it is a “public number” associated with a “term” that matches one of the candidate keywords “road” and “walk”, and the candidate keyword “GPS”. The “public number” associated with the “term” that matches is searched. Here, as an example, a case where the match is a partial match will be described.

  Assume that a plurality of public numbers such as “JP2004-146...”, “JP2004-87.

  Next, in the patent classification code information management table shown in FIG. 18, the patent classification code information search unit 110 matches the publication number managed in the term management table shown in FIG. The record is detected, and the value of “international patent classification” of the record is acquired. The match here is, for example, complete match.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating the international patent classification acquired by the patent classification code information search unit 110. Here, for convenience of explanation, the publication number associated with the international patent classification is shown alongside the international patent classification, but may be omitted.

  Next, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 calculates the appearance frequency of each international patent classification in the detection result of the international patent classification shown in FIG. Here, as an example, the number of appearances of each international patent classification included in the detection result shown in FIG. 19 is the number of publication numbers searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 using the term management table of FIG. The ratio is calculated as the appearance frequency. The number of public numbers retrieved from the term management table corresponds to the number of patent publications retrieved.

  Specifically, first, the number of appearances of each international patent classification included in the detection result shown in FIG. 19 is counted. Further, as described above, the patent classification code information search unit 110 counts the number of public numbers searched using the term management table of FIG. Then, the appearance frequency is calculated by dividing the number of appearances by the number of public numbers.

  For example, in the detection result shown in FIG. 19, if 20 international patent classifications “G01S 5/08” are detected and the number of publication numbers searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 is “80”, The appearance frequency of the patent classification “G01S 5/08” is 20/80 × 100 = 25%.

  If 64 international patent classifications “G01C 21/10” are detected, the appearance frequency of the international patent classification “G01C 21/10” is 64/80 × 100 = 80%.

  FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating the calculation result of the appearance frequency.

  Then, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 selects the appearance frequency shown in FIG. 20 from the international patent classification that is the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110 to be equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value. Select an international patent classification. For example, if the threshold value is set to 50% in advance, it is assumed that “G01C 21/10”, “G08G 1/133”, and “G01G 1/137” are selected here.

  By selecting patent classification code information using such an appearance frequency, only those having an appearance frequency higher than a threshold value can be selectively selected. Thereby, it is possible to selectively acquire only the patent classification code that appropriately represents the characteristics of the entire patent publication searched by the patent classification code information search unit 110.

  Next, the patent search expression generation unit 107 has the international patent classifications “G01C 21/10”, “G08G 1/133”, and “G01G 1/137” which are the international patent classifications selected by the patent classification code information selection unit 111 as candidates. Of the candidate keywords acquired by the keyword acquisition unit 103, a search expression is generated using the candidate keywords specified as the search keywords.

  Specifically, among candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquiring unit 103, candidate keywords associated with the same reception keyword among candidate keywords specified as search keywords are connected as OR conditions, and are changed to different reception keywords. The associated candidate keywords (or candidate keyword groups) are connected by an AND condition. In addition, the international patent classifications selected by the patent classification code information selection unit 111 are connected under the OR condition. Then, a patent search formula is generated by connecting the candidate keyword (or candidate keyword group) and the international patent classification (or international patent classification group) with an AND condition.

  For example, the patent search formula generated in this specific example is (road + walk) * (GPS) * (G01C 21/10 + G08G 1/133 + G01G 1/137). Note that “+” is an operator that performs a search using an OR condition, and “*” is an operator that performs a search using an AND condition.

  The generated patent search formula as described above is output from the patent search formula output unit 108.

(Specific example 2)
In this specific example, the term storage unit 109 stores one or more terms included in the technical document information, appearance frequency information that is information indicating the appearance frequency of the term in the technical document information, and the technical document information. The case where one or more patent classification code information as described above is stored in association with each technical document information will be described.

  FIG. 21 is a term management table that manages disclosure numbers, which are identification information of patent gazettes stored in advance in the term storage unit 109, terms included in the patent gazette, and appearance frequency information of each term in association with each other. is there. “Public number” and “term” are the same as those in FIG. The “number of terms” is the number of terms detected in one patent publication. “Appearance frequency” is appearance frequency information, and here, the ratio of the number of occurrences of each term to the number of terms appearing in the patent publication is expressed as a percentage. The terms appearing in the patent gazette here may be considered as all the terms appearing in the patent gazette, or all of the terms excluding some of the predesignated terms etc. appearing in the patent gazette It may be the number of terms. Moreover, it is good also as all the number of terms contained in the one part area | region (For example, the column of detailed description of an invention etc.) of a patent gazette. The number of terms can be omitted in the term management table.

  In addition, the publication number of the patent gazette from which the term is acquired, stored in the term storage unit 109, and the international patent classification, which is the patent classification code information associated with the patent gazette, are managed in association with each other. The patent classification code information management table is the same as that shown in FIG.

  First, as in the first specific example, in the state shown in FIG. 13 (that is, in a state before the keyword “road” is unchecked), the user operates the mouse or the like to generate a search expression. If the button 160 for this is clicked, the designation | designated instruction | indication reception part 105, the reception part which is not shown in figure etc. will receive a designation | designated instruction | indication. And the patent classification code information search part 110 starts the search of patent classification code information.

  Further, the patent classification code information search unit 110 uses the candidate keyword specified as the search keyword as a search key, and searches the public number associated with the term that matches these keywords in the term management table shown in FIG. To do. Here, as an example, candidate keywords acquired for the same received keyword are used for search as an OR condition, and candidate keyword groups with different corresponding received keywords are searched as an AND condition. That is, in the candidate keyword management table shown in FIG. 12, it is a “public number” associated with a “term” that matches one of the candidate keywords “road” and “walk”, and the candidate keyword “GPS”. The “public number” associated with the “term” that matches is searched. Here, as an example, a case where the match is a partial match will be described.

  As a result of this search, a plurality of public numbers such as “JP2004-147...”, “JP2004-87.

  Next, in the patent classification code information management table shown in FIG. 18, the patent classification code information search unit 110 matches the publication number managed in the term management table shown in FIG. The record is detected, and the value of “international patent classification” of the record is acquired as shown in FIG.

  Here, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 is associated with the “term” that matches the candidate keyword among the “terms” associated with each public number acquired by the patent classification code information search unit 110. Appearance frequency information is acquired from the term management table shown in 21 for each public number. Then, among the appearance frequency information, the appearance frequency information of the terms corresponding to the candidate keywords used for the OR search is added, and the appearance frequency information of the terms corresponding to the candidate keywords used for the AND search is also added. Thus, a value used for weighting is obtained for each public number. For example, it is assumed that “road”, “sidewalk”, and “GPS” in terms corresponding to “JP2004-147...” Match the search key, and their appearance frequency information is “0.5”, “0”. .8 ”and“ 0.2 ”. Since “road” and “walk” are candidate keywords used for the search as OR conditions, the appearance frequency information is added, and the value is 0.5 + 0.8 = 1.3. Since the combination of “road” and “walk” and “GPS” are search keys used for search as AND conditions, the appearance frequency information added above is also added and finally calculated. The value used for weighting is 1.3 + 0.2 = 1.5. The patent classification code information selection unit 111 associates the value used for weighting corresponding to the appearance frequency calculated for each publication number in this way with the value of “international patent classification” associated with each publication number. The data is stored in a storage medium (not shown). Here, it is assumed that the match when searching for a “term” that matches the search key is a complete match. However, it may be a partial match.

  For the appearance frequency information corresponding to the search key used for the OR search, for example, only the maximum value may be acquired instead of performing addition. Alternatively, an average value may be obtained. Further, when calculating the appearance frequency information corresponding to candidate keywords used for the search as an AND condition, for example, multiplication may be performed instead of addition as described above. Further, the minimum value of the appearance frequency information may be acquired. Alternatively, in any case, calculations specified by other users may be performed.

  FIG. 22 shows management information obtained by the patent classification code information selection unit 111 that is acquired and accumulated and used for weighting for each publication number and the international patent classification corresponding to each publication number in association with each other. . This management information is obtained by the patent classification code information selection unit 111 for each publication number in addition to the diagram showing the international patent classification for each patent publication obtained by the patent classification code information search unit 110 shown in FIG. This corresponds to the addition of the item “weighting value”. The “weighting value” is a value acquired by the patent classification code information selection unit 111 using the appearance frequency information of the term for each publication number as described above. Each of one or more international patent classifications corresponding to one publication number (that is, an international patent classification corresponding to one patent publication) is associated with a weight value acquired for each publication number.

  Next, the patent classification code information selection unit 111 adds the weight values associated with the international patent classification shown in FIG. 22 to those having the same international patent classification, that is, for each international patent classification. Is temporarily stored in a storage medium or the like not shown in association with the international patent classification.

  FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating the weighting value for each international patent classification acquired by the patent classification code information selection unit 111.

  And the patent classification code information selection part 111 acquires the international patent classification of the number designated beforehand from the information which shows the weighting value according to international patent classification as shown in FIG. Subsequent processing for generating a patent search formula, processing for outputting a patent search formula, and the like are the same as those in the first specific example, and thus description thereof is omitted here.

  Note that the patent classification code information selection unit 111 sums, for example, the weight values respectively associated with all the international patent classifications shown in FIG. 22, and the total for each international patent classification shown in FIG. Using the ratios obtained by dividing the respective weight values, it may be possible to acquire international patent classifications having a high ratio or a ratio exceeding a predetermined threshold value. The same effect is obtained as in the case where the ratio is used in the specific example.

  For example, in FIG. 22, the weighting value “1.5” associated with the international patent classification “G01S 5/08” of the publication number “JP2004-147...” And the international patent classification of the publication number “JP2004-147. The weight value “1.5” associated with “G08G 1/133” and the weight value “0.53” associated with the international patent classification “G01S 5/08” of the publication number “JP2004-149. And the weighting value “0.53” associated with the international patent classification “G01C 21/10” of the publication number “JP2004-149...” Are all added, and the total weighting value for each international patent classification The international patent classification may be acquired by using a ratio obtained by dividing each of.

  By selecting a patent publication using a weighting value corresponding to the appearance frequency of such terms, it is possible to select more appropriate patent classification code information for the search keyword.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a keyword related to a keyword input by a user is proposed as a candidate keyword used in a patent search formula, and a keyword having the same search result is selected from the candidate keyword. By omitting and hiding, it is possible to reduce the presentation of unnecessary candidate keywords and make it easier for the user to select keywords. As a result, it is possible to easily generate an appropriate patent search formula.

  In each of the above embodiments, each process (each function) may be realized by centralized processing by a single device (system), or by distributed processing by a plurality of devices. May be.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, it goes without saying that two or more communication means (such as an information transmission unit) existing in one apparatus may be physically realized by one medium.

  In the above embodiment, information related to processing executed by each component, for example, information received, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, and received by each component. In addition, information such as threshold values, mathematical formulas, addresses, etc. used by each component in processing is retained temporarily or over a long period of time on a recording medium (not shown) even when not explicitly stated in the above description. It may be. Further, the storage of information in the recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a storage unit (not shown). Further, reading of information from the recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a reading unit (not shown).

  In each of the above embodiments, the case where the patent search expression generation device is a stand-alone device has been described. However, the patent search expression generation device may be a stand-alone device or a server device in a server / client system. Also good. In the latter case, the output unit or the reception unit receives an input or outputs a screen via a communication line.

  In each of the above embodiments, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory.

  The software that implements the patent search expression generation device in each of the above embodiments is the following program. That is, this program is a keyword that accepts one or more keywords from a computer that can access a related term information storage unit in which one or more related term information having terms and related terms that are terms related to the term are stored. A related term that is associated with a term that matches each keyword and that does not include a character string that matches the keyword from the related term information and the related term information is selected as a keyword candidate used in the patent search formula. A keyword that uses one or more of the candidate keyword acquisition unit acquired as a candidate keyword, the candidate keyword display unit that displays the candidate keyword acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit, and the candidate keyword acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit in the patent search formula A specification instruction that accepts a specification instruction that is an instruction to specify for a search keyword A biasing portion, a patent search expression generation unit for generating a patent search expression containing the specified candidate keyword by specifying instruction, a program for executing a patent search expression output section for outputting a patent search expression.

  In addition, this program is a keyword that accepts one or more keywords from a computer that can access a related term information storage unit that stores one or more related term information having terms and related terms that are terms related to the term. A candidate keyword acquisition unit that acquires a related term associated with a term that matches each of the keywords as a candidate keyword that is a candidate for a keyword used in a patent search formula; A candidate keyword display unit that displays candidate keywords acquired by the unit, and a specification instruction that is an instruction to specify one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit as search keywords that are keywords used in the patent search formula An instruction receiving unit and a special keyword including candidate keywords specified by the specification instruction It is a program to be executed as a patent search formula generation unit that generates a search formula and a patent search formula output unit that outputs a patent search formula, and the candidate keyword acquisition unit is designated from candidate keywords acquired from related term information The candidate keyword excluding the candidate keyword including the character string that matches the candidate keyword specified as the search keyword by the designation instruction received by the instruction receiving unit is acquired, and the candidate keyword display unit receives the candidate keyword according to the reception of the designation instruction. This program updates the display with candidate keywords acquired by the acquisition unit.

  Note that the program does not include processing performed by hardware or processing performed only by hardware.

  In the program, the functions realized by the program do not include functions that can be realized only by hardware. For example, a function that can be realized only by hardware such as a modem or an interface card in an acquisition unit that acquires information or an output unit that outputs information is not included in the function realized by the program.

  Further, the computer that executes this program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

  FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an external appearance of a computer that executes the program and realizes the patent search expression generation device according to the embodiment. The above-described embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed on the computer hardware.

  24, a computer system 900 includes a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) drive 905, a computer 901 including an FD (Floppy (registered trademark) Disk) drive 906, a keyboard 902, a mouse 903, a monitor 904, and the like. Is provided.

  FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the computer system 900. 25, in addition to the CD-ROM drive 905 and the FD drive 906, a computer 901 is connected to an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, a ROM 912 for storing a program such as a bootup program, and the MPU 911. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 913 that temporarily stores program instructions and provides a temporary storage space, a hard disk 914 that stores application programs, system programs, and data, and an MPU 911 and a ROM 912 are interconnected. And a bus 915. The computer 901 may include a network card (not shown) that provides connection to the LAN.

  A program for causing the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the patent search expression generation device and the like according to the above-described embodiment is stored in the CD-ROM 921 or FD 922 and inserted into the CD-ROM drive 905 or FD drive 906, and the hard disk 914 may be forwarded. Instead, the program may be transmitted to the computer 901 via a network (not shown) and stored in the hard disk 914. The program is loaded into the RAM 913 when executed. The program may be loaded directly from the CD-ROM 921, the FD 922, or the network.

  The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS), a third-party program, or the like that causes the computer 901 to execute the functions of the patent search expression generation device according to the above embodiment. The program may include only a part of an instruction that calls an appropriate function (module) in a controlled manner and obtains a desired result. How the computer system 900 operates is well known and will not be described in detail.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the patent search expression generation device according to the present invention is suitable as a device for generating a patent search expression, and is particularly useful as a device for generating a patent search expression including a keyword.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Patent search expression production | generation apparatus 101 Related term information storage part 102 Keyword reception part 103 Candidate keyword acquisition part 104 Candidate keyword display part 105 Specification instruction | indication reception part 106 Search designation | designated management information storage part 107 Patent search expression generation part 108 Patent search expression output part 109 Term Storage Unit 110 Patent Classification Code Information Search Unit 111 Patent Classification Code Information Selection Unit

Claims (10)

A related term information storage unit that stores one or more related term information including a term and a related term that is a term related to the term;
A keyword receiving unit for receiving one or more keywords;
From the related term information, related terms that are associated with terms that match the keywords and that do not include a character string that matches the keywords are candidates for keywords used in patent search formulas. A candidate keyword acquisition unit to acquire as a keyword;
A candidate keyword display unit for displaying the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit;
A designation instruction receiving unit that receives a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit as a search keyword that is a keyword used in a patent search formula;
A patent search expression generation unit that generates a patent search expression including a candidate keyword specified by the specification instruction;
A patent search expression generation device comprising a patent search expression output unit for outputting the patent search expression. A related term information storage unit that stores one or more related term information including a term and a related term that is a term related to the term;
A keyword receiving unit for receiving one or more keywords;
A candidate keyword acquisition unit that acquires, from the related term information, a related term associated with a term that matches each keyword as a candidate keyword that is a candidate for a keyword used in a patent search formula;
A candidate keyword display unit for displaying the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit;
A designation instruction receiving unit that receives a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit as a search keyword that is a keyword used in a patent search formula;
A patent search expression generation unit that generates a patent search expression including a candidate keyword specified by the specification instruction;
A patent search expression output unit for outputting the patent search expression;
The candidate keyword acquisition unit excludes candidate keywords including character strings that match the candidate keyword specified as the search keyword by the designation instruction received by the designation instruction receiving unit from the candidate keywords acquired from the related term information Get keywords,
The said candidate keyword display part is a patent search expression production | generation apparatus which updates a display with the candidate keyword which the said candidate keyword acquisition part acquired according to reception of the said designation | designated instruction | indication. The patent search expression generation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the candidate keyword acquisition unit acquires the keyword received by the keyword reception unit as a candidate keyword that has been designated as a search keyword. The designation instruction accepting unit further accepts a cancellation instruction that is an instruction to cancel the designation of the search keyword,
The candidate keyword acquisition unit is a candidate keyword specified as a search keyword that remains without being specified as a search keyword from a candidate keyword acquired from the related term information according to a cancellation instruction received by the designation instruction reception unit. Get candidate keywords that exclude candidate keywords that contain a string that matches
The patent search expression generation device according to claim 2, wherein the candidate keyword display unit displays candidate keywords including the candidate keyword acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit in response to reception of the release instruction. One or more terms included in the technical document information, which is information indicating a technical document, and one or more patent classification code information, which is information on a code indicating a patent classification for the technical document information, are the technical document. A term storage unit stored in association with each information;
A patent classification code information search unit for searching for patent classification code information associated with a term that matches the search key from the term storage unit using a candidate keyword specified by the specification instruction as a search key;
A patent classification code information selection unit that selects patent classification code information using the number of appearances from the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit;
5. The patent search expression generation device according to claim 1, wherein the patent search expression generation unit generates a patent search expression further including patent classification code information selected by the patent classification code information selection unit. The patent classification code information selection unit,
The ratio of the number of each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit to the number of technical document information including the term matching the search key, or each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 6. The patent search formula generation device according to claim 5, wherein the patent classification code information is selected using a ratio to the number of patent classification code information associated with the technical document information including the term that matches the search key. A related term information storage unit that stores one or more related term information having a term and a related term that is a term related to the term, a keyword receiving unit, a candidate keyword acquiring unit, a candidate keyword display unit, and a designation A patent search formula generation method performed using an instruction receiving unit, a patent search formula generation unit, and a patent search formula output unit,
A keyword receiving step in which the keyword receiving unit receives one or more keywords;
The candidate keyword acquisition unit uses, from the related term information, a related term that is associated with a term that matches the keyword and that does not include a character string that matches the keyword in a patent search formula. A candidate keyword acquisition step of acquiring as a candidate keyword that is a candidate for
A candidate keyword display step in which the candidate keyword display unit displays the candidate keyword acquired in the candidate keyword acquisition step;
A designation instruction accepting step for accepting a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more candidate keywords acquired in the candidate keyword acquisition step as a search keyword that is a keyword used in a patent search formula;
A patent search formula generation step in which the patent search formula generation unit generates a patent search formula including a candidate keyword designated by the designation instruction;
A patent search formula generation method, wherein the patent search formula output unit includes a patent search formula output step of outputting the patent search formula. (Does not show candidates that have already been specified)
A related term information storage unit that stores one or more related term information having a term and a related term that is a term related to the term, a keyword receiving unit, a candidate keyword acquiring unit, a candidate keyword display unit, and a designation A patent search formula generation method performed using an instruction receiving unit, a patent search formula generation unit, and a patent search formula output unit,
A keyword receiving step in which the keyword receiving unit receives one or more keywords;
A candidate keyword acquisition unit that acquires, from the related term information, a related term associated with a term that matches the keyword as a candidate keyword that is a candidate for a keyword used in a patent search formula; ,
A candidate keyword display step in which the candidate keyword display unit displays the candidate keyword acquired in the candidate keyword acquisition step;
A designation instruction accepting step for accepting a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more candidate keywords acquired in the candidate keyword acquisition step as a search keyword that is a keyword used in a patent search formula;
A patent search formula generation step in which the patent search formula generation unit generates a patent search formula including a candidate keyword designated by the designation instruction;
The patent search formula output unit comprises a patent search formula output step for outputting the patent search formula,
The candidate keyword acquiring step excludes candidate keywords including character strings that match the candidate keyword specified as the search keyword by the specifying instruction received in the specifying instruction receiving step from the candidate keywords acquired from the related term information Get keywords,
The patent keyword expression generation device in which the candidate keyword display step updates the display with the candidate keyword acquired in the candidate keyword acquisition step in response to reception of the designation instruction. (Do not display candidates that contain keywords)
A computer capable of accessing a related term information storage unit in which one or more related term information having a term and a related term that is a term related to the term is stored;
A keyword receiving unit for receiving one or more keywords;
From the related term information, related terms that are associated with terms that match the keywords and that do not include a character string that matches the keywords are candidates for keywords used in patent search formulas. A candidate keyword acquisition unit to acquire as a keyword;
A candidate keyword display unit for displaying the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit;
A designation instruction receiving unit that receives a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit as a search keyword that is a keyword used in a patent search formula;
A patent search expression generation unit that generates a patent search expression including a candidate keyword specified by the specification instruction;
A program to be executed as a patent search expression output unit for outputting the patent search expression. (Does not show candidates that have already been specified)
A computer capable of accessing a related term information storage unit in which one or more related term information having a term and a related term that is a term related to the term is stored;
A keyword receiving unit for receiving one or more keywords;
A candidate keyword acquisition unit that acquires, from the related term information, a related term associated with a term that matches each keyword as a candidate keyword that is a candidate for a keyword used in a patent search formula;
A candidate keyword display unit for displaying the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit;
A designation instruction receiving unit that receives a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit as a search keyword that is a keyword used in a patent search formula;
A patent search expression generation unit that generates a patent search expression including a candidate keyword specified by the specification instruction;
A program for causing the patent search expression output unit to output the patent search expression,
The candidate keyword acquisition unit excludes candidate keywords including character strings that match the candidate keyword specified as the search keyword by the designation instruction received by the designation instruction receiving unit from the candidate keywords acquired from the related term information Get keywords,
The candidate keyword display unit is a program that updates a display with a candidate keyword acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit in response to reception of the designation instruction.

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