JP2018005759A - Citation map generation device, citation map generation method, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To present a user a relation of a plurality of documents extracted according to retrieval criteria specified by the user in an easy-to-understand manner.SOLUTION: A document retrieval device acquires criteria for extracting a specific document from a plurality of documents which may have a citation relation with other document from a user terminal. The document retrieval device extracts a document satisfying the criteria from the plurality of documents stored in a document DB. The document retrieval device generates a citation map 70 in which a plurality of document objects 76 indicating the plurality of documents extracted are arranged, and generates a citation map 70 associating a document object 76 indicating a first extracted document with a document object 76 indicating a second extracted document by an arrow 78 when there is a citation relation between the first extracted document and the second extracted document, and presents the generated citation map to the user terminal 16.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a data processing technique, and more particularly to a technique for generating a citation map.

  Extract reference information that is the information of cited references or cited references for a target specified from outside, and extract reference information by setting the extracted reference information as a new target each time reference information is extracted. There has been proposed a literature information display device that repeatedly displays reference information extracted as a result of the vine pattern in association with a target (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-116536 A

  The document information display device of Patent Literature 1 displays a citation relationship starting from a specific target (Patent Literature) designated via an input unit. The present inventor presents a citation map in which a plurality of documents extracted according to a search condition designated by the user are associated with each other based on a citation relationship to a plurality of documents extracted by the search. We thought it would be easier for users to understand the relationship intuitively.

  The present invention has been made on the basis of such an idea of the present inventor, and a main purpose thereof is to present to a user an easy-to-understand relationship between a plurality of documents extracted by a search condition designated by the user. .

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a citation map generation device according to an aspect of the present invention is a condition input from a user, and is specified from a plurality of documents that can have a citation relationship with another document. An acquisition unit that acquires a condition for extracting a document of the document, a search unit that extracts a plurality of documents that satisfy a condition acquired by the acquisition unit from a plurality of documents stored in a predetermined storage unit, and a search unit When a citation map that is an image in which a plurality of objects indicating a plurality of extracted documents extracted by the above is arranged and a citation relationship is formed between the first extracted document and the second extracted document, A generating unit that generates a citation map in which an object indicating the first extracted document and an object indicating the second extracted document are associated with each other, and an output unit that presents the citation map generated by the generating unit to the user. Prepare.

  Another aspect of the present invention is a citation map generation method. In this method, a condition input from a user, and a condition for extracting a specific document from a plurality of documents that can be cited with other documents is obtained. A step of extracting a plurality of documents satisfying the condition acquired in the acquiring step from a plurality of documents stored in the storage unit, and a plurality of objects indicating the plurality of extracted documents extracted in the extracting step are arranged. An citation map that is an image is generated, and when a citation relationship is formed between the first extracted document and the second extracted document, the object indicating the first extracted document and the second extracted document are indicated. The computer executes a step of generating a citation map arranged in association with an object, and a step of presenting the citation map generated in the generating step to the user.

  Note that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a representation of the present invention converted between a system, a computer program, a recording medium storing the computer program, and the like are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the relationship of the some literature extracted by the search conditions designated by the user can be shown to a user in an easy-to-understand manner.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the information system of an Example. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the literature search apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the citation relationship in an extraction patent. It is a figure which shows the example of the search screen which a literature search device provides. It is a figure which shows the example of the search screen which a literature search device provides. It is a figure which shows the example of the quotation map which a literature search device provides. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a literature search device. It is a figure which shows the example of the citation map which the literature search device of a modification provides.

Before describing the embodiment of the present invention, an outline will be described first.
The document retrieval apparatus according to the embodiment includes a feature that predicts noise and leakage in a patent search based on citation information and cited information of a patent group extracted by the search, and a citation that uses the patent group extracted by the search as a population. Features to display the map.

Features 1. Predicting noise and leaks in patent searches:
In various searches related to patents, a database storing patent documents may be searched under search conditions given by the user to extract the desired patent documents. If the search condition (search formula) given by the user is not appropriate, the target patent document to be originally extracted may not be sufficiently extracted, that is, a search may be omitted. Further, the extracted patent document may include a noise patent document that does not correspond to the target patent document.

  As for the ratio of noise, if the accuracy is rough, a list of search results can be displayed and judged to some extent based on the technical classification code, the name of the invention, and the like. However, in order to grasp the noise ratio with high accuracy, the user needs to read the extracted document. In addition, the leak rate can be determined to some extent based on whether or not the known patent document has been extracted if the user has knowledge about the known patent document, but it is difficult to determine without the knowledge. is there. Thus, in order to determine the ratio of noise and leakage in the patent search results, it is necessary to read the extracted documents by the user and the knowledge of the user, and it is easy to efficiently determine the ratio of noise and leakage. It wasn't.

  Therefore, the document search device of the embodiment detects leak and noise candidates in the document search based on the citation relationship between the document extracted by the search and other documents, and information (ratio, etc.) regarding the detected leak and noise. ) To the user. By presenting information on leakage and noise in the document search to the user, the accuracy of document extraction can be confirmed before the user actually reads the extracted document, and the validity of the search condition can be easily determined.

Feature 2. Citation map display with patent search results as population:
Normally, patent search results are often displayed in a list of a plurality of patent documents. The document search apparatus according to the embodiment presents a patent search result to the user using a citation map indicating a citation relationship between a plurality of patent documents extracted by the search and other documents. The citation map is an image in which a plurality of objects indicating a plurality of patent documents extracted by a search are arranged in an associated manner based on a citation relationship. Thereby, it supports so that a user can grasp | ascertain intuitively the relationship of the some patent document extracted by the search.

  The configuration of the document retrieval apparatus according to the embodiment is not limited to the retrieval of patent documents, but can be applied to the retrieval of documents related to various industrial property rights including utility models, designs, and trademarks. In addition, the configuration of the document retrieval apparatus according to the embodiment is not limited to the retrieval of documents related to industrial property rights, and documents that can be cited with other documents (for example, academic papers, degree request papers, standardization techniques are formulated) The present invention can be widely applied to searching for contributions and books that are proposed technical documents to be performed (reference documents described in books correspond to cited documents), various technical documents, and the like). This citation relationship may be specified by the applicant or author of the document, or may be specified in the document review / trial process (notification of reasons for refusal, etc.). In the following embodiments, searching for patent documents (public patent publications and patent publication publications) will be described as an example.

  Here, “extraction patent”, “necessary patent”, “leakage patent”, and “noise patent” in the embodiment will be described. The extracted patent is a patent document extracted by a search process based on a search condition designated by the user from a plurality of patent documents stored in a database or the like. The required patent is a patent document that cites at least one of a plurality of extraction patents, and a patent document that is cited by at least one of the plurality of extraction patents. The required patent is a patent document that is expected to match the search purpose of the user, that is, it can be said to be a patent document that should be originally extracted. The required patent may include both patent documents included in the extracted patent and patent documents not included in the extracted patent.

  The leaked patent is a necessary patent that is not included in the extracted patent. That is, the leaked patent is a patent document that is not included in the extracted patent but is expected to be highly relevant to the extracted patent. In other words, the leaked patent is a patent document that is expected to match the user's search purpose, but is not extracted under the user's search condition.

  A noise patent is one of a plurality of extracted patents, but is a patent document that only cites non-extracted patents that are not included in the extracted patent, or a patent document that is cited only by non-extracted patents. . In other words, a noise patent is a patent document that has a citation relationship but is not cited from any extracted patent among a plurality of extracted patents, and a patent document that does not cite any extracted patent among a plurality of extracted patents. In other words, a noise patent is a patent document that is expected to have a high relevance to a non-extracted patent (it can be said that a relevance to a non-extracted patent is high and a low relevance to other extracted patents). In other words, the noise patent is a patent document extracted under the user's search condition, but is a patent document that does not match the user's search purpose (that is, should not be extracted originally). In the above, the noise patent is a patent document that only cites non-extracted patents or a patent document that is cited only by non-extracted patents, but the noise patent is a patent document that cites only non-extracted patents. In addition, it may be a patent document cited only by a non-extracted patent. It should be noted that the patent documents of extracted patents that have no citation relationship (both extracted patents and non-extracted patents) are not normally handled as noise patents, but may be handled as noise patents. Further, patent documents of non-extracted patents that have no citation relationship (both extracted patents and non-extracted patents) are not treated as leaked patents, but may be handled as leaked patents.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an information system 100 according to the embodiment. The information system 100 includes a document search device 10, a document DB 12, and a user terminal 16. The document search apparatus 10 is an information processing apparatus that provides a search service for patent documents to a user. The document retrieval apparatus 10 may be realized by cooperation between a web server and an application server, and may provide the user terminal 16 with a web service for retrieving patent documents.

  The document DB 12 is a database server that stores data of a plurality of patent documents. The data of patent documents includes main data of applications, specifications, drawings, and abstracts. Furthermore, various attribute information regarding patent documents, such as application date, examination status, and cited documents, is included. The document search apparatus 10 and the document DB 12 are connected via a communication network 14 such as a LAN or an intranet. The document DB 12 holds information indicating a citation type related to a cited document cited with respect to a certain patent document. The type of citation includes the type of subject that has established a citation relationship and the type of citation timing.For example, the citation by the applicant, the citation at the time of the examination, the citation at the time of the trial, the citation for the reason for refusal, Contains information indicating citations, etc.

  The user terminal 16 is an information terminal operated by a user who should search for patent documents. The user terminal 16 and the document search device 10 are connected via a communication network 18 such as a LAN, WAN, or the Internet. The user terminal 16 may be a PC, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal. A web browser may be installed in the user terminal 16, and the user may start the web browser, access a website provided by the document search device 10, and use a patent document search service.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the document search apparatus 10 of FIG. The document search apparatus 10 includes a control unit 20, a storage unit 22, and a communication unit 24. The control unit 20 executes various data processing for realizing search of patent documents and display of a citation map. The storage unit 22 is a storage area that stores data that is referred to or updated by the control unit 20. The communication unit 24 communicates with an external device according to a predetermined communication protocol. The control unit 20 transmits / receives data to / from the document DB 12 and the user terminal 16 via the communication unit 24.

  Each block shown in the block diagram of the present specification can be realized in terms of hardware by an element such as a CPU / memory of a computer or a mechanical device, and in terms of software, it can be realized by a computer program or the like. Then, the functional block realized by those cooperation is drawn. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by a combination of hardware and software.

  For example, the function of each block of the control unit 20 may be implemented as a computer program, and the computer program may be installed in the storage of the document search device 10. Then, the function of each block of the control unit 20 may be exhibited by the CPU of the document search device 10 reading the computer program into the main memory and executing it. The storage unit 22 may be realized by a main memory or storage (HDD, SSD, etc.) of the document search apparatus 10.

  The control unit 20 includes a request acquisition unit 26, a search unit 28, a detection unit 30, a search result generation unit 36, a search result provision unit 38, a citation map generation unit 40, and a citation map provision unit 42.

  The request acquisition unit 26 acquires a search request that is a search request transmitted from the user terminal 16 and includes a search condition input by the user at the user terminal 16. Further, the request acquisition unit 26 acquires from the user terminal 16 a citation map provision request that requests provision of citation maps regarding a plurality of patent documents as search results.

  The search condition is a condition for extracting a specific patent document that matches the user's search purpose from a plurality of patent documents stored in the document DB 12. The search condition may be a search expression in which a plurality of search items (for example, a character string to be included in the claims, a character string to be included in the entire gazette, etc.) are combined in an AND condition or an OR condition. The search condition includes a necessary patent detection condition and a noise patent detection condition.

  The necessary patent detection condition is also a leakage patent detection condition, and includes the number of citations and the number of citations designated by the user. The necessary patent detection conditions range from the first patent document to the second patent document when a direct or indirect citation relationship is formed between the first patent document and the second patent document. Includes the “number of generations” that is the number of multi-tiered quotes up to. The number of generations includes the number of citations that indicate the number of generations in a direction in which a certain document cites another document, and the number of citations that indicate the number of generations in the direction in which a document is cited by other documents. .

  For example, a citation relationship (the side on which the tip of the arrow is cited) of patent D → patent B → patent A → patent C → patent E is assumed. When the number of citation generations is 1 and the number of citation generations is 1, the range up to patent B directly cited by patent A is taken as the range of citation direction, and the range up to patent C directly quoting patent A is extracted as the range of citation direction. The presence or absence of a patent is determined, and it is determined whether or not Patent A is a necessary patent. In addition, when the number of cited generations is 2 and the number of cited generations is 2, the patent B directly cited by patent A, and further up to patent D directly cited by patent B are within the range of citation, and patent A is directly cited. Patent C, and Patent E directly quoting Patent C are determined in the cited direction as to whether or not there is an extracted patent, and whether Patent A is a necessary patent is determined.

  The noise patent detection conditions include the number of citations and the number of citations specified by the user. The detection conditions for noise patents are from the first patent document to the second patent document when a direct or indirect citation relationship is formed between the first patent document and the second patent document. The number of generations up to (the number of cited generations and the number of cited generations) are included. The number of citations / cited counts / cited generations / cited generations as detection conditions for required patents differs from the number of citations / cited counts / cited generations / cited generations as detection conditions for noise patents. A value may be specified.

  When the request acquisition unit 26 acquires a search request, the search unit 28 extracts a plurality of patent documents that satisfy the search conditions included in the search request from a plurality of patent documents stored in the document DB 12. For example, the search unit 28 may transmit a query message in which keywords of one or more search items indicated by the search condition are set to the document DB 12, and as a response to the query message, the document DB 12 The document data may be transmitted to the document search device 10.

  The search unit 28 acquires at least data indicating a citation relationship between the patent document and another document from the document DB 12 as data of the patent document that satisfies the search condition. The data indicating the citation relationship includes identification information and citation types of other documents cited by the patent document, and further includes identification information and citation types of other documents from which the patent document is cited. The identification information of another document may be, for example, an application number of another patent document, or a document name or URL. The patent document data acquired by the search unit 28 of the embodiment includes data indicating the applicant (or author if it is not a patent document) and data relating to a date (for example, filing date, priority date, announcement date, publication date). Including.

  Based on the citation relationship between each of the plurality of extracted patents extracted by the search unit 28 and another patent document (that is, the citation relationship indicated by the patent document data provided from the document DB 12), the detection unit 30 Detect at least one of the noise patents. The citation relationship includes both a relationship in which a certain patent document cites another patent document and a relationship in which a certain patent document is cited by another patent document. The citation relationship may be set by the applicant of the patent document, or may be set in the process of examining or judging the patent document. The detection unit 30 of the embodiment detects both a leakage patent and a noise patent. The detection unit 30 includes a necessary document detection unit 31, a leak detection unit 32, and a noise detection unit 34.

  The necessary document detection unit 31 and the leakage detection unit 32 detect the presence of leakage of a patent document to be originally searched for a search result under a search condition specified by the user. Specifically, the necessary document detection unit 31 is a patent document that cites at least one of a plurality of extraction patents, and a patent document that is cited by at least one of the plurality of extraction patents as a necessary patent. To detect. The leak detection unit 32 detects necessary patents that are not included in the plurality of extraction patents among the required patents detected by the necessary document detection unit 31 as leak patents.

  The required document detection unit 31 detects a required patent according to a required patent detection condition included in the search condition. Specifically, the required document detection unit 31 detects a patent document that satisfies both of the following conditions 1 and 2 as a required patent. Condition 1 is a patent that directly or indirectly cites extracted patents more than the number of citations specified in the required patent detection conditions among a plurality of extracted patents within the range of citation generations specified in the required patent detection conditions. It falls under the literature. Condition 2 is cited directly or indirectly by an extracted patent that is more than the number of citations specified in the required patent detection condition among a plurality of extracted patents within the range of the number of citations specified in the required patent detection condition. It corresponds to the patent document made.

  The noise detection unit 34 detects the presence of noise that should not be originally searched in the search result under the search condition specified by the user. Specifically, the noise detection unit 34 has a predetermined number or more of non-extracted patents cited by a certain extraction patent as noise detection processing, there is no (other) extraction patent cited, and the above or When the number of non-extracted patents to which an extracted patent is cited is equal to or greater than a predetermined number and there is no cited (other) extracted patent, the certain extracted patent is detected as a noise patent. The noise detection unit 34 performs noise detection processing on each extracted patent.

  The noise detection unit 34 detects a noise patent according to the noise patent detection condition included in the search condition. Specifically, the noise detection unit 34 detects a certain extracted patent as a noise patent when a certain extracted patent satisfies all of the following conditions 1, 2 and 3. Condition 1 is that the number of non-extracted patents cited directly or indirectly by a certain extracted patent within the range of the number of citations specified in the noise patent detection condition is equal to or greater than the number of citations specified in the noise patent detection condition. It is to be.

  Condition 2 is that the number of unextracted patents cited directly or indirectly within the range of the number of cited citations specified in a noise patent detection condition for a certain extracted patent is specified in the noise patent detection condition. That is more than the number of quotations. In other words, the condition 2 is that the number of non-extracted patents that cite a certain extracted patent within the range of the number of citations specified in the noise patent detection condition is greater than or equal to the number of citations specified in the noise patent detection condition. That is. Condition 3 is that an extracted patent does not cite any other extracted patents, nor does it cite any other extracted patents.

  As a modification, the noise detection unit 34 has a predetermined number or more of non-extracted patents cited by a certain extracted patent and / or a predetermined number of non-extracted patents cited by the certain extracted patent. In such a case, the certain extracted patent may be detected as a noise patent. Specifically, the noise detection unit 34 may detect a certain extracted patent as a noise patent when a certain extracted patent satisfies the condition 1 and / or the condition 2. Further, the noise detection unit 34 may detect a certain extracted patent as a noise patent when a certain extracted patent satisfies at least one of the condition 1 and the condition 2. Also in this modified example, an extracted patent that is highly relevant to a non-extracted patent can be detected as a noise patent.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a citation relationship in an extracted patent. The figure shows seven patent documents A, B, C, D, E, F, and Y extracted according to the search conditions of the user. The citation column in the figure indicates other documents (for example, patent documents and non-patent documents) designated by the applicant of the extracted patent or cited in the process of examination / trial of the extracted patent. The cited column in the figure shows other documents in which the extracted patent is cited by the applicant or in the process of examination / trial.

  Here, the number of citations = 1, the number of citations = 1, the number of citations = 1, and the number of citations = 1 are designated as necessary patent detection conditions, and the number of citations = 1 and the number of citations = 1 as noise patent detection conditions. It is assumed that the number of quoted generations = 1 and the number of cited generations = 1 are designated. In the example of FIG. 3, patent documents B and X are detected as necessary patents. Of these, Patent Document X is not included in the extracted patent, and is therefore detected as a leaked patent. Patent Document Y refers to one or more non-extracted patents but does not refer to other extracted patents, and is cited by one or more non-extracted patents but not from other extracted patents. Therefore, it is detected as a noise patent.

  If Patent Document C is not extracted by search, Patent Document B is not cited from extracted patents within one generation, and is out of the required patent. However, if the number of cited generations in the necessary patent detection condition is set to 2 or more, Patent Document B is cited from Patent Document C two generations ahead, so Patent Document C is not extracted. Detected as a required patent. In addition, if the number of citation generations of the necessary patent extraction condition is set to 2 or more, since Patent Document D refers to Patent Document B that is two generations ahead, Patent Document D is detected as a required patent. Is done. Thus, the detection range of the required patent is expanded as the set values of the number of cited generations and the number of cited generations are increased.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the search result generation unit 36 obtains information on necessary patents and / or leakage patents detected by the necessary document detection unit 31 and the leakage detection unit 32 and information on noise patents detected by the noise detection unit 34. Generate search result information including. The search result generation unit 36 according to the embodiment generates (1) information indicating a ratio regarding whether or not a required patent is included in an extracted patent, and (2) generates information indicating a ratio of a noise patent in the extracted patent. To do. The search result information includes the number of extracted patents.

  For example, as the above (1), the search result generation unit 36 has a ratio of required patents included in the extracted patent (= the number of required patents included in the extracted patent / the total number of required patents) (hereinafter also referred to as “necessary document inclusion ratio”). May be calculated. In addition, the search result generation unit 36 may generate information indicating the ratio between the leaked patent and the necessary patent. For example, the ratio of required patents not included in the extracted patents (= the number of required patents not included in the extracted patents / the total number of required patents) may be calculated. Here, the required number of patents not included in the extracted patent can be said to be the number of leaked patents. In addition, an internal / external ratio of required patents (= number of required patents included in extracted patent / number of required patents not included in extracted patent) may be calculated.

  Further, as (2) above, the search result generation unit 36 may calculate the ratio of noise patents in the extracted patents (= total number of noise patents / total number of extracted patents) (hereinafter also referred to as “noise document rate”). . Further, a ratio (= (total number of extracted patents−total number of noise patents) / total number of extracted patents) other than noise patents in the extracted patents may be calculated.

  The search result providing unit 38 provides the search result information generated by the search result generating unit 36 to the user terminal 16 including search result information including information on at least one of the leaked patent (or necessary patent) and the noise patent. To display. The search result providing unit 38 according to the embodiment transmits search result information including the total number of extracted patents, the necessary document inclusion rate, and the noise document rate to the user terminal 16. As a modified example, the search result providing unit 38 may transmit the other types of ratio information to the user terminal 16 instead of or together with these pieces of information.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a search screen provided by the document search apparatus 10. The user operates the user terminal 16 to access the document search device 10, and the document search device 10 displays the search screen 50 on the user terminal 16. The user inputs search items, keywords, and logical expressions as search conditions on the search screen 50. When the user presses the search button 52, the user terminal 16 transmits a search request including the search condition input on the search screen 50 to the document search device 10.

  FIG. 5 also shows an example of a search screen provided by the document search apparatus 10. The search screen 50 in FIG. 5 includes search result information 64 and can be said to be a search result screen. The search result generation unit 36 sets the number of patents to be extracted in the first result column 54, sets the required document presence rate in the second result column 56, and sets the noise document rate in the third result column 58. The value indicated by the search result information 64 in FIG. 5 is a value based on the extraction result in FIG. That is, the number of extracted patents is 7, the necessary document inclusion rate is 50% (= 1/2), and the noise document rate is 14% (= 1/7).

  When the list display button 60 is selected on the search screen 50 in FIG. 5, the search result providing unit 38 of the document search apparatus 10 transmits an extracted patent list indicating a list of seven extracted patents to the user terminal 16 for display. Let The search result providing unit 38 may further transmit a list indicating a list of leaked patents and / or noise patents to the user terminal 16. In addition, a patent list including the extracted patent and the leaked patent may be transmitted to the user terminal 16 and displayed, and a mark indicating the type of the leaked patent and the noise patent may be attached to the list. Furthermore, the search result providing unit 38 adds the patent leaked to the extracted patent as information on the patent document to be confirmed by the user, and the patent document list information (list) indicating the result of removing the noise patent from the extracted patent. You may provide to the terminal 16.

  When the citation map display button 62 is selected on the search screen 50 in FIG. 5, the user terminal 16 transmits a citation map provision request to the document search device 10, and the document search device 10 includes a citation map relating to seven extracted patents. (Described later) is transmitted to the user terminal 16 to be displayed. Next, the configuration of the document search apparatus 10 for presenting the citation map to the user will be described.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the citation map generation unit 40 arranges a plurality of objects indicating a plurality of extracted patents extracted by the search unit 28 when the request acquisition unit 26 acquires the citation map provision request (in other words, reveals). ) Is generated as a citation map. The object may be a component of a web page, for example a box or a box with a frame. Note that the document search apparatus 10 may hold a search result by the search unit 28 based on a search request from a certain user terminal 16 in association with the session ID of the user terminal 16. The citation map generation unit 40 identifies the session ID of the user terminal 16 that has transmitted the citation map provision request, and uses the search result (patent document data) stored in advance in association with the identified session ID. It may be generated.

  The citation map generation unit 40 determines whether the citation relationship (that is, the citation relationship or the citation relationship) is connected between the first extraction patent and the second extraction patent among the plurality of extraction patents. A citation map is generated in which an object indicating one extracted patent and an object indicating a second extracted patent are arranged in association with each other. The citation map generator 40 of the embodiment connects these objects with arrow lines when associating a plurality of objects. The citation map provider 42 transmits the citation map data generated by the citation map generator 40 to the user terminal 16 for display.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a citation map provided by the document search device 10. This figure shows a two-dimensional citation map showing citation relationships between documents shown in FIG. The citation map generation unit 40 arranges seven document objects 76 (A to F, Y) corresponding to the seven extracted patents shown in FIG. 3 on the citation map 70. Further, the citation map generation unit 40 displays, on the citation map 70, other patent documents that cite the extracted patent (patent documents not included in the extracted patent) and five documents corresponding to other patent documents cited by the extracted patent. Objects 76 (G to J, X) are arranged. Patent documents (extracted patents and other patent documents mentioned above) on which objects are placed on the citation map 70 are collectively referred to as “target documents”. The actual document object 76 includes identification information of a patent document such as an application number.

  In the citation map 70, citation relationships between target documents are indicated by arrow lines 78. The start point (original) of the arrow line 78 indicates the target document to be cited, and the end point (destination) of the arrow line 78 indicates the target document to be cited. That is, when the first patent document cites the second patent document, the citation map generation unit 40 arranges the object indicating the first patent document at the start point of the arrow line 78 to indicate the second patent document. The object is placed at the end point of the arrow line 78.

  For example, the citation map generation unit 40 associates an object indicating a leaked patent and an object indicating an extracted patent that has a citation relationship with the leaked patent by connecting them with an arrow line and places them on the citation map 70. In addition, the citation map generation unit 40 includes an object indicating a noise patent and an object indicating a target document (specifically, another patent document not included in the extraction patent) that is linked to the noise patent. By linking with an arrow line, they are related to each other and placed on the citation map 70. As shown in FIG. 6, the citation map 70 of the present embodiment does not generate one patent document as a starting point, but indicates a citation relationship that each of a plurality of patent documents extracted by search has, A plurality of patent document objects are associated in a network form.

  The citation map generation unit 40 selects a plurality of objects (A to J, X, Y) indicating a plurality of target documents according to dates (application date, priority date, etc.) associated with each of the plurality of target documents. They are arranged in chronological order on the citation map 70 (document column 74 in FIG. 6). The citation map generation unit 40 according to the embodiment determines the position on the horizontal axis (X axis) of the citation map 70 where the object of each target document is to be arranged according to the date associated with each target document. For example, the position of the left side is assigned to the object of the target document whose filing date is earlier, in other words, a smaller X coordinate value is set. In addition, the position of the right side is assigned to the object of the target document whose application date is later, in other words, a larger X coordinate value is set. Note that the user can select the date type (application date, priority date, etc.) that serves as a reference for placing objects in the citation map 70.

  In addition, the citation map generation unit 40 determines the position on the vertical axis (Y axis) of the citation map 70 in which the object of each target document should be arranged according to the applicant or the author associated with each of the plurality of target documents. To decide. On the vertical axis of the citation map 70 (applicant column 72), a plurality of lanes corresponding to a plurality of applicants are provided. The citation map generator 40 arranges each target document in the lane of the document column 74 that matches the applicant of each target document.

  The display order of applicants on the Y-axis is that the object displayed by the subject applicant and the object displayed by other applicants who have a direct citation relationship with this object are When the applicant's lane and the other applicant's lanes are adjacent to each other, the lanes are arranged in the respective lanes, and the display mode is easier to see. Here, the lanes of the applicants can be arranged and arranged in ascending or descending order of the applicant's name, and the order of the applicant's lanes can be changed according to the designation by the user, regardless of the display mode. May be. In the display of FIG. 6, one applicant is displayed in one lane. However, a plurality of applicant objects may be displayed in one lane. Persons may be displayed together in one lane, and may also be displayed in the same lane when there is a legal relationship between applicants (such as a relationship between a parent company and a subsidiary). Of course, the object of the specific applicant who received the specification of the user may be displayed on one lane.

  Further, the citation map generation unit 40 arranges the object indicating the necessary patent, the object indicating the leaked patent, the object indicating the noise patent, and the object indicating the target document other than the extracted patent in the citation map 70 in different modes (in other words, If it is obvious) For example, the citation map generation unit 40 arranges an object indicating a noise patent on the citation map 70 in a different manner from an object indicating an extracted patent that is not a noise patent.

  In the citation map 70 of FIG. 6, the objects indicating the required patents (Document B, Document X) are indicated by bold boxes. An object indicating a leaked patent (Document X) is indicated by hatching. Further, an object indicating a noise patent (Document Y) is indicated by a shaded horizontal line. An object indicating a target document other than the extracted patent is indicated by a dashed box. Note that different types of marks may be added to each of an object indicating a required patent, an object indicating a leaked patent, an object indicating a noise patent, and an object indicating a target document other than the extracted patent, and a different color for each type. May be set.

  In the citation map 70 of FIG. 6, seven extracted patents are shown as an extracted document group 80, and patents that match the user's original search purpose are shown as a target document group 82. The target document group 82 is obtained by adding leakage patents to extracted patents but excluding noise patents. The citation map generation unit 40 may display only the extracted document group 80 on the citation map 70 or may display only the target document group 82 on the citation map 70 in accordance with a user instruction. Thereby, the number of documents which a user should check can be reduced.

  Further, the citation map generation unit 40 sets the mode of the citation map generation process among the first mode, the second mode, and the third mode in response to the mode switching instruction of the citation map generation process transmitted from the user terminal 16. You may switch. The first mode may be a mode for generating a citation map 70 in which only objects indicating a plurality of extracted patents (that is, the extracted document group 80) are arranged. The second mode may be a mode for generating a citation map 70 in which objects indicating leaked patents are arranged in addition to objects indicating a plurality of extracted patents.

  The third mode is not included in a plurality of extraction patents, but a patent document that cites at least one extraction patent, or an object that indicates a patent document cited by at least one extraction patent, It may be a mode for generating the citation map 70 arranged in addition to the indicated object. In the third mode, in addition to an object indicating a plurality of extracted patents, an object indicating a leaked patent, and an object indicating a reference document that is not an extracted patent but a leaked patent but has a citation relationship with the extracted patent (G to FIG. 6) This is a mode for generating the citation map 70 in which J) is arranged. That is, the citation map 70 in FIG. 6 is a citation map generated in the third mode.

  Further, when a predetermined selection operation for an object of a specific patent document on the citation map is input on the user terminal 16, detailed information on the selected patent document is displayed on the user terminal 16. The object selection operation may be a click operation on the object, or a mouse over operation in which the mouse cursor is placed on the object. The user terminal 16 transmits the identification information (application number etc.) of the patent document selected on the citation map to the document search device 10, and the document search device 10 transmits the data of the patent document to the user terminal 16. Also good. This communication between the user terminal 16 and the document search apparatus 10 may be realized by Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript (registered trademark) + XML) communication.

  The patent document data provided from the document search device 10 may be the entire text of the gazette, or summary data including the title of the invention, claim 1, summary, representative diagram, and the like. The user terminal 16 may display the patent document data provided from the document search device 10 on a new tab of the web browser (a tab different from the tab in the citation map display). The user terminal 16 may display the citation map and patent document data (for example, the summary data) side by side in the same screen of the web browser.

  Note that the citation map providing unit 42 may also provide the user terminal 16 with data of a plurality of patent documents arranged on the citation map when the citation map is provided. In this case, when the web browser of the user terminal 16 executes the Javascript (registered trademark) program incorporated in the web page including the citation map, the detailed information of the patent document selected on the citation map is displayed on the web browser screen. You may let them.

The operation of the document search apparatus 10 having the above configuration will be described.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the document search apparatus 10. A user who should search for a patent document inputs search conditions on the search screen 50 shown in FIG. 4 and inputs a search execution operation. The user terminal 16 transmits a search request including the search condition input on the search screen 50 to the document search device 10. When the request acquisition unit 26 receives the search request transmitted from the user terminal 16 (Y in S10), the search unit 28 searches the search condition included in the search request from among a plurality of patent documents stored in the document DB 12. Patent documents satisfying the above are searched (S12).

  The data of each extracted patent searched by the search unit 28 includes data indicating citation relationships with other documents. The necessary document detection unit 31 and the leakage detection unit 32 detect the necessary patent and the leakage patent according to the citation relationship of each extraction patent (S14). Moreover, the noise detection part 34 detects a noise patent according to the citation relationship which each extraction patent has (S16). The search result generation unit 36 calculates values related to the number and ratio of required patents or leaked patents, calculates values related to the number and ratio of noise patents, and generates search result data including these calculated values (S18). . The search result providing unit 38 transmits the search result data generated by the search result generating unit 36 to the user terminal 16 (S20). For example, the search screen 50 of FIG. 5 is displayed on the user terminal 16.

  As described above, the document search device 10 according to the embodiment presents an objective index value indicating the validity of the search condition specified by the user to the user. The user can easily determine the validity of the search condition (search expression) before reading the extracted document or the like by checking the necessary document presence rate and the noise document rate in the search result information 64 of FIG. For example, if the required document presence rate is high and the noise document rate is low, it can be determined that the validity of the search condition is high. On the other hand, if the required document inclusion rate is low, that is, it means that there are many leaked patents, and it can be determined that the validity of the search condition is low. If the noise document rate is high, it can be determined that a search item should be added. Further, in the embodiment, the user can specify the number of citations, the number of citations, and the number of generations as detection conditions for leaked patents (necessary patents) and noise patents. This makes it possible to finely specify detection conditions for leaked patents (necessary patents) and noise patents according to the theme of the document to be searched (for example, the type and characteristics of the invention).

  When the user selects the citation map display button 62 on the search screen 50 in FIG. 5, the user terminal 16 transmits a citation map provision request to the document search device 10. At that time, the user designates whether or not only the extracted patent is to be mapped, and the user terminal 16 transmits a citation map provision request including the designation of the mapping target to the document search apparatus 10. If the request acquisition unit 26 receives the citation map provision request transmitted from the user terminal 16 (Y in S22), and only the extracted patent is a mapping target (Y in S24), the citation map generation unit 40 only extracts the extracted patent. A citation map in which is placed is generated (S26). For example, a citation map of only the extracted document group 80 in FIG. 6 is generated.

  On the other hand, if other than the extracted patent is a mapping target (N in S24), the citation map generation unit 40 arranges patent documents that are not included in the extracted patent but have a citation relationship with the extracted patent in addition to the extracted patent. The quoted map is generated (S28). In S28, for example, the citation map 70 of FIG. 6 is generated. The citation map provider 42 transmits the citation map data generated by the citation map generator 40 to the user terminal 16 for display (S30). If the citation map provision request has not been received (N in S22), the processes after S24 are skipped. If a search request has not been received (N in S10), the processes after S12 are skipped.

  The user can easily grasp the citation relationship between the extracted patents by checking the citation map. For example, extracted patents cited by many patents can be grasped as basic technology patents. Further, in the citation map of the embodiment, the necessary patent, the leakage patent, and the noise patent are displayed in different modes. Thereby, the user can easily identify the necessary patent, the leakage patent, and the noise patent, and can intuitively grasp the necessary ratio of the necessary patent, the ratio of the leakage patent, the ratio of the noise patent, and the like. Furthermore, in the citation map of the embodiment, the horizontal axis is the time axis such as the application date and the vertical axis is the applicant, so that the user can intuitively grasp additional information such as the application date and the applicant. it can.

  In the above, this invention was demonstrated based on the Example. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of each component and each processing process, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

As a first modification, a modification regarding a three-dimensional citation map will be described.
In the above embodiment, the object of the target document is arranged at a different position on the vertical axis (Y axis) for each applicant. However, as a modification, the object of the target document is located at a different position in the depth direction (Z axis) for each applicant. You may arrange in. Specifically, when the applicant or author differs between the first target document and the second target document, the citation map generation unit 40 selects the object indicating the first target document and the second target document. A three-dimensional citation map (also referred to as a three-dimensional graph) in which objects to be shown are arranged at different positions in the depth direction may be generated.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of a citation map provided by the document search device 10 according to the modification. The citation map of FIG. 8 corresponds to the citation map of FIG. 6 and is a three-dimensional citation map showing the citation relationship between documents shown in FIG. However, in FIG. 8, only applicants a, b, c, and f are shown, and an XY plane is provided for each applicant. The citation map generating unit 40 assigns different positions in the depth direction (Z axis) of the citation map 70 for each applicant of the target document. For example, the citation map generation unit 40 arranges a target document of a certain applicant on the XY plane of the Z coordinate value assigned to the applicant. In FIG. 8, the XY plane of the applicant f and the target document (X) are indicated by solid lines, the XY plane of the applicant a and the target documents (A, B, C) are indicated by broken lines, and the XY plane of the applicant b and the target Documents (C, F) are indicated by alternate long and short dash lines, and XY plane of applicant c and target documents (E, Y) are indicated by alternate long and two short dashes lines.

  Here, in FIG. 8, each applicant's target document is displayed on each XY plane on the Z-axis for each applicant, and the display order of each applicant on the X-axis is that of the target applicant. The displayed object and the displayed object of another applicant who has a direct citation relationship with this object are adjacent to the XY plane of the subject applicant and the XY plane of the other applicant. Can be displayed in a display mode that is easier to see. Here, the XY plane of the applicant on the Z-axis can be arranged in the ascending order or descending order of the applicant's name regardless of the display mode, and further, the applicant's designation on the Z-axis can be specified by the user. An XY plane can also be arranged and configured. In the display of FIG. 8, one applicant is displayed on one XY plane, but a plurality of applicants' objects may be displayed on one XY plane. For example, the number of display objects is a predetermined number or less. Applicants may be displayed together on a single XY plane, and may also be displayed on the same XY plane when there is a legal relationship between the applicants (such as a relationship between a parent company and a subsidiary). . Of course, the object of a specific applicant who receives the designation of the user may be displayed on one XY plane.

  The lateral direction (X-axis direction) of the citation map 70 in FIG. 8 is the time direction in the same way as FIG. . In other words, the X coordinate value is increased as the target document has a later application date (or priority date, etc.). The citation map generation unit 40 arranges a plurality of target documents having the same or similar filing dates (or priority dates, etc.) in the vertical direction (Y-axis direction) of the citation map 70.

  When the first target document of the first applicant cites the second target document of the second applicant, the citation map generation unit 40 starts from the document object 76 of the second target document. Then, an arrow line 78 with the document object 76 of the first target document as an end point is connected. In this case, the citation map generator 40 sets an arrow line 78 from the XY plane of the second applicant to the XY plane of the first applicant.

  In the three-dimensional citation map, the citation map generation unit 40 is configured such that an object indicating a necessary patent, an object indicating a leaked patent, an object indicating a noise patent, and an object indicating a target document other than the extraction patent are different from each other. To place it on the citation map. For example, in FIG. 8, a thick line box is set for the objects (B, X) indicating the necessary patents. Further, hatched hatching is set for the object (X) indicating the leaked patent, and horizontal hatching is set for the object indicating the noise patent (Y).

  The citation map generation unit 40 sets the Z-axis of the citation map 70 so as to be in the depth direction (depth direction of the screen) viewed from the user. For example, the citation map 70 has the Z-axis parallel to the user's line-of-sight direction. May be set. In addition, the citation map generation unit 40 may set a predetermined transparency on each applicant's XY plane so that the XY planes of a plurality of applicants can be simultaneously confirmed from the user. The citation map generation unit 40 may set the citation map 70 so that the position on the Z axis where the XY plane is displayed can be switched according to the user's operation. According to the first modified example, even when there are a large number of target documents, the user can intuitively grasp the existence and number of target documents (further required patents, leaked patents, noise patents) for each applicant. Can help.

  In the first modification, a different position in the depth direction (Z axis) of the citation map 70 is assigned to each applicant of the target document, but the horizontal axis (X axis) direction of the citation map 70 is assigned to each applicant of the target document. May be assigned, and different positions in the vertical axis (Y-axis) direction may be assigned. In this case, the information assigned to the X axis and the Y axis in FIG. 8 may be expressed by a position in the direction of another axis (for example, the Z axis).

As a second modification, another modification regarding the three-dimensional citation map will be described.
The citation map generation unit 40 is a divisional application in which the first target document (that is, the extracted patent, the leaked patent, or another patent having a citation relationship with the extracted patent) is based on the second target document, or When the first target document is a priority claim application based on the second target document, the object indicating the first target document and the object indicating the second target document are represented in the depth direction ( Three-dimensional citation maps (also referred to as three-dimensional graphs) arranged at different positions (on the Z axis) may be generated.

  For example, the citation map generator 40 (1) the XY plane for the original application (or no divisional application) and (2) the child application (in other words division 1) at different positions on the Z axis of the citation map 70 of FIG. The XY plane for the (generation) and (3) the XY plane for the grandchild application (in other words, the divided second generation) may be arranged. When the target document is the original application, the citation map generation unit 40 arranges the object of the target document on the XY plane of (1) above, and when the target document is a child application, the citation map generation unit 40 places the object of the target document on the XY plane of (2) above. You may arrange | position the object of the said target literature.

  Further, the citation map generation unit 40 may arrange (1) the XY plane for the basic application and (2) the XY plane for the priority claim application at different positions on the Z axis of the citation map 70 of FIG. Good. When the target document is a basic application, the citation map generation unit 40 arranges the object of the target document on the XY plane of (1) above, and when the target document is a priority claim application, the XY plane of (2) above. You may arrange | position the object of the said target literature on it. The XY plane in the second modification may be a citation map in the form of FIG. 6 with the horizontal axis as the time axis and the vertical axis as the applicant axis.

  In a divisional application (priority claim application), the citation relationship with other documents is often similar to the original application (basic application). If the divisional application (priority claim application) and the original application (basic application) are arranged in the vicinity on the same plane, the number of objects on the same plane becomes large, and the arrow lines are complicated, resulting in readability and interpretation of the citation map. May decrease. According to the second modified example, by arranging an object indicating a divisional application (priority claim application) and an object indicating an original application (basic application) at different positions in the depth direction, an object and an arrow drawn on the same plane By reducing the number of lines, it is possible to suppress a decrease in readability and legibility of the citation map.

  In the second modification, different positions in the depth direction (Z-axis) of the citation map 70 are assigned to each type of application (for example, the original application, divisional application, priority application), but the citation map is assigned to each type of application. 70 different positions in the horizontal axis (X-axis) direction may be assigned, and different positions in the vertical axis (Y-axis) direction may be assigned. In this case, the information assigned to the X axis and the Y axis in FIG. 8 may be expressed by a position in the direction of another axis (for example, the Z axis).

As a third modification, a modification regarding the display mode of the citation map will be described.
The citation map generation unit 40 may arrange a plurality of objects in different manners for each applicant instead of arranging a plurality of objects indicating a plurality of subject patents with different applicants in different vertical positions of the citation map. Good. For example, a different color or a different mark may be added for each applicant. Further, the citation map generation unit 40 may arrange an arrow line indicating a citation relationship in the citation map with information indicating the citation type added thereto, and each arrow line may be arranged in a different mode (for example, different colors or different colors). Different line types) may be set. The types of citations include the type of subject that has established a citation relationship and the type of citation timing. Etc. Furthermore, the citation map generation unit 40 has information indicating the number of citations of each target document (the number of citations of other target documents) in the vicinity of the object of each target document, and the number of citations (others) of each target document. Information indicating the number cited by the target document) may be set.

A fourth modification will be described.
As mentioned above, citation relationships between documents may be declared by the applicant or author, and are set in the process of examination or trial (notification of reasons for refusal, etc.) in addition to or instead of this. Sometimes. Although not mentioned in the embodiment, the necessary document detection unit 31, the leak detection unit 32, and the noise detection unit 34 exclude the citation relationship declared by the applicant or the author, and are set in the process of examination and judgment. Based on the relationship, the necessary patent, leakage patent, and noise patent may be detected. In other words, the citation relationship declared by the applicant or author is not reflected in the detection of required patents, omission patents, and noise patents, and only the citation relationships established in the examination and trial process are required. It may be reflected in the detection of a patent. Citation relationships declared by the applicant or author are relatively inaccurate, and citation relationships established during the examination and trial process are relatively accurate. According to the 4th modification, the accuracy of detection of a required patent, a leak patent, and a noise patent can be raised.

  In the case where the document DB 12 further holds information indicating a main cited document (so-called main reference example) among a plurality of cited documents as cited document information with respect to a certain patent document, as a different aspect of the fourth modification example, The necessary document detection unit 31, the leakage detection unit 32, and the noise detection unit 34 detect the necessary patent, the leakage patent, and the noise patent based on the citation relationship with the main reference among the citation relationships set in the examination and trial process. May be. In other words, only the citation relationship with the reference document may be reflected in the detection of the necessary patent, leaked patent, and noise patent. According to this aspect, it is possible to further improve the accuracy of detection of necessary patents, leakage patents, and noise patents.

A fifth modified example related to the fourth modified example will be described.
Although not mentioned in the above embodiment, the citation map generation unit 40 excludes the citation relationship declared by the applicant or the author, and indicates the target document based on the citation relationship set in the examination and trial process. A citation map that associates objects may be generated. In other words, the citation map generation unit 40 does not reflect the citation relationship declared by the applicant or the author, but sets the arrow line between the objects by reflecting only the citation relationship set in the examination and judgment process. Also good. According to the fifth modification, it is possible to increase the accuracy of the citation relationship indicated by the citation map. In other words, it is possible to generate a citation map that shows a connection between documents whose contents are actually similar.

  In the case where the document DB 12 further holds information indicating a main cited document (so-called main reference example) among a plurality of cited documents as cited document information with respect to a certain patent document, as a different aspect of the fifth modified example, The citation map generation unit 40 may generate a citation map based on the citation relationship with the main reference among the citation relationships set in the examination and referee processes. In other words, the arrow line between the objects may be set reflecting only the citation relationship with the reference document. According to this aspect, documents having a high degree of similarity in the citation map can be shown in association with each other, and the usefulness of the citation map can be further increased.

As a sixth modification, a modification in which search conditions are automatically proposed to the user will be described.
The document search apparatus 10 may further include a first extraction unit that extracts words / phrases common to a plurality of necessary patents. The first extraction unit may extract a common keyword (or key phrase) included in document data of necessary patents (or extracted patents) of a predetermined ratio (for example, 30%) or more. The search result generation unit 36 may include the phrase extracted by the first extraction unit in the search result data as a candidate to be added to the search condition, for example, a phrase to be added to the current search expression using the OR condition. The predetermined ratio may be determined based on the knowledge and experience of the literature information service company, or an appropriate value may be determined by an experiment using the information system 100. The common keyword may be a technology classification code (for example, IPC), or may be a character string described in claims.

  The document retrieval apparatus 10 further includes a second extraction unit that extracts words / phrases that are included in the leaked patent (which is a subset of the required patent) but not included in other required patents as feature words of the leaked patent. You may prepare. The phrase extracted by the second extraction unit can be said to be a phrase that is included only in the missing patent among the necessary patents, and can also be said to be a phrase that is not included in the extracted document among the necessary requirements. The second extraction unit may extract words that are included in the leaked patent but are not included in other necessary patents using a known technique such as chi-square test. The search result generation unit 36 may include the phrase extracted by the second extraction unit in the search result data as a candidate to be added to the search condition, for example, a phrase to be added to the current search expression using the OR condition.

  The document search apparatus 10 may further include a third extraction unit that extracts words that are included in the noise patent but are not included in the necessary patent as feature words of the noise patent. The third extraction unit may extract feature words of the noise patent that are included in the noise patent but are not included in the necessary patent, using a known technique such as chi-square test. The search result generation unit 36 may include the feature word of the noise patent extracted by the third extraction unit in the search result data as a keyword candidate for a negative search (exclusion search, exclude search) to be added to the current search formula. . The document search apparatus 10 may include one or more of the first extraction unit, the second extraction unit, and the third extraction unit. According to the sixth modification, useful information for improving the validity of the search condition can be provided to the user.

As a seventh modified example, a modified example in which information on leaked patents and noise patents is presented for each search item will be described.
As described above in part with reference to FIG. 4, the search condition acquired by the request acquisition unit 26 may include a plurality of search items (and keywords). The search unit 28 may extract patent documents that satisfy each of a plurality of search items, and may extract patent documents that satisfy a combination of a plurality of search items. In addition to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, the necessary document detection unit 31 and the leakage detection unit 32 search for a patent document group extracted for each search item as a population based on the citation relationship of each document in the population. The required patent and leakage patent for each item may be detected. In addition to the configuration of the above embodiment, the noise detection unit 34 uses a group of patent documents extracted for each search item as a population, and obtains a noise patent for each search item based on the citation relationship of each document in the population. It may be detected. In addition to the configuration of the above embodiment, the search result providing unit 38 may output information on at least one of a leaked patent (necessary patent) and a noise patent in association with each of a plurality of search items.

  The search result generation unit 36 may generate information on the number and ratio of necessary patents or missing patents for each search item (for example, necessary document inclusion rate) based on the required number of patents and the number of missing patents for each search item. . The search result generation unit 36 may generate information on the number and ratio of noise patents (for example, a noise document rate) for each search item based on the number of noise patents for each search item. The search result generation unit 36 may set the required document presence rate and the noise document rate for each search item next to the number of hits of each search item on the search screen 50 in FIG. According to the seventh modified example, it becomes easier for the user to grasp the search items (and keywords) that contribute to the appropriate narrowing down of documents and the search items (and keywords) that cause noise contamination. Useful information for improving the validity can be provided to the user.

  As a different aspect of the seventh modification, detection of necessary patents, leaked patents, and noise patents may be suppressed for search items in which the number of extracted patents is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold among a plurality of search items. This threshold value may be determined based on the knowledge and experience of the literature information service company, or an appropriate value may be determined by an experiment using the information system 100. Further, it may be set by the user. For example, the threshold value may be 1,000 cases or 10,000 cases. According to this aspect, it is possible to suppress an increase in the detection time of necessary patents, leakage patents, and noise patents, and it is possible to suppress an increase in response time until search result data is returned in response to a search request.

  Any combination of the above-described embodiments and modifications is also useful as an embodiment of the present invention. The new embodiment resulting from the combination has the effects of the combined example and modification. It should also be understood by those skilled in the art that the functions to be fulfilled by the constituent elements described in the claims are realized by the individual constituent elements shown in the embodiments and the modified examples, or by their cooperation.

  10 document search device, 12 document DB, 26 request acquisition unit, 28 search unit, 30 detection unit, 31 required document detection unit, 32 leak detection unit, 34 noise detection unit, 36 search result generation unit, 38 search result providing unit, 40 citation map generator, 42 citation map provider, 100 information system.

Claims (12)

An acquisition unit that acquires conditions for extracting a specific document from a plurality of documents that are conditions input from the user and that can be cited with other documents;
A search unit for extracting a plurality of documents satisfying a condition acquired by the acquisition unit from the plurality of documents stored in a predetermined storage unit;
A citation map which is an image in which a plurality of objects indicating a plurality of extracted documents extracted by the search unit is arranged is generated, and a citation relationship is formed between the first extracted document and the second extracted document. A generating unit that generates a citation map in which an object indicating the first extracted document and an object indicating the second extracted document are associated and arranged;
An output unit for presenting the citation map generated by the generation unit to the user;
A citation map generation device comprising: Each of the plurality of extracted documents is associated with date-related data,
The generation unit generates a citation map in which a plurality of objects indicating the plurality of extracted documents are arranged in time series according to dates associated with each of the plurality of extracted documents. The citation map generation device according to 1. Each of the plurality of extracted documents is associated with data relating to the applicant or the author,
The generation unit determines a position on the first axis of the citation map where an object of each extracted document should be placed according to a date associated with each extracted document, and is associated with each extracted document. The citation map generation device according to claim 2, wherein a position on the second axis of the citation map in which an object of each extracted document is to be placed is determined according to the applicant or the author. The reference map is a three-dimensional graph, and the three-dimensional graph includes a horizontal axis, a vertical axis, and a depth direction axis, and the second axis is a horizontal axis, a vertical axis, and a depth direction axis in the reference map. Either
When the applicant or author of the first extracted document is different from the author of the second extracted document, the generator generates an object indicating the first extracted document and an object indicating the second extracted document in the citation map. The citation map generation device according to claim 3, wherein the citation map generation device is arranged at a different position in the second axis direction. The plurality of extracted documents are gazettes on industrial property rights,
The citation map is a three-dimensional graph, and the three-dimensional graph includes a horizontal axis, a vertical axis, and a depth axis.
When the first extracted document is a divisional application whose original application is the second extracted document, or the first extracted document is a priority claim application based on the second extracted document The object indicating the first extracted document and the object indicating the second extracted document are arranged at different positions in the direction of any of the horizontal axis, the vertical axis and the depth axis in the citation map. The citation map generation device according to claim 1, wherein: It is a document that cites at least one of the plurality of extracted documents, and further includes a detection unit that detects a document cited by at least one of the plurality of extracted documents as a required document,
6. The generation unit according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit reveals an object indicating a detected necessary document in association with an object indicating an extracted document in which a citation relationship with the necessary document is linked. The citation map generation apparatus in any one of. Based on the citation relationship between each of the plurality of extracted documents extracted by the search unit and other documents, a document that is not included in the plurality of extracted documents but is expected to be highly relevant to the plurality of extracted documents Further comprising a detection unit for detecting leaked literature,
The said generation part links | relates the object which shows the said leaked document with the object which shows the extraction literature with which the said leaked document and citation relation are tied, The said citation map WHEREIN: Any one of Claim 1 to 5 characterized by the above-mentioned. The citation map generator described in Crab. Based on the citation relationship between each of the plurality of extracted documents extracted by the search unit and other documents, noise that is a document that is included in the plurality of extracted documents but is expected to be highly relevant to the non-extracted documents A detection unit for detecting a document;
The said production | generation part reveals the object which shows the said noise literature on the said reference map in the aspect different from the object which shows the extraction literature which is not the said noise literature, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Citation map generator.   The generation unit generates a citation map in which only objects indicating the plurality of extracted documents are arranged according to a user instruction, and includes at least one extracted document that is not included in the plurality of extracted documents. 2. A method of switching between generating a citation map in which an object indicating a document cited or cited by at least one extracted document is added to the object indicating the plurality of extracted documents is switched. To the citation map generation device according to any one of 8 to 8. The first extracted document and the second extracted document are gazettes related to industrial property rights,
The generation unit excludes the citation relationship declared by the applicant from the citation relationship between each extracted document and other documents, and associates the object indicating each extracted document based on the citation relationship set in the examination. The citation map generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the citation map is generated. Acquiring conditions for extracting a specific document from a plurality of documents that are entered by a user and can be cited with other documents; and
Extracting a plurality of documents satisfying the condition acquired in the acquiring step from the plurality of documents stored in a predetermined storage unit;
A citation map which is an image in which a plurality of objects indicating a plurality of extracted documents extracted in the extracting step is arranged is generated, and a citation relationship is formed between the first extracted document and the second extracted document. And generating a citation map in which an object indicating the first extracted document and an object indicating the second extracted document are associated with each other, and
Presenting the citation map generated in the generating step to the user;
A citation map generation method, wherein the computer executes A condition that is input from a user and that acquires a condition for extracting a specific document from a plurality of documents that can have a citation relationship with another document;
A function of extracting a plurality of documents satisfying a condition acquired by the function to be acquired from the plurality of documents stored in a predetermined storage unit;
A citation map which is an image in which a plurality of objects indicating a plurality of extracted documents extracted by the extracting function is arranged is generated, and a citation relationship is formed between the first extracted document and the second extracted document. A citation map in which an object indicating the first extracted document and an object indicating the second extracted document are associated and arranged,
A function of presenting the citation map generated by the function to be generated to the user;
A computer program for realizing a computer.

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