JP5516916B2 - Method, system and apparatus for targeted investigation of multi-selected documents in an electronic document collection - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to electronic document collections and to surveying collections upon receipt of queries. More specifically, the present invention relates to classifying multiple sections of each document and efficiently processing queries according to the classified sections of documents in the collection.

  All intellectual property documents, including patents, trademarks and copyright applications, must be submitted for registration or examination prior to the government agency designated to receive such applications. Patent applications filed for examination prior to the Government Patent Office must meet several requirements, including that each patent must be new, useful and non-obvious. Similar criteria apply to most, if not all, patent offices of foreign patent offices. In order to properly prepare a patent application for examination, it is useful to have knowledge of prior patents in the relevant technical field (ie prior art) since only one patent is granted for an invention. The method of confirming the prior art is known as patent search. The results of a patent search are generally valid for the creator of a subsequent patent application to focus on what is likely to be patentable content and to achieve the inventor's objectives or the patent owner's objectives. To develop a good strategy.

  It is known that patent search was done manually before the technology developed in the present electronic information age. The investigator examines the patent information disclosure, confirms where the patent information disclosure is classified based on the patent classification system, and then conducts the survey. With the advent of information technology, paper searches are no longer available because all patents and published patent applications are only available in electronic form. Even in the case of electronic patent documents, strategies similar to those used in manual searches can be used to search the electronic patent database.

  Different classes may be requested to obtain different results. For example, a novelty search may be requested to confirm whether to apply for a patent. A product clearance survey may be requested to determine if the product is covered by the claims of the current patent. An invalidity investigation may be requested to determine whether a patent issuance claim is valid or not. Traditional electronic survey tools do not support different classes of surveys. More precisely, restricting the classification of patent documents to be examined in the search based on the scope of the search places a burden on the person conducting the search (also known as the researcher). As the amount of patents and patent applications in the database increases, the search burden increases with the number of patents, and published patent applications must be examined for each search.

  Therefore, there is a need for tools that can be used by investigators to reduce the burden associated with the study and related study scope. With this tool, investigators must be able to utilize different sections of patent documents during the search to obtain more accurate and desirable search results more efficiently and effectively.

  The present invention includes methods, systems, and articles for efficiently and effectively searching a collection of intellectual property documents such as patent documents.

  In one aspect of the present invention, a computer approach for examining an electronic document collection is provided. A collection of intellectual property documents is compiled, and each intellectual property document in the collection consists of a plurality of sections. For example, when indexing a collection, at least one document vector for each patent document in the collection is derived. Deriving document vectors includes creating at least one static document vector for each document in the collection. When presenting a query to a collection, a dynamic document vector is created based on the string presented with the query input. By presenting the query input to the collection, the dynamic document vector associated with the query input is compared to each static document vector in the collection. Based on the comparison of the static and dynamic document vectors in the collection, an appropriate patent document compilation is returned.

  In another aspect of the invention, a computer system is provided with a processor in communication with a storage medium and an electronic document collection maintained on the storage medium. An electronic document collection is a compilation of patents or other intellectual property documents. Based on the characteristics of the patent document, each patent document in the collection has a plurality of sections. At index time, at least one document vector for each patent document in the collection is derived. Creating the document vector includes creating at least one static document vector for each patent document in the document collection. At the time of query, a dynamic document vector is created from character string data received by query input. After creating the dynamic document vector, the query input is presented to the electronic patent document collection. A query manager in communication with the input manager compares the dynamic document vector with each static document vector in the collection in response to presenting the query input to the patent document collection. After being presented by the query manager, compilation based on a comparison of static and dynamic document vectors returns a compilation of the appropriate patent document.

  In yet another aspect of the invention, an article is provided comprising a computer readable carrier that includes computer program instructions configured to examine an electronic document collection on a computer memory. A computer readable carrier includes computer program instructions to be executed on a document collection. Instructions are provided for compiling a collection of patent documents. Each patent document in the collection is divided into a plurality of sections. Instructions are provided for deriving at least one document vector for each patent document in the collection when indexing the collection. This includes creating at least one static document vector for each patent document in the document collection. When presenting a query to the collection, instructions are provided for creating a dynamic document vector based on string data from the query input. After creating the dynamic document vector, a query is presented to the electronic document collection to compare the dynamic document vector with each static document vector in the collection. The results of query presentation include a compilation of the appropriate patent documents returned based on comparing the dynamic document vectors in the collection with the static document vectors.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

  The drawings referred to in this specification form part of this specification. The features shown in the drawings are merely illustrative of some embodiments of the present invention, and not merely illustrative of all embodiments of the present invention, unless otherwise specified. In other situations the reverse meaning is not made.

6 is a flow chart illustrating an electronic document collection, more specifically a collection survey related to patents and patent publications. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a general process for presenting a query to a patent document collection. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for further analyzing static document vectors in a patent document collection using stopwords. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for creating a plurality of document vectors for each patent document in the collection. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for presenting a query to a document collection with a plurality of document vectors, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is proposed to print on the first page of a issued patent. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a set of tools used to process a query presented in an electronic document collection. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a graphical user interface for providing user input instructions for examining an electronic document collection.

  It will be readily appreciated that the components of the invention schematically illustrated and described in the figures herein may be configured and designed in a variety of different configurations. Accordingly, the following detailed description of embodiments of the apparatus, system and method of the present invention as shown in the figures does not limit the scope of the invention as claimed, but is merely a specific implementation of the invention. It represents the form.

  The functional units described herein have been designated as managers. The manager may be implemented with programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices, and the like. The manager may also be implemented with software executed by various types of processors. For example, a specific manager of executable code may be composed of one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions that may be organized, for example, as objects, procedures, functions, or other constructs. However, specific manager executables do not have to be physically located together, but are individually stored in various locations that, when logically combined, constitute the manager and achieve the manager's specified objectives. May also include instructions.

  In practice, the manager of executable code may be a single instruction or multiple instructions, may be distributed over several different code segments, may be distributed among various applications, and several memory It may be distributed across devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and shown within the manager, implemented in any suitable format, and organized into any suitable type of data structure. Operational data may be collected as a single data set, distributed across various locations including various storage devices, and may exist at least partially as electronic signals on a system or network.

  Throughout this specification, a "a select embodiment", "one embodiment", or "an embodiment" has been described in connection with this embodiment. It is meant that a particular feature, structure or characteristic is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Thus, the phrases “a particular embodiment”, “in one embodiment”, or “in an embodiment” appearing in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. No.

  Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of document managers, input managers, query managers, etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that the invention can be practiced without one or more specific details or with other methods, components, materials, and the like. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

  The illustrated embodiments of the present invention will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout. The following description is merely exemplary and shows only certain selected embodiments of apparatus, systems and methods consistent with the invention claimed herein.

(Overview)
Static document vectors and dynamic document vectors are used with intellectual property documents. In the following, reference will be made in particular to patent documents. In one embodiment, the document vector may be applied to any intellectual property document. A document vector is a set of (keyword, weight) pairs, where a keyword is a word or phrase associated with the base document and a weight is a numerical measure of how important the keyword is to the document. . More specifically, a document vector is a type of document signature that represents document content so as to facilitate comparison between documents. This is a numerical representation of the unstructured text content of the document. Static document vectors are associated with patents and published patent applications so that such documents do not change frequently. The dynamic document vector is associated with query string data (hereinafter, a string) presented in the patent document collection. Static document vectors may be parsed to exclude character strings that are patent specific and have a local minimum when conducting a search. The excluded character string is called a stop word. In one embodiment, the stopwords used herein are specific to the patent industry. Further, each patent document has a section defined therein, and each section identifies various portions of the patent document. When conducting a patent search, there are different values for the various categories of patent documents. Thus, depending on the scope of the patent search, the search may be limited to a specific section of the patent document. Thus, to efficiently and effectively create a result set with data related to the query presented in the collection, a document vector is used for the patent document collection, and the result set is presented within the patent document collection. One or more documents having a static document vector calculated to be within a set numerical range of dynamic document vectors associated with the query string.

(Technical details)
In the following description of the embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It should be understood that other embodiments may be utilized as the structure may be changed without departing from the scope of the invention.

  FIG. 1 is a flowchart (100) showing an overview of an electronic document collection, and more specifically, a collection related to patents and patent publications. Initially, a collection of patent documents is compiled (102). It is understood in the art that patents and patent publications consist of multiple sections. Following compilation of the document, the collection is indexed (104). The process of indexing compilation involves converting a collection of data into a database suitable for research and extraction. More specifically, indexing a document collection includes deriving a document vector for each patent document in the collection (106). The document vector includes a weighted list of words and phrases. In one embodiment, the terms selected for the document vector include, but are not limited to, noun phrases, words that are in the title case and not the beginning of the sentence, and words that appear frequently in the document. The weight is calculated for the terms placed in the vector. In one embodiment, the following method of calculating weights normalizes the frequency of words in the document to a number between 1 and 0, where 1 is assigned to the most frequently occurring word in the document and the document is selected. Highlighting words or word pairs in a field, assigning higher weights to noun phrases, emphasizing titlecase words in the body of a document, and assigning higher weights to longer strings than short strings Including, but not limited to, steps. After the words and phrases to be included in the document vector are selected and the weights for the words and phrases are selected, the document vector is calculated by utilizing an integrator. In one embodiment, the integrator selects which fields to include in the vector, how much to emphasize the words and phrases it contains, how much each element contributes to the final term weight, Entity types can be added to the vector, such as increasing the importance of the business entity found in the document or increasing the stop word list to remove common phrases found in the database. The document vector created for each patent document in the collection is named “static document vector”.

  With the exception of a few exceptions, changes generally cannot be made after a patent document is issued. Exceptions to this rule include, but are not limited to, issuance of amendment certificates, reexamination of issued patents, and reissue of issued patents. To handle these exceptions, the document collection is updated. More specifically, a change is made to the documents in the collection and a time period for updating the associated document vector is set (108). Examples of time periods include, but are not limited to, monthly, semi-annual, annual. Thereafter, it is determined whether the set time period has expired (110). After an affirmative response to the determination in step (110), the process returns to step (102). Conversely, after a negative response to the determination at step (110), wait for a set period of time, update the patent document vector to incorporate changes to the patent document into the document vector (112), and then Return to step (110). In one embodiment, the patent collection is not limited to issued patents, but includes published patent applications. Therefore, based on patent specific properties, patent document collections must be regularly updated to accommodate changes to any of the patents in the collection.

  After parsing a document collection to create a static document vector for the collection, the entire collection may be queried. FIG. 2 is a flowchart (200) illustrating a general process for presenting a query to a patent document collection. Initially, an input query is received (202). In one embodiment, the input query consists of a string. A document vector for query input is created (204). Since the document vector for query is created at the time of presentation, it will be called a dynamic document vector in the future. A dynamic document vector is created based on the text input for the query. More specifically, the dynamic document vector consists of the most appropriate terms from the query input text. Various tools can be used to select strings to include in the dynamic document vector and assign weights to the terms selected for inclusion in the vector. In one embodiment, from an input query, a noun phrase, a title case word (ie, the first letter is capitalized but not at the beginning of a sentence), a word that appears frequently in the document, a pair of words that appears frequently in the document A word is extracted. As with the static document vector, the specified stopword is removed and not included in the dynamic document vector. After terms for inclusion in the dynamic vector are extracted from the text of the input query, these terms are assigned weights. In one embodiment, the frequency of each term or phrase in the document is normalized to a number between 1 and 0, where 1 is assigned to the word that appears most frequently in the document. Similarly, in one embodiment, words or word pairs in special fields, such as names, are emphasized, higher weights are assigned to noun phrases, title case words in the body of the document are emphasized, and long strings. Is assigned a higher weight than a short string. The calculation of the document vector is highly configurable. In one embodiment, the user can assign a weight to the search term. Thus, there are various tools that can be called to create an appropriate dynamic document vector based on query input.

  After step (204), a query in the form of a dynamic document vector is presented to the document collection (206), where the dynamic document vector is compared to a static document vector in the patent document collection ( 208). Next, it is determined whether any of the static document vectors in the collection are within the defined numerical range of the dynamic document vector (210). After an affirmative response to the determination at step (210), all base patent documents in the collection having one or more static document vectors that fall within the defined numerical range are placed in the result set (212). After step (212) or in response to a negative response to the determination at step (210), it is determined whether the user wishes to submit a new query to the document collection (214). In one embodiment, a new query may narrow the scope of previously presented queries. Similarly, a new query may broaden the scope of previously presented queries. Regardless of the scope of the new query, after an affirmative response to the determination at step (214), return to step (204). Similarly, a negative response to the determination in step (214) ends the query presentation process for the document collection. Thus, presenting a query to the document collection includes converting the presented string to a dynamic document vector and comparing the document vector to a static vector of the document collection.

  A patent document collection is a unique collection of technical documents. Patent documents come in the form of issued patent grants and published patent applications. The difference between the two categories of documents identifies their possible values. More specifically, patent authorization is the actual ownership that can be enforced in the court of justice, while the published patent application is a pending application that is a pending patent right. Each patent document described contains customary words and phrases that are included in the application. However, such words and phrases have minimal value in research because these words appear in most patent documents and are not unique to the present invention. Examples of such words and phrases include, but are not limited to, “embodiments”, “exemplary”, “prior art”, and the like. Similarly, each country may have various words that are common in patent applications. For example, in some countries, the word “characterized” is a common word that has little patentability or search value. Such words are referred to herein as stop words. The purpose of identifying country, language, or culture specific stopwords is to minimize the size of the document vector being examined. Each document vector in the patent document collection may be analyzed to remove the identified stopwords from the collection.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart (300) illustrating the process of using stop words to further analyze static document vectors in a patent document collection. Before submitting a query to the document collection, determine if the static document vector stopwords should be parsed. Stop words may be limited to a specific country (302), a specific language (304), and / or a specific culture (306). After acknowledgment for any individual selection or combination of selections in steps (302), (304) and / or (306), compiling a stop word to parse static document vectors in the patent document collection Create (308). A collection of patent documents is compiled (310). In one embodiment, the collection of patent documents may be limited to a selected country, language, and / or specific culture. After compiling the document (310), the collection is indexed (312) and the stopwords are parsed from the collection (314). The process of indexing and retrieving stopwords from compilation involves converting the collection of data into a database suitable for examination and extraction. After step (314), one or more sections of the documents in the collection are selected to be included in the document vector created for the collection (316). A document vector for each patent document in the collection is created (318) based on the selection of at least one section in step (316). More specifically, after indexing the document collection, a document vector for the selected section of each patent document in the collection without the stopwords identified from the derived document vector is derived. Such a document vector is referred to herein as a static document vector.

  With few exceptions, patent documents are generally unchanged after they are issued. To handle such exceptions, document collections are rarely updated. More specifically, an arbitrary change to a document in the collection and a time period (320) for updating the corresponding document vector are set. Examples of time periods include, but are not limited to, monthly, semi-annual, annual. Thereafter, it is determined whether the set time period has expired (322). After a negative response to the determination of step (322), wait for a set time period (324) to update the patent document vector to incorporate changes to the patent document into the document vector, and then to step (320) Return. In contrast, after an affirmative response to the determination at step (322), it is determined whether there are any new stopwords to be applied to the document collection (326). After an affirmative response to the determination at step (326), return to step (310), and after a negative response to the determination at step (326), add new stopwords and / or phrases to the compilation of the non-patent terms. Add (328). After step (328), the process of creating and / or updating the static document vector of the patent document collection returns to step (310). Thus, the static document vector may be parsed for selection of identified stopwords to allow query presentation and focus on the appropriate strings in the static document collection.

  It will be appreciated that issued patents and published patent applications are divided into multiple categories. Each section of a patent document is required to present a completed patent application, and each section of a patent has a purpose. Details of each section of the patent application are not mentioned in detail herein. However, various categories are identified. For the most part, each patent application includes a name, priority filing date, summary, background description, abstract, brief description of the drawings (if any), detailed description of the invention, and claims. There are various search categories used in the patent world depending on the purpose of the search. For example, infringement and / or product clearance investigations are related to the words in the claims and thus should be directed to claims that are in the document collection. Validity and / or invalidity searches are associated with any known prior art and require identification of the priority filing date of a patent document. When an inventor tries to determine the novelty of an invention before or after filing a patent application, the inventor or his agent or agent may request a novelty search. Such a search may cease to focus on claims and focus on the detailed description of the invention. Thus, as shown herein, each survey focuses on various sections of patent documents within a document collection.

  As described above, each patent in the document collection may be analyzed in order to select a stop word with minimal value in the collection search. However, you may want to compile multiple static document vectors of a single patent document in addition to or in addition to the selection of stopwords, each individual document vector being identified for a patent document in the collection Relevant to each category. Creation of multiple document vectors with each vector identifying a particular segment may refine the search of the document collection based on a defined search scope. For example, infringement investigations in a document collection may not be limited to document vectors related to the claim category of each patent in the document collection.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart (400) illustrating a process for creating a plurality of document vectors for each patent document in the collection. Initially, a collection of patent documents is compiled (402) and indexed (404). The total number of documents in the patent document collection is designated in the variable M _Total (406), and the integer 1 is designated in the count variable M (408). The amount of sections in the patent document M of the collection is identified (410). After step (410), the total number of sections in patent document M is specified in variable N _Total (412), and integer 1 is specified in count variable N (414). Create a document vector for each section of each patent document in the collection. More specifically, a document vector of each “Section _N ” of “PatentDocument _M ” is created (416). After creating the document vector in step (416), if there is another division of the patent document, the count variable N is incremented (418) to create the next document vector of the next division. Proceed to the next section. After step (418), it is determined (420) whether there are any further sections in the patent document that create document vectors. After a negative response to the determination in step (420), the process returns to step (416). Conversely, after an affirmative response to the determination at step (420), variable M is incremented (422). Next, each document in the collection is analyzed to determine whether multiple document vectors have been created (424). After a negative response to the determination at step (424), return to step (410) to create a plurality of document vectors for the next document in the collection. As mentioned above, it is known in the art that the static document collection may need to be updated periodically. The frequency of updates may be frequent or rare depending on the accuracy of the collection. In one embodiment, the frequency of updating the static document vector may be proportional to the patent issuance rate. An affirmative response to the determination at step (424) indicates that the patent document collection has been analyzed to create a plurality of document vectors for each patent document. Next, it is determined whether the time period for updating static vectors in the collection has expired (426). After an affirmative response to the determination in step (426), the process returns to step (402). Conversely, after a negative response to the determination in step (426), wait for a set time period to update the patent document vector (428) to incorporate changes to the patent document into the document vector, and thereafter The process returns to step (426). Thus, each patent document in the document collection may be analyzed to create a plurality of static document vectors, each vector related to one identified section of the patent document.

  After parsing the patent document and creating multiple document vectors for each document in the collection, query presentation may utilize document segment analysis. FIG. 5 is a flowchart (500) illustrating a process for presenting a query to a document collection having a plurality of document vectors. Initially, a user submitting a query to a collection defines a scope of the survey (502). In one embodiment, the user may be provided with a graphical user interface as a layer above the computer instructions to facilitate selection of the scope of the survey. After step (502), the defined scope of the survey is associated with the selection of the document vector category of the document collection (504), and a query string is presented to the document collection (506). Thereafter, a dynamic document vector of the presented query string is created (508), and the dynamic document vector is presented to the document collection to determine the corresponding document (510). Query presentation is limited to comparing the dynamic document vector document collection with a particular static document vector (512). In one embodiment, the static document vector selection may be a selection of a group of static document vectors (513). More specifically, in a search limited to patent document claim categories, only the static document vectors of patent claim categories in the patent document collection, ie, groups of similar static document vectors, are examined. The comparison in step (512) is a mathematical comparison between the dynamic document vector and the static document vector. The comparison result set is sorted based on the mathematical comparison (514). In one embodiment, the sorting is hierarchical based on the proximity of the static document vector of the document collection to the dynamic document vector. Thus, a result set is obtained by comparing a collection of dynamic document vectors with a static document vector.

  After sorting the result set (514), numerical values are used to define the proximity range of the sorted documents that are determined to be relevant (516). After step (516), it is determined whether there are any documents in the sorted collection that are within the defined numerical range (518). After an affirmative response to the determination at step (518), a list of all the basic patents in the static document vector within the defined range of the dynamic document vector is put into the result set (520). After step (520) or after a negative response to the comparison at step (518), a determination is made whether the user wishes to present a new query string or limit the query from the previous query string presentation. (522). A negative response to decision step (522) signals the end of the query presentation process. Conversely, after an affirmative response to the determination in step (522), the user wishes to change the survey segment (ie, static document vector) compared to the query (ie, dynamic document vector). It is determined whether or not (524). In one embodiment, changing the scope of the survey may directly change the selection of static document vectors used in the survey. After an affirmative response to the determination at step (524), return to step (502) to change the classification of patent documents evaluated in the next query. Conversely, a negative response to the determination at step (524) indicates that the new query further limits the scope of the previous query while maintaining the same document vector restrictions as the previous query in the patent collection. Thus, after a negative response, further modifications of the query rather than the patent document collection are presented and the process returns to step (506). Thus, the scope of the survey may be changed in two ways to modify the result set based on comparing the query's dynamic document vector with the patent document collection's static document vector.

  As shown in FIGS. 1-5, a document vector specific to a patent document collection is created and then used to present a query, which is within the defined range of the collection's static document vector. A result set in the document vector is created. FIG. 6 is a block diagram (600) illustrating a set of tools for creating static and dynamic document vectors and using the vectors in conjunction with queries presented in a document collection. As shown, the computer system (602) comprises a processing unit (604) coupled to a memory (606) by a bus structure (608). Although only one processing device (604) is shown, in one embodiment, more processing devices may be provided in an expanded design. The system (602) is shown in communication with a storage medium (640) configured to accommodate a document collection (642). In one embodiment, the electronic document collection includes a compilation of patent documents including issued patents and published patent applications. The storage medium (640) is in communication with the processing device (604). Further, the system is shown in communication with a display device (650) for representing image data. Each of the elements shown and described herein supports query presentation for the document collection (642).

  A document manager (660) is provided that is local to the computer system (602) and in communication with the memory (606). The document manager (660) is responsible for deriving a document vector for each patent document in the collection (642) at the time of indexing. More specifically, the document manager (660) creates at least one static document vector (644) for each patent document in the collection (642). As mentioned above, each patent document consists of specific standardized sections that may be consistent when issued from the same JPO jurisdiction. In one embodiment, the document manager (660) is used to create a plurality of static document vectors (644) for each patent document. The document vector (644) created by the document manager (660) is stored in the storage medium (640). An input manager (662) that is also local to the computer system (602) and in communication with the memory (606) is provided. The input manager (662) serves to create a dynamic document vector at the time of a query based on character string data received from the query input. The input manager (662) is in communication with the query manager (664), is also local to the computer system (602) and is provided in communication with the memory (606). The query manager (664) is responsible for comparing the dynamic document vectors created by the input manager (662) with each static document vector (644) in response to the presentation of query input to the document collection (642). To do. This comparison compiles the appropriate patent document (646). In one embodiment, the compilation is provided on the display device (650). Similarly, in one embodiment, compilations may be kept temporarily or permanently on storage.

  Compilation of non-applicable character string data (648) may be used to analyze non-applicable character string data from static document vector (644). In one embodiment, the compilation of non-applicable string data (648) is maintained on storage medium (640) and updated periodically by document manager (660). By using or ignoring non-applicable string data, the document manager (660) may be instructed to create multiple static document vectors for each patent document in the document collection (642). A selection manager (666) that is local to the computer system (602) and in communication with the memory (606) is provided. More specifically, the selection manager (666) is in communication with the query manager (664) to select a search scope for the document collection. The selected search scope determines a static document vector selection to be applied by the query manager (664) to process the query.

  In one embodiment, the input manager (662), query manager (664), document manager (660) and selection manager (666) may be in memory (606) local to the computer system (602). . However, the present invention should not be limited to this embodiment. For example, in one embodiment, the input, query, document and selection managers (660)-(666) may each exist as a hardware tool external to the local memory (606), as a combination of hardware and software. It may be realized. Similarly, in one embodiment, managers (660)-(666) may be on a remote system in communication with storage medium (640). Thus, the manager may be implemented as a software or hardware tool that assists in the presentation of one or more queries to the electronic patent document collection to obtain a compilation of appropriate patent documents.

  As described herein, a query may be presented in a patent document collection with specific instructions related to a static document vector processed in query execution. FIG. 7 is a block diagram (700) of a graphical user interface (702) that may be used to assist in the presentation of instructions. The interface (702) acts as a decorative board on top of the instructions that support the basic database of the electronic document collection. As shown, there are four main fields. The first field (710) includes a field (712) for presenting a query to the document collection. The second field (720) includes a plurality of fields for selecting a survey category. More specifically, as shown, the second field (720) includes novelty (722), state-of-the-art (724), infringement (726), product clearance (728) for selecting a survey category. ), Sub-fields of validity / invalidity (730) may be included. In one embodiment, the survey field (720) may correspond to a selection of multiple subfields. The third field (740) includes a plurality of fields for selecting the maximum amount of survey documents returned in the result compilation. More specifically, the third field (740) includes 10 documents (742), 50 documents (744), 100 documents (746), 500 documents (748), 1000 documents (750), and the maximum quantity returned. Subfields such as an input field (752) that supports customized input may be included. The present invention should not be limited to the amount of subfields indicated at (742)-(750). The numbers provided herein are merely exemplary. The fourth field (760) of the interface is used to present the query string to the document collection. In one embodiment, the fourth field (760) has an execute button (762) for entering the query presentation and a cancel button (764) for canceling the execution. Accordingly, the interface presented herein facilitates communication and presentation of queries to the electronic document collection and enhances the use of one or more static document vectors within the electronic document collection.

  In one embodiment, the invention is implemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. The invention may be in the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium is any device that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transfer a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, device or apparatus. It's okay.

  Embodiments within the scope of the present invention also include an article of manufacture including program storage means having encoded program code. Such program storage means may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example and not limitation, such program storage means may store RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage device, magnetic disk storage device or other magnetic storage device, or desired program code means. It can be any other medium that can be used to access a general purpose or special purpose computer. Combinations of the above should also be included in the scope of the program storage means.

  The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, semiconductor system (or apparatus or device), or a propagation medium. Examples of computer readable media include semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, removable computer diskette, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), rigid magnetic disk, and optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk B read only (CD-ROM), compact disk B read / write (CD-R / W) and DVD.

  A data processing system suitable for storing and / or executing program code will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory element temporarily stores at least some program code to reduce the number of times the code must be fetched from the local memory, mass storage device, and mass storage device during execution. Can be listed as a cache memory.

  Input / output or I / O devices (including but not limited to keyboards, display devices, pointing devices, etc.) may be coupled to the system either directly or via an intervening I / O controller. A network adapter may also be coupled to the system to allow the data processing system to be coupled to other data processing systems, remote printers or storage devices via intervening dedicated or public networks.

  A software implementation may take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium that provides program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system.

(Advantages over the prior art)
It is known in the art that each patent document has a defined overview of the categories required to meet the legal application requirements. A plurality of document vectors for each electronic document is created by the option of removing non-corresponding patent character strings from the document vector. In one embodiment, one document vector is created for the claim category of the document collection, another document vector is created for the name, summary, and claim category of the document collection, and a third is created for all segments of the combined document collection. A document vector is created. By analyzing the vector, a smaller and more concise document vector is obtained, and the smaller the document vector, the better the query processing efficiency because the vector does not require additional processing of the parse string. Not all queries are the same. Different queries are presented to the collection and different results are obtained. Thus, by analyzing non-patent patent terms and classifying static document vectors, query presentation can be processed efficiently and effectively to achieve a desired compilation of document results.

(Other embodiments)
Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In particular, the search for intellectual property documents is not limited to issued patents and published patent applications. The search may be extended to include all forms of intellectual property documents, including but not limited to trademark registrations and applications, copyright registrations and applications, and all forms of patent documents. Regardless of the query classification document classification, updating the static document vectors in the document collection is resource intensive. In the natural course of scientific progress, a document collection is a collection of documents that grows as new documents are added to the collection once a week or at other times. The time period set to update the static document vector may be constant so that the intellectual property document is given and published at a set frequency. However, in one embodiment, one or more variables may be used to change the time period. For example, in one embodiment, the time period variable may be changed based on the amount of documents added to the collection within a defined time period. The goal is to maintain an accurate document collection that requires periodic updates of the static document vectors in the collection to ensure a comprehensive data repository.

  In addition, electronic document collections have been specifically described in relation to intellectual property documents. However, the present invention should not be limited to these specific categories of electronic documents. In one embodiment, the electronic document collection may include any type of document having a plurality of defined sections. This allows the manager to parse the document into defined segments, create multiple static document vectors for the defined segments, and support defining queries based on the defined segments of the document. it can. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims (30)

A computer-implemented method for exploring an electronic document collection, comprising:
Compiling a collection of intellectual property documents, each document in the collection having at least one section;
At the time of indexing, the process includes creating at least one static document vector for each document in the document collection, and deriving at least one document vector for each document in the collection based on the at least one partition. Steps,
Limiting the static document vector to selection of fields from an intellectual property document;
Creating a group of a plurality of static document vectors for each intellectual property document in the collection;
At query time, identifying a specific document vector based on the query input;
Presenting the identified specific document vector to a search engine;
Selecting a survey range having a plurality of survey range sub-fields for application to the document collection, wherein the survey range selection includes at least one static document vector category from the document collection; Comparing the selection of the at least one static vector category with the generated dynamic vector based on a matched and defined search range;
On the basis of the comparison of the specific document vectors the identification for the at least one created static document vector, seen including the steps of: compiling the returned relevant documents, and
The field is selected from the group consisting of name, summary, background, summary, detailed description, claims, drawings and combinations thereof;
A method wherein each static document vector is based on one or more fields of the intellectual property document .   The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying a specific document vector based on a query input further comprises creating a dynamic document vector based on string data from the query input. Includes a process of excluding each string in the from each compilation of the document vector, to create a list of commonly used in the term in the patent application in the file, the weight of the previous SL document vector terms of said list The method of claim 1, further comprising minimizing, removing, excluding or reducing . The method of claim 3, wherein the list of terms is language specific. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the list of terms is culture specific. Includes a process of identifying specific terms for inclusion in the compilation, further comprising dynamically updating the list of terms, the method of claim 3. The scope of the investigation includes selection of an intellectual property infringement investigation classification ,
Selecting a claim vector category for the infringement investigation;
The complaint vector category selection, the static document vector from the document collection, to limit the claims in the basic document in the collection method of claim 1. The scope of the investigation includes the selection of an intellectual property infringement investigation invalidity investigation classification ;
The Name for invalidity study outline, summary, detailed description, further comprising the step of selecting a vector category claims and drawings,
The selection of the selected vector categories, the static document vector from the document collection is limited to a representative section of the intellectual property documents in the form of a document vector in the basic document in the collection, in claim 1 The method described. The Scope comprises a selection patent novelty search classification,
Selecting the detailed description vector category for the novelty study;
Selection of the detailed description vector category, the static document vector from the document collection is limited to the detailed description section of the form of intellectual property document of a document vector in the basic document in the collection, according to claim 1 The method described in 1. Further comprising the step of using a graphical user interface layer for selecting the Scope The method of claim 1.   The method of claim 1, further comprising setting a maximum limit on the amount of relevant documents returned in the survey.   The method of claim 1, wherein the compilation of returned relevant documents includes a document determined to have at least one static document vector within a defined numerical range of the dynamic document vector. A processor in communication with the storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores an electronic document collection, the electronic document collection includes compilation of intellectual property documents, and the intellectual property documents in the collection each have a plurality of sections;
A document manager for deriving at least one document vector for each intellectual property document in the collection, which performs processing to create at least one static document vector for each intellectual property document in the document collection at the time of indexing When,
The document manager for limiting the static document vector to selection of fields from an intellectual property document;
An input manager that creates a dynamic document vector based on string data from a query input presented in the electronic intellectual property document collection at the time of the query;
A query manager that communicates with the input manager and compares the dynamic document vector to each static document vector in the collection in response to presentation of the query input to the intellectual property document collection;
A selection manager in communication with the query manager;
Compiling the returned relevant intellectual property document in response to the query manager and based on a comparison of the dynamic document vector and the static document vector ;
The fields are selected from the group consisting of name, background, summary, summary, detailed description, claims, drawings and combinations thereof;
The document manager creates a plurality of static document vectors for each intellectual property document in the collection;
Each static document vector is based on one or more fields of the intellectual property document,
The selection manager selects a survey range having a plurality of survey range subfields to apply to the document collection, the selection of the survey range being at least one static document vector category from the document collection. And comparing the selection of the at least one static vector category with the created dynamic vector based on a defined search range . A compilation of non-applicable strings of intellectual property terms stored in the file;
The system of claim 13 , wherein the query manager includes applying the compilation to the static document vector and excluding each string in the compilation from each of the document vectors. The system of claim 14 , wherein the compilation of intellectual property terms is language specific. The system of claim 14 , wherein the compilation of intellectual property terms is culture specific. The system of claim 14 , further comprising a document manager that dynamically updates the compilation of non-applicable intellectual property terms that performs a process of identifying specific terms for inclusion in the compilation. The scope of the investigation includes a selection of infringement investigation categories ;
A selection manager for selecting the claim vector category for the infringement investigation;
The system of claim 13 , wherein selection of the claim vector category limits the static document vector from the document collection to claims that are in the base document collection. The survey range comprises a selection of invalidity survey classification,
Name for the invalidity study outline, summary, detailed description, further comprising a selection manager for selecting a vector category claims and drawings,
The selection of the selected vector categories, the static document vector from the document collection is limited to a representative section of the shape of the intellectual property document of a document vector in the basic document in the collection, to claim 13 The system described. The Scope comprises a selection of novelty search classification,
A selection manager for selecting the detailed description vector category for the novelty study;
Selection of the detailed description vector category, the static document vector from the document collection is limited to the detailed description section of the form of intellectual property document of a document vector in the basic document in the collection, according to claim 13 The system described in. A graphical user interface in communication with the query manager;
The system of claim 13 , wherein the graphical user interface comprises an array of input selectors defined to select the survey scope to apply to the document collection. A computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program executed on a computer for examining a collection of electronic documents on a computer memory and executing a query ,
Including computer program instructions to be executed by a computer ;
The computer program instructions are
Instructions for compiling a collection of intellectual property documents, wherein the intellectual property documents in the collection each have a plurality of sections;
Instructions for creating at least one static document vector for each intellectual property document in the document collection at the time of indexing, and for deriving at least one document vector for each intellectual property document in the collection; ,
Instructions to limit the static document vector to selection of fields from an intellectual property document;
Instructions for creating a plurality of static document vectors for each intellectual property document in the collection;
At query time, an instruction to create a dynamic document vector based on string data from the query input,
Instructions for comparing the dynamic document vector with each static document vector in the collection, and for presenting the query input to the electronic document collection;
Instructions for selecting a search range having a plurality of search range sub-fields for application to the document collection, wherein the selection of the search range includes at least one static document vector category from the document collection and Instructions for matching and comparing the selection of the at least one static vector category with the created dynamic vector based on the defined search scope;
Based on a comparison of the static document vector and the dynamic document vector, and the instruction to return the compilation of the relevant intellectual property documents, only including,
The field is selected from the group consisting of name, summary, background, summary, detailed description, claims, drawings and combinations thereof;
A computer readable medium wherein each static document vector is based on one or more fields of the intellectual property document . Instructions comprising: creating a compilation of non-applicable strings of intellectual property terms in the file; applying the compilation to the document vector; and excluding each string in the compilation from each of the document vectors The computer readable medium of claim 22 , comprising: 24. The computer readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the compilation of intellectual property terms is language specific. 24. The computer readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the compilation of intellectual property terms is culture specific. 24. The computer readable medium of claim 23 , further comprising instructions for dynamically updating the compilation of non-applicable intellectual property terms, including instructions that identify specific terms for inclusion in the compilation. The scope of the investigation includes a selection of infringement investigation categories ;
Further comprising an instruction to select the claim vector category for the infringement investigation;
23. The computer readable medium of claim 22 , wherein selection of the claim vector category limits the static document vector from the document collection to claims that are in the basic document collection. The survey range comprises a selection of invalidity survey classification,
Further including instructions for selecting a name category, summary, summary, detailed description, claims, and drawing vector category for the invalidity investigation;
The selection of the selected vector categories, the static document vector from the document collection is limited to a representative section of the intellectual property documents in the form of a document vector in the basic document in the collection, to claim 22 The computer-readable medium described. The Scope comprises a selection of novelty search classification,
Further comprising instructions for selecting the detailed description vector category for the novelty study;
Selection of the detailed description vector category, the static document vector from the document collection is limited to the detailed description section of the form of intellectual property document of a document vector in the basic document in the collection, according to claim 22 A computer-readable medium according to claim 1 . A computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program executed on a computer for examining a collection of electronic documents on a computer memory and executing a query ,
Including computer program instructions to be executed by a computer ;
The computer program instructions are
A compile command to compile a collection of intellectual property documents, and instructions for the intellectual property documents in the collection, each having a plurality of sections,
When indexing includes instructions for creating at least one static document vectors for each IP documents in the document collection, and instructions for deriving at least one document vectors for each IP documents in the collection ,
Instructions to limit the static document vector to selection of fields from an intellectual property document;
Instructions for creating a plurality of static document vectors for each intellectual property document in the collection;
At query time, an instruction to create a dynamic document vector based on string data from the query input,
Said dynamic document vector includes instructions to be compared with each static document vector in the collection, presenting the query input to the electronic document collection instruction,
Instructions for selecting a search range having a plurality of search range sub-fields for application to the document collection, wherein the selection of the search range includes at least one static document vector category from the document collection and Instructions for matching and comparing the selection of the at least one static vector category with the created dynamic vector based on the defined search scope;
Based on a comparison of the static document vector and the dynamic document vector, and the instruction to return the compilation of the relevant intellectual property documents, only including,
The field is selected from the group consisting of name, summary, background, summary, detailed description, claims, drawings and combinations thereof;
A computer readable medium wherein each static document vector is based on one or more fields of the intellectual property document .

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