JP5518665B2 - Patent search device, patent search method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a search device and the like for searching patent gazettes.

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

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

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

  The patent search device according to the present invention includes at least one related term information storage unit that stores one or more related term information having terms and related terms that are terms related to the term, and a keyword that is a term used for the search. A search expression receiving unit that receives a patent search expression that is a search expression that has the above, a related term search section that searches related terms associated with a term that matches a keyword included in the patent search expression, and related terms In accordance with the search result of the search unit, the correction determination unit that determines whether or not to correct the patent search formula received by the search formula reception unit, and when the correction determination unit determines to correct, A candidate keyword acquiring unit that acquires a related term associated with a term that matches the keyword as a candidate keyword that is a candidate for a keyword used in a patent search formula; A candidate keyword display unit that displays candidate keywords acquired by the word acquisition unit, a designation instruction receiving unit that receives a designation instruction that specifies one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit, and a designation instruction The patent search formula correcting unit that corrects the patent search formula using the candidate keyword and the patent search formula corrected by the patent search formula correcting unit when the correction determination unit determines to correct the patent search formula. And a search unit for searching for patent publications using the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit and outputting each search result when the correction determining unit determines not to correct It is.

  With this configuration, it is determined whether correction of the patent search formula is necessary according to the keyword included in the patent search formula, and if it is determined that it is necessary, the patent search using the candidate keyword before the search If it is possible to correct the formula and it is determined that the formula is unnecessary, the patent search can be performed with the patent search formula as it is, so that a search using an appropriate patent search formula can be easily performed. For example, if the patent search formula entered by the user does not require correction, the search is performed using the patent search formula as it is, but if correction is required, a keyword to be considered for addition can be proposed to the user. The quality of patent search can be maintained at a high level regardless of the skill of the user.

  The patent search device of the present invention is a patent search device in which, in the patent search device, the correction determination unit determines to correct only when the related term search unit can detect one or more related terms.

  With this configuration, it is possible to easily perform a search using an appropriate patent search formula without unnecessarily performing a process of selecting candidate keywords.

  The patent search device of the present invention is characterized in that, in the patent search device, one or more terms included in the technical document information, which is information indicating a technical document, and code information indicating a classification of the patent for the technical document information Patent search that is a search expression that includes at least one patent classification code information storage unit that stores one or more patent classification code information corresponding to each technical document information, and at least one keyword that is a term used for the search A search expression receiving section for receiving an expression; a patent classification code information searching section for searching for patent classification code information associated with a term that satisfies a condition indicated by a keyword included in the patent search expression; A correction determination unit for determining whether or not to correct the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit according to the search result of the classification code information search unit; and a correction determination unit When it is determined to be corrected, the patent classification code information associated with the term that satisfies the condition indicated by the keyword is stored in the patent classification code information storage unit as one or more candidates for the patent classification code information used in the patent search formula. A candidate code information acquisition unit acquired as candidate code information, a candidate code information display unit that displays one or more candidate code information acquired by the candidate code information acquisition unit, and one of the candidate code information acquired by the candidate code information acquisition unit It is determined that a specification instruction receiving unit that receives a specification instruction that is an instruction for specifying the above, a patent search expression correction unit that corrects a patent search expression using candidate code information specified by the specification instruction, and a correction determination unit If the patent search formula is corrected by the patent search formula correction unit, the patent gazette is searched and the correction determination unit determines that the correction is not to be performed. Perform a search of patent publications using the search expression reception unit receives patent search expression, a patent search system and a search unit that outputs each result.

  With this configuration, it is determined whether or not the patent search formula needs to be corrected according to the keywords included in the patent search formula. If it is determined that the patent search formula is necessary, the patent using the candidate code information before the search is determined. The search formula can be modified, and if it is determined to be unnecessary, a patent search can be performed with the patent search formula as it is, so that a search using an appropriate patent search formula can be easily performed. . For example, if the patent search formula entered by the user does not require correction, the search is performed using the patent search formula as it is. If correction is required, the candidate code information to be considered for addition should be proposed to the user. Therefore, the quality of patent search can be maintained at a high level regardless of the skill of the user.

  Further, the patent search device of the present invention is characterized in that, in the patent search device, the correction determination unit has a search formula according to the number of appearances of each patent category code information of the patent category code information searched by the patent category code information search unit. It is a patent search device that determines whether or not to correct a patent search formula received by a receiving unit.

  With this configuration, it is possible to prevent correction of the patent search formula using patent classification code information that is not important according to the number of appearances.

  Further, in the patent search device of the present invention, in the patent search device, the correction determination unit uses a patent search formula for the number of appearances of each patent category code information of the patent category code information searched by the patent category code information search unit. A patent search device that determines whether to correct a patent search formula according to the ratio of the number of technical document information including a term matching the included keyword or the number of patent classification code information associated with the technical document information. .

  With this configuration, it is possible to prevent correction of the patent search formula using patent classification code information that is not important according to the ratio of the number of appearances.

  In the patent search device of the present invention, in the patent search device, the patent classification code information storage unit includes information indicating one or more terms included in the technical document information and an appearance frequency of the terms in the technical document information. Certain term appearance frequency information and one or more patent classification code information regarding technical document information are stored in association with each technical document information, and the correction determination unit is searched by the patent classification code information search unit. Uses the value indicated by the term appearance frequency information paired with each patent classification code information, and obtains the value obtained by performing a pre-designated operation for each patent classification code information as the number of appearances for each patent classification code information. This is a patent search device.

  With this configuration, the appearance frequency of terms in the technical document can be reflected in the correction of the patent search formula, and it is possible to determine the necessity of more appropriate correction.

  In the patent search device of the present invention, in the patent search device, the patent classification code information storage unit includes information indicating one or more terms included in the technical document information and an appearance frequency of the terms in the technical document information. Certain term appearance frequency information and one or more patent classification code information regarding technical document information are stored in association with each technical document information, and the correction determination unit is searched by the patent classification code information search unit. Whether or not to modify the patent search formula according to the value obtained by performing a predesignated operation for each patent classification code information using the value indicated by the term appearance frequency information paired with each patent classification code information It is a patent search device for judging.

  With this configuration, the appearance frequency of terms in the technical document can be reflected in the correction of the patent search formula, and it is possible to determine the necessity of more appropriate correction.

  Further, the patent search device of the present invention is the above patent search device, wherein the correction determination unit corrects when the patent classification code information associated with the term matching the keyword included in the patent search formula cannot be detected. This is a patent search device that determines whether or not to do so.

  With this configuration, it is possible to easily perform a search using an appropriate patent search formula without unnecessarily performing a process of selecting candidate code information.

  According to the patent search formula generation device and the like according to the present invention, it is possible to easily perform a search using an appropriate patent search formula.

Block diagram of patent search apparatus 1 in the present embodiment Flow chart for explaining the operation of the patent search device The figure which shows an example of the related term information of the patent search device The figure which shows an example of the input screen of the patent search type | formula of the patent search device The figure which shows the acquisition related term management table of the patent retrieval device The figure which shows the acquisition related term management table after additional writing of the patent retrieval device The figure which shows the example of a display of the candidate keyword of the patent search device The figure which shows the term management table of the patent retrieval device The figure which shows the patent classification code information management table of the patent search device The figure which shows the international patent classification of the patent retrieval device The figure which shows the calculation result of the appearance frequency of the patent search device The figure which shows the example of a display of the candidate code information of the patent search device The figure which shows the output example of the search result of the patent search device The figure which shows the term management table of the patent retrieval device The figure which shows the management information of the patent search device The figure which shows the weighting value according to the international patent classification of the patent search device The figure which shows an example of the external appearance of the computer system in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of a structure of the computer system in the embodiment

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

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a patent search apparatus 1 in the present embodiment.

  The patent search apparatus 1 includes a related term information storage unit 101, a patent classification code information storage unit 102, a search formula reception unit 103, a related term search unit 104, a patent classification code information search unit 105, a correction determination unit 106, and a candidate keyword acquisition unit. 107, a candidate keyword display unit 108, a candidate code information acquisition unit 109, a candidate code information display unit 110, a designation instruction reception unit 111, a patent search formula correction unit 112, and a search unit 113.

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

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

  The patent classification code information storage unit 102 includes one or more terms included in the technical document information, which is information indicating a technical document, and one or more patent classifications, which are code information indicating the classification of the patent for the technical document information. Code information is stored in association with each technical document information.

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

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

  The term and the patent classification code information are associated with each technical document information. For example, the term included in each technical document information included in one or more technical document information and the patent classification for the technical document information. Code information is associated with each technical document information. However, it does not matter whether the correspondence with the corresponding technical document information is known. The association between the term and the technical document information described here may be associated directly or indirectly. For example, one or more pieces of technical document information, terms included in each piece of technical document information, and patent classification code information for each piece of technical document information may be associated with each other. Further, for example, one or more terms included in one or more technical document information may be associated with one or more patent classification code information for each technical document information. Further, for example, technical document information is associated with one or more term groups included in the technical document information, and further, the technical document information is associated with one or more patent classification code information groups for the technical document information. It may be attached. The term and the patent classification code information are associated with the technical document information. For example, the term and the patent classification code information are information for identifying the technical document information, for example, an ID assigned to the technical document information, or the technical document information. It may be associated with the name or the like. The identification information assigned to the technical document information may be an ID assigned to the technical document information according to a certain rule or random, and if the technical document information is a patent publication or the like, a publication number or an application number Etc. Alternatively, it may be a file name of technical document information. The fact that the term and the patent classification code information are associated with each technical document information means that, for example, the identification information of one technical document information, one term included in one technical document information, It may be considered that the patent classification code information is managed as values of a plurality of fields of one record of the database. Alternatively, a relational database is obtained by combining management information that associates technical document information with terms included in the technical document information, and management information that associates technical document information with patent classification code information included in the technical document information. The term and the patent classification code information may be managed for each technical document information. Note that it is preferable that duplicate values are deleted from terms and patent classification codes associated with one piece of technical document information. The patent classification code information storage unit 102 may be physically configured with a plurality of storage media and the like.

  The patent classification code information storage unit 102 includes one or more terms as described above included in the technical document information, term appearance frequency information that is information indicating the appearance frequency of the term in the technical document information, One or more patent classification code information as described above for the technical document information may be stored in association with each technical document information. As long as the term appearance frequency information is information that can represent the appearance frequency of the term, the term appearance frequency information may be a value indicating the appearance frequency, or may be information of a character string indicating the appearance frequency. . The term frequency information includes, for example, the number of times a term appears in one technical document information divided by the number of terms included in the technical document information and the number of morphemes included in the technical document information. Or information indicating a value obtained by dividing by the number of characters included in the technical document information. The number of morphemes can be obtained by performing morphological analysis on the technical document information. The number of terms can be acquired by counting the number of terms that match each term stored in the patent classification code information storage unit 102. The term appearance frequency information was obtained by appropriately displaying the value obtained by division as a percentage, expressing the value obtained by division as a percentage, or performing statistical processing such as standardization. It may be a value. Further, the value obtained by division may be converted into term appearance frequency information of a character string such as “high” or “low” by separating using one or more threshold values. . The term appearance frequency information may be information indicating the number of appearances. The term appearance frequency information stored in the patent classification code information storage unit 102 may be acquired in any way. For example, after acquiring terms by morphological analysis, etc. from multiple technical document information, the number of terms that match each term was acquired when searching in the technical document information that acquired the terms, or when acquiring terms Acquired by counting the number of duplicate terms. Furthermore, the number of all terms (or a part designated in advance) included in the technical document information, the number of morphemes, or the number of characters is acquired. Then, the term appearance frequency information may be acquired by dividing the number of terms matching each term by the number of terms in the acquired technical document information or by dividing the divided value.

  There is no limitation on the process of storing terms and patent classification code information in the patent classification code information storage unit 102. The patent classification code information storage unit 102 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The search expression receiving unit 103 receives a patent search expression that is a search expression having at least one keyword that is a term used for the search. The patent search formula is a search formula used for searching patent gazettes. The patent search formula may be considered as a search query for search. The patent search formula is information indicating a logical formula composed of, for example, one or more keywords and a combination of the one or more keywords, an operator for specifying a search order, and the like. The patent search formula may further include one or more patent classification code information. In this case, the patent search formula is, for example, a combination of one or more keywords, one or more patent classification code information, a combination of these keywords and patent classification code information, an operator for specifying a search order, and the like. Is a logical expression composed of An operator that specifies how to combine a plurality of keywords and patent classification code information is, for example, which keyword or patent classification code information of a plurality of keywords and patent classification code information hits, and which keyword or patent classification code It is an operator that specifies whether or not the search result is information that does not hit information. The operator is, for example, an operator that specifies whether the search is an AND search, an OR search, or a NOT search. For example, “*”, “+”, “−”, “(” , “)” And the like are used. Here, the patent search formula may be composed of only one keyword. Also, a plurality of keywords and patent classification code information may be separated by a control symbol such as a space or TAB. The interpretation of control symbols such as spaces in this case differs depending on the specifications of a so-called search engine used for search, default settings, and the like.

  Note that there is no limitation on the timing, trigger, or the like at which the search expression receiving unit 103 receives the patent search expression. For example, this keyword may be accepted as a patent search expression when one or more keywords are determined by a character string input by a user in a search field, a search box, or the like. In addition, after a character string is input to a search field, a search box, or the like, a character string input so far may be accepted as a patent search expression when a character string specified in advance such as a space is input. . Further, every time a character string having a number of characters specified in advance is input, the character string may be accepted as a search patent search expression. In such a case, candidate keywords displayed by the candidate keyword display unit 108 to be described later may be displayed as a so-called pop-up screen, drop-down list, pop-up list, or the like. The character string here may include numbers, symbols, and the like.

  Note that the search expression receiving unit 103 may receive the patent search expression corrected by the patent search expression correcting unit 112 described later again as necessary. For example, a patent search formula corrected by using a related term by the patent search formula correction unit 112, which will be described later, may be accepted again in order to determine whether or not to correct the patent classification code information.

  Acceptance refers to accepting information input from an input device such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel, receiving information transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line, and reading from a recording medium such as an optical disk, magnetic disk, or semiconductor memory. It is a concept that includes accepting information that has been issued. The input means may be anything such as a numeric keypad, keyboard, mouse or menu screen. The search expression receiving unit 103 can be realized by a device driver of input means such as a numeric keypad or a keyboard, control software for a menu screen, and the like.

  The related term search unit 104 searches the related term information for related terms associated with terms that match the keywords included in the patent search formula. The related term search unit 104 may search for related terms that do not include a character string that matches each keyword included in the patent search formula among the related terms. By doing in this way, acquisition of the related term which overlaps with the keyword which the user input, or contains the overlapping part can be reduced. Since related terms are also terms, when searching from related term information, use related terms in related term information as terms and use terms in related term information as related terms. It goes without saying that related terms associated with terms that match the received keyword may be searched. The related term search unit 104 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the related term search unit 104 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The patent classification code information search unit 105 searches the patent classification code information storage unit 102 for patent classification code information associated with a term that satisfies a search condition indicated by one or more keywords included in the patent search formula. For example, a term satisfying a logical relationship indicated by one or more keywords included in the patent search formula is detected, and patent classification code information associated with the term is acquired. For example, if the keyword included in the patent search formula indicates a search condition of keyword A + keyword B, the patent classification code information search unit 105 may search for a patent classification associated with a term that matches at least one of keyword A or keyword B. Retrieve code information. The patent classification code information search unit 105 may search for patent classification code information that does not match each patent classification code already included in the patent search formula among the patent classification code information. By doing in this way, acquisition of the patent classification code which overlaps with the patent classification code which the user input can be reduced.

  In addition, when the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103 is corrected according to the search result of the related terms by the patent search formula correcting unit 112 described later, the patent classification code information searching unit 105 is corrected. The patent retrieval formula may be retrieved by the patent classification code information retrieval unit. In the present embodiment, the patent search formula once accepted by the search formula accepting unit 103 is the patent accepted by the search formula accepting unit 103 even when the process such as one or more corrections is received. Think of it as a search expression. That is, the patent classification code information search unit 105 may not directly use the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103 for the search. In the present embodiment, the patent search formula corrected by the patent search formula correction unit 112 using the related terms or the like is searched to determine whether to correct the patent search formula using the patent classification code information. The patent acceptance formula 103 may accept the patent search formula again, and the patent classification formula information retrieval unit 105 may use the patent retrieval formula as a search target patent search formula. It may be corrected using code information.

  The patent classification code information search unit 105 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the patent classification code information search unit 105 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The correction determination unit 106 determines whether to correct the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103 according to the search result of the related term search unit 104. The determination as to whether or not to correct a patent search formula may be considered as a determination as to whether or not to propose correction of a patent search formula, or as a determination as to whether or not to display candidate keywords to be described later. good. The determination according to the search result of the related term search unit 104 may be, for example, a determination based on a result indicating whether or not one or more related terms are detected (hit) by the search. The related term search unit 104 may make a determination according to the related term detected by the search. The determination according to the related term is, for example, a determination according to the attribute or number of the related term. The correction determining unit 106 may determine whether or not to correct each keyword included in the patent search formula, or may determine whether or not to correct all keywords.

  For example, the correction determination unit 106 determines that the patent search expression is not corrected when the related term search unit 104 cannot detect the related term associated with the term matching the keyword by the search, and searches for the related term. It is determined that the correction is made only when the unit 104 can detect one or more related terms. Further, the correction determination unit 106 determines that the correction is made when the related term search unit 104 can search one or more related terms other than the related term including the character string that matches the keyword included in the patent search formula. If not, it may be determined not to be corrected.

  Further, the correction determination unit 106 determines whether to correct the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103 according to the search result of the patent classification code information search unit 105. The determination as to whether or not to correct the patent search formula may be considered as determination as to whether or not to propose correction of the patent search formula, or as determination as to whether or not candidate code information to be described later is displayed. Also good. The determination according to the search result of the patent classification code information search unit 105 may be, for example, a determination based on a result indicating whether or not one or more patent classification code information is detected by the search. Alternatively, the patent classification code information search unit 105 may make a determination using the patent classification code information detected by the search. The determination using the patent classification code information is, for example, a determination according to the attribute or number of the detected patent classification code information.

  For example, when the patent classification code information search unit 105 cannot detect the patent classification code information associated with the term that matches the keyword included in the patent search formula, the correction determination unit 106 determines that the correction is not performed. If it can be detected, it may be determined to be corrected. Further, the correction determination unit 106 determines that the correction is made when the patent classification code information search unit 105 can search one or more patent classification code information other than the patent classification code information that matches the keyword included in the patent search formula. If it is not possible, it may be determined not to be corrected.

  In addition, the correction determination unit 106 determines the patent search formula received by the search formula reception unit 103 according to the number of appearances of each patent classification code information of the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105, for example. Judge whether to modify. The number of appearances for each patent classification code information corresponds to the number of technical document information corresponding to the same patent classification code information detected by the search. The determination according to the number of appearances is to determine according to the value of the number of appearances, for example. For example, the correction determination unit 106 counts the number of appearances of the same patent classification code information for each of the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105, and the count result (that is, the number of appearances) is designated in advance. If there are more than the numbers, it is decided to correct them.

  For example, the correction determination unit 106 may determine whether or not to correct the patent search formula according to the ratio of the number of appearances of each searched patent classification code information. For example, the correction determination unit 106 includes technical document information including a term that matches the keyword included in the patent search formula of the number of appearances of each patent classification code information of the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105. It is determined whether to modify the patent search formula according to the number or the ratio to the number of patent classification code information associated with the technical document information. The patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 here is, for example, patent classification code information searched for each keyword included in the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103. In addition, the number of pieces of technical document information including terms that match the keyword refers to the number of pieces of technical document information associated with the terms stored in the patent classification code information storage unit 102 when searching for patent classification code information. This is the number of pieces of technical document information including terms that satisfy the search condition indicated by the keyword used in. The number of patent classification code information associated with the technical document information including the term matching the keyword is the number of technical document information associated with the term stored in the patent classification code information storage unit 102. , The number of patent classification code information associated with a term that satisfies the search condition indicated by the keyword used when searching for patent classification code information. The above ratio may be considered as the appearance frequency of technical document information associated with each patent classification code information in all search results.

  In addition, as described above, term appearance frequency information represented by numerical values is stored in association with a term in the patent classification code information storage unit 102, and the number of occurrences for each patent classification code information In the case of determining whether or not to correct according to the ratio of the number of appearances, the correction determining unit 106 uses the term appearance frequency that forms a pair with each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information searching unit 105. A value obtained by performing a calculation specified in advance for each patent classification code information using the value indicated by the information is acquired as the number of appearances for each patent classification code information used when calculating the above-described ratio ( May be used). The calculation designated in advance is, for example, a calculation that adds up the values indicated by the term appearance frequency information. Specifically, the patent classification code information and the term appearance frequency information associated with the term satisfying the search condition indicated by the keyword included in the patent search formula retrieved by the patent classification code information search unit 105 are corrected. The unit 106 may acquire the sum of the term appearance frequency information for each patent classification code information as the number of appearances for each patent classification code information. This number of appearances may be considered as a value (number of appearances) obtained by weighting one patent classification code information with term appearance frequency information paired therewith and counting. The term appearance frequency information paired with the patent classification code information is associated with, for example, the patent classification code information in the term appearance frequency information stored in the above-described patent classification code information storage unit 102. Term appearance frequency information associated with the same technical document information as the existing technical document information. By using term appearance frequency information, for example, the number of technical document information including patent classification code information is counted by a value weighted by the appearance frequency of terms that satisfy the search condition indicated by the keyword included in each technical document information. The appearance frequency of terms that satisfy the search condition indicated by the keyword can be reflected in the correction determination.

  The correction determination unit 106 uses each value of the patent classification code using a value indicated by the term appearance frequency information paired with each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 instead of using the above-described ratio. It may be determined whether or not the patent search formula is to be corrected according to a value obtained by performing a calculation designated in advance for each information. For example, it may be determined whether or not the correction is made based on whether or not the sum of the term appearance frequency information for each patent classification code information exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

  The correction determination unit 106 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the correction determination unit 106 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The candidate keyword acquiring unit 107, when the correction determining unit 106 determines that the correction is to be made, from the related term information, the related term associated with the term that matches the keyword included in the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103 Are obtained as candidate keywords that are candidates for keywords used in the patent search formula. Candidate keyword acquisition unit 107 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the candidate keyword acquisition unit 107 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The candidate keyword display unit 108 displays the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 107. The candidate keyword display unit 108 may be considered as including or not including a display device. The candidate keyword display unit 108 can be realized by display device driver software or display device driver software and a display device.

  When the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 determines that the patent classification code information storage unit 102 corrects, the search indicated by the keyword included in the patent search formula received by the search formula reception unit 103 from the patent classification code information storage unit 102 Patent classification code information associated with a qualifying term is acquired as one or more candidate code information that are candidates for patent classification code information used in the patent search formula.

  The candidate code information acquisition unit 109 uses, for example, the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 using the same number of appearances of the patent classification code information (that is, the number of appearances for each patent classification code information). Selectively obtain classification code information. The number of appearances here corresponds to, for example, the number of technical document information corresponding to the same patent classification code information detected by the search.

  Selecting patent classification code information using the number of appearances means, for example, selecting patent classification code information according to the value of the number of appearances. The candidate code information acquisition unit 109 counts, for example, the number of appearances of the same patent classification code information for the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105, and the number of appearances is predetermined using the count result. Patent classification code information up to the order of may be acquired.

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

  In addition, acquisition using the number of appearances may be considered to be acquired using a ratio of the number of appearances. Specifically, it may be considered that patent classification code information is acquired according to the ratio of the number of appearances. According to the ratio, acquiring patent classification code information in descending order of the ratio, acquiring patent classification code information whose ratio exceeds a predetermined threshold, and the like. The ratio is, for example, the candidate code information obtaining unit 109, the number of pieces of patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105, or the number of technical document information including terms that satisfy the search condition indicated by the keyword, or This is the ratio to the number of patent classification code information associated with the technical document information. The keyword described here is a keyword included in the patent search expression received by the search expression receiving unit 103. However, the keyword specified by the specification instruction (keyword specification instruction) received by the specification instruction receiving unit 111 described later may also be included. Specifically, the ratio to the technical document information including the term that satisfies the search condition indicated by the keyword is the keyword of the technical document information that includes the term stored in the patent classification code information storage unit 102. It is a ratio to the number of pieces of technical document information including terms that satisfy the search condition shown. The number of technical document information including terms that satisfy the search condition indicated by the keyword here is associated with, for example, a term that matches at least one of the keywords among the terms stored in the patent classification code information storage unit 102. It may be considered as the number of technical document information. Specifically, it is the number of technical document information associated with a term that satisfies the search condition indicated by the keyword, detected as a result of searching the patent classification code information storage unit 102 using the search condition indicated by the keyword. Further, the above ratio may be the appearance frequency of technical document information associated with each patent classification code information in all search results. For example, the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 counts the number of technical document information associated with the terms satisfying the search condition indicated by the keyword from the search result of the patent classification code information search unit 105, and each patent corresponding to the count result The ratio of the number of classification code information is calculated. Then, for example, the patent classification code information from the highest ratio to the predetermined order is selected. Alternatively, only patent classification code information whose ratio is greater than or equal to a predetermined value specified in advance may be selected. In order to simplify the processing and the like, the number of pieces of patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 is used instead of the number of all technical document information including terms that satisfy the search condition indicated by the keyword. You may do it.

  The candidate code information acquisition unit 109 also includes a patent classification code associated with the technical document information including the terms that satisfy the search condition indicated by the keyword for the number of each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105. Patent classification code information may be selected according to the ratio to the number of information. Specifically, the number of patent classification code information associated with a term that matches at least one of the keywords searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 is counted, and the number of patent classification code information for each count number is counted. The ratio may be used similarly to the above ratio.

  The candidate code information acquisition unit 109 is associated with the same patent classification code information stored in the patent classification code information storage unit 102 as the number of each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105. The patent classification code information may be selected according to the ratio to the number of technical document information. This ratio may be considered as the appearance frequency of the technical document information associated with each searched patent classification code information with respect to the technical document information associated with the same patent classification code information. For example, regarding the technical document information associated with the patent classification code information stored in the patent classification code information storage unit 102 in advance, the number thereof is counted for each patent classification code information and stored in a storage medium (not shown) in advance. Accumulate. Then, for the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105, the number of the patent classification code information is counted, and this count value is associated with the same patent classification code information stored in advance. The ratio of the count value with respect to the number of information is calculated. Then, for example, the patent classification code information from the highest ratio to the predetermined order is selected. Alternatively, only patent classification code information whose ratio is greater than or equal to a predetermined value specified in advance may be selected. Note that the number of technical document information associated with the same patent classification code information as the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 is calculated after the patent classification code information is detected by the search. Anyway.

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

  The candidate code information acquisition unit 109 selects, for example, patent classification code information according to the number of appearances from all of the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105, but the searched patent classification code information The patent classification code information may be selected from a part of the information according to the number of appearances. It should be noted that obtaining the patent classification code information according to the number of appearances by considering the value obtained by standardizing the number of appearances by the number of patent technical documents as the appearance frequency is the patent classification code according to the appearance frequency of the patent classification code information. It may be considered that information is acquired. For example, patent classification code information having a high appearance frequency may be acquired.

  The candidate code information acquisition unit 109 selects and acquires the patent classification code information according to the value obtained by weighting the appearance frequency and the number of appearances described above according to the number of appearances of the term matching the keyword. You may do it. For example, in the patent classification code information storage unit 102, as described above, one or more terms included in the technical document information, and term appearance frequency information that is information indicating the appearance frequency of the term in the technical document information, The one or more patent classification code information regarding the technical document information can be stored in association with each technical document information, and the patent classification code information search unit 105 receives a keyword from the patent classification code information storage unit 102. The patent classification code retrieved by the patent classification code information retrieval unit 105 is retrieved by the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 so as to retrieve a combination of the patent classification code information and the term appearance frequency information associated with the term matching Weights the number of appearances of each information by patent classification code information using the term appearance frequency information paired with the searched patent classification code information Gets performed, in accordance with the number of occurrences in which the acquired, may be selected patent classification code information. The weighting is performed by, for example, multiplying or adding a value for weighting (weighting value) to a value to be weighted (for example, a value serving as a unit for counting patent classification code information). is there. The weighting is performed using the term appearance frequency information described here, specifically, the weighting is performed according to the appearance frequency indicated by the term appearance frequency information. Specifically, the weighting performed here is weighting such that the term appearance frequency information indicating that the term appearance frequency is high becomes heavier. For example, when weighting is performed by multiplication or addition, the term appearance frequency information indicating that the appearance frequency is high means that the value used for weighting is large. Note that weighting using term appearance frequency information may be considered to be weighted using this value when the term appearance frequency information is a value indicating the appearance frequency. Alternatively, a value indicating the appearance frequency prepared in advance in association with the term appearance frequency information is acquired as the keyword appearance frequency information paired with the patent classification code information, and weighting is performed using the acquired value. You may think.

  For example, when the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 tabulates the number of appearances of each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 for each patent classification code information, Weighting may be performed using the value indicated by the term appearance frequency information that forms a pair with the patent classification code information, and may be aggregated. Specifically, the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 uses one patent classification code information when counting the number of appearances of the same patent classification code information for each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105. Instead of counting with the same value such as “once”, it may be counted with a value weighted with a numerical value indicated by the term appearance frequency information paired with each patent classification code information. For example, the value (number of appearances) obtained by weighting one patent classification code information with the term appearance frequency information paired therewith (the number of appearances) is “a value indicated by 1 × term appearance frequency information (= term appearance frequency information)” "It will be times. This “1” is the number of appearances of one patent classification code information. Therefore, a value obtained by counting the number of appearances of the same patent classification code information by weighting indicated by the term appearance frequency information paired with each, for example, the term appearance of each patent classification code information having the same patent classification code information This is the sum of the numerical values indicated by the frequency information.

  Therefore, the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 calculates the total for each patent classification code information of the value indicated by the term appearance frequency information paired with each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 as described above. It may be acquired as the number of appearances for each patent classification code information.

  By weighting according to the appearance frequency of terms in this way, patent classification code information corresponding to technical document information in which the occurrence frequency of terms that match the keyword is high is handled as patent classification code information that is strongly related to the keyword. Thus, the patent classification code can be selected. Thereby, the strength of relevance of this patent classification code information to the keyword can be reflected in the selection of the patent classification code, and the selection with high accuracy is possible.

  Note that the value indicated by the term appearance frequency information is specifically obtained when the term appearance frequency information is a value indicating the appearance frequency, or obtained by performing a predetermined calculation on the value itself. It may be a value. Further, when the term appearance frequency information is a character string or the like indicating the appearance frequency, the term appearance frequency information of the values used for weighting prepared in advance in association with the character string that can be used as the term appearance frequency information in advance. A value acquired using a character string as a keyword is a value corresponding to the term appearance frequency information.

  In the same way as described above, the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 assigns weights to the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105. The patent classification code information up to the rank may be selected. Alternatively, only patent classification code information in which the number of appearances obtained by weighting exceeds a predetermined threshold value may be obtained.

  Further, the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 weights the number of patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 using the term appearance frequency information paired with the searched patent classification code information. The patent classification code information may be selected according to the ratio of the number of appearances for each patent classification code information described above to the number of the patent classification code information acquired. Here, the number of patent classification code information retrieved by the patent classification code information retrieval unit 105 obtained by weighting using the term appearance frequency information forming a set is specifically the patent classification code information retrieval unit. Is the sum of the values indicated by the term appearance frequency information paired with each patent classification code information searched. According to the ratio of the number of appearances, for example, it is to select patent classification code information from a higher ratio to a predetermined rank in order. Alternatively, only patent classification code information having a ratio equal to or higher than a predetermined value may be selected. By using the ratio calculated by weighting, the strength of the association of the patent classification code information with respect to the keyword can be reflected in the selection of the patent classification code information, and the selection can be made with high accuracy.

  In addition, the candidate code information acquisition unit 109, as described above, for each patent classification code information acquired when the correction determination unit 106 determines whether to correct the patent search formula using the patent classification code information. It may be determined whether or not the correction is to be performed using a ratio or the like regarding the number of appearances of or a weighting value. For example, the ratio of the number of appearances here is the same as the ratio of the number of appearances when determining the patent classification code information acquired by the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 described above. It is possible to obtain a result.

  Candidate code information acquisition unit 109 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The candidate code information display unit 110 displays one or more candidate code information acquired by the candidate code information acquisition unit 109. Candidate code information display unit 110 may or may not include a display device. The candidate code information display unit 110 may be realized by display device driver software, or display device driver software and a display device.

  The designation instruction accepting unit 111 accepts a designation instruction (hereinafter also referred to as a keyword designation instruction) that is an instruction for designating one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 107. In addition, the designation instruction receiving unit 111 receives a designation instruction (hereinafter also referred to as a code information designation instruction) that is an instruction for designating one or more candidate code information acquired by the candidate code information acquisition unit 109. However, the designation instruction receiving unit 111 may accept only one of the designation instructions. The candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 107 are specifically candidate keywords displayed by the candidate keyword display unit 108. The one or more candidate code information acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit 107 is candidate code information displayed by the candidate code information display unit 110. The designation instruction accepting unit 111 further accepts an instruction for designating one or more keywords and patent classification code information included in the patent search formula accepted by the search formula accepting unit 103 as a target to be excluded from the patent search formula. May be. The input means may be anything such as a numeric keypad, keyboard, mouse or menu screen. The designation instruction receiving unit 111 can be realized by a device driver for input means such as a numeric keypad or a keyboard, control software for a menu screen, or the like.

  The patent search formula correcting unit 112 corrects the patent search formula using the candidate keyword specified by the specification instruction. The patent search formula correcting unit 112 corrects the patent search formula using the candidate code information specified by the specification instruction. Specifically, to modify the patent search formula is to generate a patent search formula in which the candidate keyword and candidate code information designated by the designation instruction are added as search conditions. In addition, generating a patent search formula that further excludes candidate keywords and candidate code information that are specified as exclusion targets by a designation instruction may be considered as a modification of the patent search formula. The correction of the patent search formula may be considered as an update of the patent search formula.

  When generating a patent search expression, one or more specified by a specification instruction (keyword specification instruction) among candidate keywords searched using one keyword included in the patent search expression received by the search expression receiving unit 103 The candidate keyword is preferably added as an OR condition to one keyword included in the patent search expression received by the search expression receiving unit 103. Further, one or more candidate code information designated by a designation instruction (code information designation instruction) among candidate code information searched using one keyword included in the patent search expression received by the search expression receiving unit 103 is: The AND condition is added to all keywords included in the patent search formula, and the specified candidate code information is added to the patent search formula so as to be the OR condition.

  As an example, the candidate keyword specified for the keyword A1 included in the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103 is the candidate keyword A2, and the keyword B1 included in the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103. Are the candidate keywords B2 and B3, the candidate code information specified for the keyword A is candidate code information C1, and the candidate code information specified for the keyword B is candidate code information C2. The patent search formula correcting unit 112 acquires a patent search formula of (A1 + A2) * (B1 + B2 + B3) * (C1 + C2), for example. However, “+” indicates OR, and “*” indicates AND.

  When patent classification code information is already included in the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103, the specified candidate code information is ANDed with respect to the entire patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103, for example. It may be added so as to satisfy the condition, or it may be added to the existing patent classification code information so as to satisfy the OR condition. It should be noted that the conditions for adding the specified candidate keyword and keyword word to the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103 so as to satisfy the conditions are the patent search received by the search formula receiving unit 103 You may make it determine according to the logical combination relationship etc. of the keyword which comprises an expression, and patent classification code information. Further, how to add to the patent search formula accepted by the search formula accepting unit 103 may be appropriately changed according to the purpose of search, the intention of the searcher, and the like.

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

  The patent search expression correction unit 112 can be usually realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the patent search formula correcting unit 112 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  When the correction determination unit 106 determines that the correction is to be corrected, the search unit 113 searches the patent publication using the patent search expression corrected by the patent search expression correction unit 112 and the correction determination unit 106 determines that the correction is not to be corrected. Is searched for patent publications using the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103, and each search result is output. This means that if there is a corrected patent search formula, the patent publication is searched using the corrected patent search formula, and if there is no corrected patent search formula, the search formula receiving unit 103 receives it. This is a concept that includes searching patent gazettes using a patent search formula. In addition, for example, when the patent search formula correcting unit 112 corrects the patent search formula, when the patent search formula is updated to the corrected patent search formula, the search unit 113 simply returns the final search formula. This is a concept that includes performing a search using a patent search formula obtained in a specific manner. In other words, when the search unit 113 determines that the correction determination unit 106 corrects as a result, the search unit 113 searches the patent publication using the patent search formula corrected by the patent search formula correction unit 112 and the correction determination unit 106 does not correct it. If it is determined, the search formula accepting unit 103 may use the patent search formula accepted by the patent gazette to search the patent gazette. It is not always necessary to switch whether to perform a search. For example, the search unit 113 has a database of patent gazettes. If it is determined from the database to be corrected, the corrected patent search formula is used, and if it is determined not to be corrected, the search formula receiving unit 103 is determined. The patent gazette may be searched using the patent search formula accepted by. Even if a search result is received by sending these patent search expressions or queries corresponding to these patent search expressions to an external patent gazette database or a so-called search engine connected via a network or the like. Good. The search result acquired by the search unit 113 may be information on the entire patent publication detected by the search, or may be partial information. Some of the information is, for example, information on a front page of a patent gazette, or bibliographic information such as a publication number or application number of a patent gazette. Output includes display on a display, projection using a projector, printing on a printer, transmission to an external device, storage in a recording medium, delivery of processing results to other processing devices or other programs, etc. It is a concept that includes. The search unit 113 can be usually realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the search unit 113 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit). The search unit 113 may include a transmission unit, a reception unit, or the like for transmitting a patent search formula or receiving a search result.

  Next, the operation of the patent search apparatus 1 will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  (Step S201) The search expression receiving unit 103 determines whether a patent search expression has been received. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S202. If not accepted, the process returns to step S201. The accepted patent search formula is temporarily stored in a storage medium (not shown).

  (Step S202) The related term search unit 104 substitutes 1 for the counter m.

  (Step S203) The related term search unit 104 determines whether or not the m-th keyword is included in the patent search formula received in step S201. If it is included, the process proceeds to step S204. If it is not included, the process proceeds to step S208.

  (Step S204) Using the m-th keyword included in the patent search formula, the related term search unit 104 searches the related term information storage unit 101 for a related term associated with a term that matches the keyword.

  (Step S205) The related term search unit 104 determines whether or not one or more related terms can be detected. When it can detect, it progresses to step S206, and when it cannot detect, it progresses to step S207. In addition, when it can detect, you may make it accumulate | store in the storage medium etc. which do not illustrate the information (for example, flag information etc.) which shows that the related term was detected.

  (Step S206) The related term search unit 104 temporarily stores the related term detected by the search in association with the mth keyword in a storage medium (not shown).

  (Step S207) The related term search unit 104 increments the value of the counter m by 1. Then, the process returns to step S203.

  (Step S <b> 208) The correction determination unit 106 determines whether or not to correct the patent search formula using the related terms according to the search result of the related term search unit 104. Here, as an example, it is determined whether or not the related term search unit 104 has detected one or more related terms, and if it is detected, it is determined that correction is to be performed, and if not, correction is performed. Judge not to do. For example, if one or more related terms detected by the related term search unit 104 are stored in a storage medium (not shown), it is determined that the related terms have been detected. If no related terms are stored, the related terms are detected. Judge that there was no. Alternatively, when at least one piece of information indicating that the related term described above has been detected is stored, it is determined that the related term has been detected, and when not stored, it is determined that the related term has not been detected. Good. If it is determined that correction is to be performed, the process proceeds to step S209. If it is determined that correction is not to be performed, the process proceeds to step S214.

  (Step S209) The candidate keyword acquisition unit 107 acquires the related terms accumulated in association with the keywords in step S206 as candidate keywords for each associated keyword.

  (Step S210) The candidate keyword display unit 108 displays the candidate keywords acquired in step S209 for each associated keyword.

  (Step S211) The designation instruction receiving unit 111 determines whether or not an instruction (keyword designation instruction) for designating one or more candidate keywords has been accepted. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S213, and if not accepted, the process proceeds to step S212.

  (Step S212) The designation instruction receiving unit 111 determines whether or not an instruction indicating that it is not necessary to add candidate keywords to the patent search formula has been received. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S214. If not accepted, the process returns to step S211.

  (Step S213) The patent search formula correcting unit 112 corrects the patent search formula received in step S201 using the candidate keyword indicated by the designation instruction received in step S211.

  (Step S214) The search formula accepting unit 103 does not need to accept the patent search formula modified in step S213, the patent search formula determined not to be modified in step S208, or the addition of candidate keywords in step S212. The patent search formula is accepted.

  (Step S215) The patent classification code information search unit 105 receives from the patent classification code information storage unit 102 patent classification code information associated with a term that satisfies the search condition indicated by the keyword included in the patent search formula received in step S213. Search for.

  (Step S216) The patent classification code information search unit 105 determines whether one or more patent classification code information has been detected. When it can detect, it progresses to step S217, and when it cannot detect, it progresses to step S218.

  (Step S217) The patent classification code information search unit 105 temporarily stores the patent classification code information detected by the search in a storage medium (not shown). Then, the process proceeds to step S218.

  (Step S218) The correction determination unit 106 determines whether or not to correct the patent search formula using the searched patent classification code information according to the search result of the patent classification code information. Here, as an example, if the patent classification code information search unit 105 has not detected one or more patent classification code information, it is determined that correction is not performed. When one or more patent classification code information is detected, the number of appearances for each patent classification code information for the patent classification code information detected by the patent classification code information search unit 105 is included in the patent search formula. A ratio to the number of pieces of technical document information including terms that match the keyword is calculated, and if one or more of the calculated ratios exceeds a predetermined threshold value, whether or not to correct the patent search formula is determined. If it is not included, it is determined not to be corrected. When the correction is performed, the process proceeds to step S219, and when the correction is not performed, the process proceeds to step S224.

  (Step S219) The candidate code information acquisition unit 109 acquires candidate code information from the patent classification code information accumulated in step S217. Here, for example, patent classification code information for which the ratio for the number of appearances calculated in step S218 is determined to be greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value is acquired for each keyword associated with this patent classification code information.

  (Step S220) The candidate code information display unit 110 displays one or more candidate code information acquired in step S219.

  (Step S221) The designation instruction receiving unit 111 determines whether or not an instruction (code information designation instruction) for designating one or more candidate code information has been received. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S223. If not accepted, the process proceeds to step S222.

  (Step S222) The designation instruction receiving unit 111 determines whether or not an instruction indicating that addition of candidate code information to the patent search formula is unnecessary is received. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S224. If not accepted, the process returns to step S221.

  (Step S223) The patent search formula correcting unit 112 corrects the patent search formula using candidate code information specified by the designation instruction (code information designation instruction) received in step S222. The patent search formula to be corrected is the patent search formula if the patent search formula is corrected in step S213, the patent search formula accepted in step S201 if the patent search formula is not corrected in step S213, and To do.

  (Step S224) The search unit 113 searches for patent publications using a patent search formula. And a search result is acquired. The patent search formula used by the search unit 113 for the search is the patent search formula when the patent search formula is corrected in step S213 or step S223, and the patent search accepted in step S201 when the patent search formula is not corrected. , Proceed to step S225.

  (Step S227) The search unit 113 outputs the search result acquired in step S224. Then, the process ends.

  In addition, after correcting the patent search formula in step S213, instead of proceeding to step S214, for example, after displaying the corrected patent search formula on the candidate keyword display unit 108 or the like, the process returns to step S211 and thereafter In addition, when the user determines that no further correction is necessary for the corrected patent search formula in step S212, the process may proceed to step S214. Note that the processing in step S212 in this case may be considered as an instruction to perform a search using the displayed patent search formula (or an instruction to proceed to a process of determining correction using patent classification code information). The same applies to the processing in steps S221 to S223.

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

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

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a patent search expression input screen.

  First, the user displays an input screen as shown in FIG. 4 on the monitor 40 of the patent search apparatus 1, and the keywords “road” and “GPS” and “G06F 19/00” are used as a patent search formula used for the search. A patent search formula “(road * GPS) * G06F 19/00” including the patent classification code information is input to the keyword input field 41 using a keyboard or the like, and a button 42 for searching for patent publications is provided. It is assumed that the mouse is clicked by operating. This patent search formula is a search formula in which keywords “road” and “GPS” are designated as OR conditions, and this keyword group and patent classification code information “G06F 19/00” are designated as AND conditions.

  When the button 42 is clicked, the search expression receiving unit 103 receives the patent search expression input in the input field 41. Here, the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103 is referred to as a received patent search formula.

  First, the related term search unit 104 acquires “road” as the first keyword among the keywords included in the received patent search formula, and the value of “term” is “from the related term information shown in FIG. Search for related term information that exactly matches "Road". Here, if one or more matching related term information is detected, the related terms of the detected related term information are acquired and temporarily stored in a storage medium (not shown) in association with the keyword “road” used for the search. To do. The association with the keyword is a concept including the association with the identification information of the keyword. Here, the acquired related terms are referred to as acquisition related terms. It should be noted that the “related term” of the related term information shown in FIG. 4 is used as a term, and the “term” of the related term information shown in FIG. 4 is further used as a related term, from the related term information shown in FIG. Needless to say, the value of “term” of the related term information whose value of “related term” completely matches “road” may be acquired as the acquisition related term. In this way, the number of related term information stored in the related term information storage unit 101 can be reduced.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an acquisition related term management table that associates and manages the acquisition related terms acquired by the related term search unit 104 for the keyword “road” included in the received patent search formula and the keywords.

  Note that if a related term corresponding to the keyword “road” cannot be detected by the search, the related term is not acquired and accumulated.

  Further, the related term search unit 104 performs the same search for “GPS” as the second keyword included in the received patent search formula, and when the related term corresponding to the keyword “GPS” is detected, This related term is added to a storage medium (not shown) as an acquisition related term.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an acquisition-related term management table after additional writing.

  Next, the correction determination unit 106 determines whether or not to correct the patent search formula using the related terms according to the search result of the related term search unit 104. Here, specifically, the related term search unit 104 determines whether or not to make corrections based on whether or not one or more related terms have been detected using one or more keywords included in the accepted patent search formula. To do. Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, since one or more related terms can be detected, it is determined that the related terms need to be corrected.

  Therefore, the candidate keyword acquisition unit 107 acquires, from the acquisition related term management table as shown in FIG. 6, the acquisition related terms acquired by the related term search unit 104 by searching as candidate keywords for each associated keyword. To do.

  Then, the candidate keyword display unit 108 displays the acquired candidate keywords on the monitor 40 for each keyword.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of candidate keywords. Here, the candidate keyword list 11 is a candidate keyword corresponding to the first keyword “road”, and the list 12 is a candidate keyword corresponding to the second keyword “GPS”. In list 11 and list 12, “keyword” indicates a keyword included in the accepted patent search formula. In addition, a check box 13 next to each candidate keyword is a check box indicating whether or not the candidate keyword is a designation instruction target. When the candidate keyword is checked, the candidate keyword is used to correct the accepted patent search formula. It is designated as a candidate keyword to be used, and if it is not checked, it is not designated as a candidate keyword used for correction. It is assumed that the check box in the “Keyword” line is checked by default.

  Next, when the user checks the check box 13 of “Roadway” in the list 11 and “Vehicle position detection means” in the list 12 and presses the “Search” button 43, the designation instruction receiving unit 111 displays the keyword A keyword designation instruction for designating a candidate keyword “roadway” corresponding to “road” and a keyword designation instruction for designating a candidate keyword “vehicle position detecting means” corresponding to the keyword “GPS” are received. In response to the keyword designation instruction, the patent search formula correcting unit 112 acquires candidate keywords indicated by the keyword designation instruction and keywords corresponding thereto.

  Then, the patent search formula correcting unit 112 corrects the received patent search formula using the candidate keyword specified by the keyword specifying instruction. Specifically, the keyword associated with the candidate keyword specified by the keyword specification instruction in the accepted patent search formula is combined with this keyword and the candidate keyword associated with this keyword using an OR condition. Then, the received patent search formula is corrected by replacing. For example, since the keyword “road” and the candidate keyword “roadway” are associated with each other, “road” in the patent search formula is replaced with “(road + roadway)”. Further, since the keyword “GPS” is associated with the candidate keyword “vehicle position detection means”, “GPS” in the patent search formula is replaced with “(GPS + vehicle position detection means)”. As a result, the accepted patent retrieval formula is corrected to “((road + roadway) * (GPS + vehicle position detection means)) * G06F 19/00”.

  When the user presses the “do not correct” button 44, the designation instruction accepting unit 111 does not accept the keyword designation instruction, and the patent search formula correcting unit 112 does not acquire the candidate keyword, but does the patent search using the candidate keyword. Do not modify the expression.

  Note that when the check box 13 is checked, the designation instruction accepting unit 111 may accept a keyword designation instruction. Then, when the “search” button 43 is pressed, a search is performed using a patent search formula obtained by correcting the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103 using the candidate keyword indicated by the keyword designation instruction (or patent). It is also possible to proceed to a process of determining whether or not to correct the patent search formula with the classification code information). In this case, if no keyword designation instruction has been received, it is only necessary to proceed to the next process using an uncorrected patent search formula, so the “do not modify” button 44 may be omitted.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a term management table that manages the terms stored in the patent classification code information storage unit 102 in association with the publication numbers of patent publications that are technical document information from which the terms are acquired. is there. “Public number” indicates the public number of the patent publication. The “term” indicates a term included in the patent publication.

  FIG. 9 shows the publication number of the patent gazette, which is the technical document information from which the term is acquired, stored in the patent classification code information storage unit 102, and the patent classification code information associated with the patent gazette. It is a figure which shows the patent classification code information management table which matches and manages a certain international patent classification.

  Next, the search formula receiving unit 103 receives a keyword included in the patent search formula corrected by the patent search formula correcting unit 112 using related terms. Then, the patent classification code information search unit 105 uses the patent classification code information based on the search result of the patent classification code information using the keyword included in the patent search formula received by the search formula reception unit 103. It is determined whether or not correction is to be performed.

  Specifically, the keywords “road”, “road”, “GPS”, and “vehicle position detection means” included in the patent search formula corrected using related terms are acquired, and the search conditions indicated by these keywords are satisfied. The public number associated with the term is searched for the term management table shown in FIG. Here, the part constituted by the corrected keyword of the patent search formula is taken out as a search formula, and the public number is searched using this search formula. That is, a search is made for a public number that matches the condition indicated by the search expression “(road + roadway) * (GPS + vehicle position detection means)”. That is, it is a “public number” associated with a “term” that matches either the keyword “road” or “roadway”, and also matches either the candidate keyword “GPS” or “vehicle position detection means” The “public number” associated with the “term” to be searched is searched. Here, as an example, a case where the match is a partial match will be described.

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

  Next, in the patent classification code information management table shown in FIG. 9, the patent classification code information search unit 105 matches the publication number managed in the term management table shown in FIG. The record is detected, and the value of “international patent classification” of the record is acquired. The match here is, for example, complete match. The acquired international patent classification is temporarily stored in a storage medium (not shown).

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the international patent classification acquired by the patent classification code information search unit 105. Here, for convenience of explanation, the publication number associated with the international patent classification is shown alongside the international patent classification, but may be omitted.

  Next, the correction determination unit 106 calculates the appearance frequency of each international patent classification in the detection result of the international patent classification shown in FIG. Here, as an example, all the publication numbers searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 using the term management table of FIG. 8 for the number of appearances of each international patent classification included in the detection result shown in FIG. The ratio to the number is calculated as the appearance frequency. The number of public numbers retrieved from the term management table corresponds to the number of patent publications retrieved.

  Specifically, first, the number of appearances of each international patent classification included in the detection result shown in FIG. 10 is counted. Further, as described above, the patent classification code information search unit 105 counts the number of public numbers searched using the term management table of FIG. Then, the appearance frequency is calculated by dividing the number of appearances by the number of all public numbers.

  For example, in the detection result shown in FIG. 10, if 20 international patent classifications “G01S 5/08” are detected and the number of publication numbers searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 is “80”, The appearance frequency of the patent classification “G01S 5/08” is 20/80 × 100 = 25%.

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

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the calculation result of the appearance frequency.

  Then, the correction determination unit 106 includes an international patent whose appearance frequency shown in FIG. 11 is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold in the international patent classification that is the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105. Determine whether there is a classification. If the correction determination unit 106 determines that there is an object that exceeds the threshold, the correction determination unit 106 determines that correction is necessary. If there is nothing exceeding the threshold, it is considered that correction is unnecessary. For example, if the threshold value is set to 50% in advance, “G01C 21/10”, “G08G 1/133”, and “G01G 1/137” exceed the threshold value. It is determined that correction is necessary.

  Since it is determined that correction is necessary, the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 acquires candidate code information from the international patent classification searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105. Here, out of the searched international patent classifications, the value of the appearance frequency acquired when the correction determination unit 106 determines whether or not to perform correction is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value as candidate code information. get. This threshold value may be the same value as the threshold value used to determine whether or not to correct the patent search formula, or may be a different value. Here, assuming that the same threshold is used, the candidate code information acquisition unit 109 acquires “G01C 21/10”, “G08G 1/133”, and “G01G 1/137”, which are international patent classifications exceeding the threshold.

  Then, the candidate code information display unit 110 displays the acquired one or more candidate code information on the monitor 40.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a display example of candidate code information. The candidate code information display unit 110 displays candidate code information in a list as shown in the figure, for example. A check box 15 next to the candidate code information in the list 14 is a check box indicating whether or not the candidate code information is the target of the designation instruction. If it is not checked, it is not specified as candidate code information used for correction.

  Next, when the user checks the check boxes 15 of “G01C 21/10” and “G08G 1/133” in the list 14 and presses the “search” button 45, the designation instruction receiving unit 111 reads “ G01C 21/10 ”and a code information designation instruction designating“ G08G 1/133 ”are accepted. The patent search formula correcting unit 112 acquires the international patent classification indicated by the code information designation instruction.

  Then, the patent search formula correcting unit 112 corrects the patent search formula using the candidate code information specified by the code information specifying instruction. Here, the accepted patent retrieval formula modified in accordance with the retrieval of related terms is further modified. For example, since the international patent classification is already included in the modified acceptance patent search formula, the acquired “G01C 21/10” and “G08G 1/133” are combined with the existing international patent classification under the OR condition. To do. As a result, for example, “((road + roadway) * (GPS + vehicle position detection means)) * G06F 19/00”, which is a modified acceptance patent search formula, is changed to “((road + roadway) * (GPS + vehicle position). Detection means)) * (G06F 19/00 + G01C 21/10 + G08G 1/133) ”. If there is no existing international patent classification, the acquired international patent classification combined with the OR condition may be combined with the keyword condition input as an AND condition in the existing patent search formula.

  And the search part 113 searches a patent gazette using the corrected patent search type | formula. For example, a corrected patent search formula is transmitted to a search engine of a search site designated in advance via a network such as the Internet, and search result information, for example, a publication number of a patent publication hit by the patent search formula, etc. Get information about. Then, the acquired public number and information on the name of the invention are displayed on the monitor 40 or the like. Alternatively, a file of a patent gazette that hits the patent search formula may be downloaded and stored in a storage medium (not shown).

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an output example of search results by the search unit 113.

  In the above, when the user presses the “do not modify” button 46 instead of pressing the “search” button 45 shown in FIG. 12, the designation instruction receiving unit 111 does not accept the code information designation instruction, and the patent search formula The correction unit 112 does not acquire the candidate code information, and the patent search formula correction unit 112 does not perform correction using the candidate code information of the accepted patent search formula corrected in accordance with the search for the related terms. And the search part 113 searches a patent gazette using the acceptance patent search type | formula corrected according to the search of the related term, and outputs a search result.

  Note that when the check box 15 is checked, the designation instruction receiving unit 111 may accept a code information designation instruction. Then, when the “search” button 45 is pressed, a search is performed using a patent search formula obtained by correcting the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit 103 using the patent classification code information indicated by the code information designation instruction. Anyway. In this case, if the code information designation instruction is not accepted, the search should be performed using an uncorrected patent search formula, and therefore the “do not modify” button 46 may be omitted.

  Here, the correction determination unit 106 determines that the correction of the patent search formula using the related terms as described above is unnecessary, and determines that the correction of the patent search formula using the patent classification code information is unnecessary. In this case, the received patent search formula is not corrected, and the search unit 113 searches the patent publication using the received patent search formula as it is.

  Further, the correction determination unit 106 determines that the correction of the patent search formula using the related terms as described above is necessary, and determines that the correction of the patent search formula using the patent classification code information is unnecessary. In this case, the received patent search formula is appropriately corrected according to the designation instruction for the candidate keyword, and thereafter, the correction using the candidate code information is not performed, and the search unit 113 uses the received patent search formula corrected for the candidate keyword. Search for patent gazettes.

In addition, the correction determination unit 106 determines that the correction of the patent search formula using the related terms as described above is unnecessary, and determines that the correction of the patent search formula using the patent classification code information is necessary. In this case, the received patent search formula using the candidate keyword is not corrected, the received patent search formula is appropriately corrected according to the designation instruction for the candidate code information, and then the search unit 113 is corrected for the candidate code information. Search patent publications using the accepted patent search formula.
(Specific example 2)
In the specific example 1, using the appearance frequency calculated using the value obtained by counting the number of appearances of the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105, In this specific example, the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit 105 is associated with the patent classification code information, and the term appearance frequency information is used to determine whether each correction is necessary. A case will be described in which whether or not correction is necessary is determined using a value obtained by performing an operation designated in advance for each classification code information.

  FIG. 14 manages a publication number, which is identification information of a patent gazette stored in advance in the patent classification code information storage unit 102, a term included in the patent gazette, and term appearance frequency information of each term in association with each other. It is a term management table. “Public number” and “term” are the same as those in FIG. The “number of terms” is the number of terms detected in one patent publication. “Appearance frequency” is term appearance frequency information, and here, the ratio of the number of occurrences of each term to the number of terms appearing in the patent gazette is expressed as a percentage. The terms appearing in the patent gazette here may be considered as all the terms appearing in the patent gazette, or all of the terms excluding some predesignated terms etc. appearing in the patent gazette It may be the number of terms. Moreover, it is good also as all the number of terms contained in the one part area | region (For example, the column of detailed description of an invention etc.) of a patent gazette. The number of terms can be omitted in the term management table.

  In addition, the publication number of the patent gazette from which the term is acquired and stored in the patent classification code information storage unit 102 is associated with the international patent classification that is the patent classification code information associated with the patent gazette. Assume that the patent classification code information management table to be attached is the same as that shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, processing after the processing in which the patent classification code information search unit 105 performs the search will be described. Here, it is assumed that the processes before this are the same as those in the first specific example.

  First, the patent classification code information search unit 105 searches the public number using the keywords included in the accepted patent search formula modified using the candidate keywords, as in the specific example 1 above. This is done for the management table.

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

  Next, in the patent classification code information management table shown in FIG. 9, the patent classification code information search unit 105 matches the publication number managed in the term management table shown in FIG. The record is detected, and the value of “international patent classification” of the record is acquired.

  Here, the correction determination unit 106 associates with the “term” that matches the keyword included in the patent search expression among the “terms” associated with each public number acquired by the patent classification code information retrieval unit 105. The obtained term appearance frequency information is acquired for each public number from the term management table shown in FIG. Then, among the term appearance frequency information, the value of the term appearance frequency information of the term corresponding to the keyword used as the OR condition in the patent search formula is added, and the term of the term corresponding to the keyword used as the AND condition The values of the appearance frequency information are also added, and values used for weighting are obtained for each public number. For example, it is assumed that “road”, “roadway”, and “GPS” in terms corresponding to “JP2004-147...” Match the keyword, and the term appearance frequency information is “0.5”, “0”. .8 ”and“ 0.2 ”. Since “road” and “roadway” are keywords used in the search as OR conditions, the term appearance frequency information is added, and the value is 0.5 + 0.8 = 1.3. In addition, since the combination of “road” and “roadway” and “GPS” are keywords used for search as AND conditions, the term appearance frequency information added above is also added and finally calculated. The value used for weighting is 1.3 + 0.2 = 1.5. The correction determining unit 106 associates the value used for weighting corresponding to the appearance frequency calculated for each public number in this way with the value of the “international patent classification” associated with each public number, not shown. Accumulate in storage media. Here, it is assumed that the match when searching for a “term” that matches the keyword is a complete match. However, it may be a partial match.

  Although the case where the appearance frequency information is added has been described here, for example, in the present embodiment, a predesignated calculation determined according to the logical relationship of keywords in the patent search formula is performed. It may be. For example, for the term appearance frequency information corresponding to the keyword used as the OR condition in the received patent search formula, for example, only the maximum value may be acquired instead of adding. Alternatively, an average value may be obtained. Moreover, when calculating the term appearance frequency information corresponding to the keyword used for the search as the AND condition, for example, multiplication may be performed instead of addition as described above. Further, the minimum value of the term appearance frequency information may be acquired. Alternatively, in any case, calculations specified by other users may be performed.

  FIG. 15 is management information for managing the values used for weighting for each publication number and the international patent classification corresponding to each publication number, acquired and stored by the correction determination unit 106. This management information includes the “weighting value” obtained by the correction determination unit 106 for each publication number, in addition to the diagram showing the international patent classification for each patent publication obtained by the patent classification code information retrieval unit 105 shown in FIG. "Is added. The “weighting value” is a value acquired by the correction determination unit 106 using the term appearance frequency information of the term for each public number as described above. Each of one or more international patent classifications corresponding to one publication number (that is, an international patent classification corresponding to one patent publication) is associated with a weight value acquired for each publication number.

  Next, the correction determination unit 106 adds the weight values associated with the international patent classification shown in FIG. 15 to those having the same international patent classification, that is, for each international patent classification, and adds the added values to the international patent classification. The information is temporarily stored in a storage medium (not shown) in association with the classification.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating the weighting values for each international patent classification acquired by the correction determination unit 106.

  Then, the correction determination unit 106 determines whether or not there is information exceeding a predetermined threshold for information indicating the weighting value for each international patent classification as shown in FIG. If there is an excess, it is determined that the patent search formula is corrected, and if there is no excess, it is determined not to be corrected. Since the following processing is the same as in the first specific example, description thereof is omitted here. If it is determined to be corrected, when the candidate code information acquires the candidate code information, the international code classification acquired using the value indicating the weight of the international patent classification acquired by the correction determination unit 106 in this specific example. The patent classification may be determined.

  For example, the correction determining unit 106 sums up the weight values associated with all the international patent classifications shown in FIG. 15, and uses the total weighting value for each international patent classification shown in FIG. 16. Using the ratios obtained by dividing each, it may be possible to obtain a high patent ratio or an international patent classification in which the ratio is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. The same effect as when the ratio is used in the example is achieved.

  For example, in FIG. 15, the weighting value “1.5” associated with the international patent classification “G01S 5/08” of the publication number “JP2004-147...” And the international patent classification of the publication number “JP2004-147. The weight value “1.5” associated with “G08G 1/133” and the weight value “0.53” associated with the international patent classification “G01S 5/08” of the publication number “JP2004-149. And the weighting value “0.53” associated with the international patent classification “G01C 21/10” of the publication number “JP2004-149...” Are all added, and the total weighting value for each international patent classification The international patent classification may be acquired by using a ratio obtained by dividing each of.

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

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is determined whether or not the patent search formula needs to be corrected according to the keywords included in the patent search formula. It is possible to modify a patent search formula using candidate keywords and candidate code information, and when it is determined that the patent search formula is unnecessary, a patent search can be performed with the patent search formula as it is. The search using can be easily performed.

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

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

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

  Further, although cases have been described with the above embodiments where the patent search device is stand-alone, the patent search device may be a stand-alone device or a server device in a server / client system. In the latter case, the output unit or the reception unit receives an input or outputs a screen via a communication line.

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

  Note that the software that implements the patent search device in each of the above embodiments is the following program. That is, a computer that can access a related term information storage unit that stores one or more related term information having terms and related terms that are terms related to the term, and at least one keyword that is a term used for the search A search expression receiving unit that receives a patent search expression that is a search expression, a related term search section that searches related terms associated with a term that matches a keyword included in the patent search expression, and a related term search Each keyword from the related term information when the correction determination unit determines whether to correct the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit, and the correction determination unit. Candidate keyword retrieval that acquires related terms associated with terms that match as candidate keywords that are candidates for keywords used in patent search formulas A candidate keyword display unit that displays candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit, a designation instruction reception unit that receives a designation instruction that is an instruction for designating one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit, Patent search formula correction unit that corrects patent search formula using candidate keywords specified by instruction, and patent search formula corrected by patent search formula correction unit when it is determined that correction is corrected When a search for a publication is performed and the correction determination unit determines that the correction is not to be performed, the patent search expression received by the search expression receiving unit is used to search for a patent publication and function as a search unit that outputs each search result. It is a program for.

  Further, one or more terms included in the technical document information that is information indicating a technical document and one or more patent classification code information that is information on a code indicating a patent classification for the technical document information are included in the technical document. A search expression accepting unit that accepts a patent search expression that is a search expression having at least one keyword that is a term used for a search, and a computer that can access a patent classification code information storage unit that is stored in association with each information; Patent classification code information retrieval unit that retrieves patent classification code information associated with a term that satisfies the condition indicated by the keyword included in the patent retrieval formula from the patent classification code information storage unit, and a search result of the patent classification code information retrieval unit In response, if the search determination unit determines whether to correct the patent search formula received by the search formula reception unit and the correction determination unit In addition, from the patent classification code information storage unit, patent classification code information associated with a term that satisfies the condition indicated by the keyword is acquired as one or more candidate code information that is a candidate for patent classification code information used in the patent search formula. A candidate code information acquisition unit, a candidate code information display unit that displays one or more candidate code information acquired by the candidate code information acquisition unit, and an instruction that specifies one or more of the candidate code information acquired by the candidate code information acquisition unit A specification instruction receiving unit that receives a specification instruction, a patent search expression correction unit that corrects a patent search expression using candidate code information specified by the specification instruction, and a patent if the correction determination unit determines that the correction is to be corrected The patent formula search unit uses the patent search formula corrected by the patent formula search, and if the correction determination unit determines not to correct it, the search formula reception unit accepts it. With patent search expression to search patent publications, is a program for functioning as a retrieval unit that outputs each result.

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

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

  FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the external appearance of a computer that executes the program and realizes the patent search apparatus according to the embodiment. The above-described embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed on the computer hardware.

  In FIG. 17, a computer system 900 includes a computer 901 including a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) drive 905, an FD (Floppy (registered trademark) Disk) drive 906, a keyboard 902, a mouse 903, a monitor 904, and the like. Is provided.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the computer system 900. In FIG. 18, in addition to the CD-ROM drive 905 and the FD drive 906, a computer 901 is connected to an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, a ROM 912 for storing a program such as a bootup program, and the MPU 911. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 913 that temporarily stores program instructions and provides a temporary storage space, a hard disk 914 that stores application programs, system programs, and data, and an MPU 911 and a ROM 912 are interconnected. And a bus 915. The computer 901 may include a network card (not shown) that provides connection to the LAN.

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

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

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

  As described above, the patent search device according to the present invention is suitable as a search device for searching patent publications and the like, and is particularly useful as a device for searching using a search expression including keywords.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Patent search device 101 Related term information storage part 106 Correction judgment part 102 Patent classification code information storage part 103 Search formula reception part 104 Related term search part 105 Patent classification code information search part 107 Candidate keyword acquisition part 108 Candidate keyword display part 109 Candidate Code information acquisition unit 110 Candidate code information display unit 111 Specification instruction reception unit 111 Patent classification code information selection unit 112 Patent search formula correction unit 113 Search unit

Claims (10)

A related term information storage unit that stores one or more related term information including a term and a related term that is a term related to the term;
A search expression receiving unit that receives a patent search expression that is a search expression having at least one keyword that is a term used in the search;
A related term search unit that searches the related term information for related terms associated with terms that match the keywords included in the patent search formula;
When the related term search unit can detect one or more related terms, it is determined that the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit is to be corrected, and when the related term cannot be detected, the patent search formula is determined. A correction determination unit that determines not to correct,
When the correction determination unit determines that the correction is to be made, the related term associated with the term that matches each keyword is acquired from the related term information as a candidate keyword that is a candidate for a keyword used in a patent search formula. A candidate keyword acquisition unit;
A candidate keyword display unit for displaying the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit;
A designation instruction receiving unit that receives a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit;
A patent search formula correction unit that corrects the patent search formula using candidate keywords specified by the specification instruction;
When the correction determining unit determines that the correction is to be performed, the patent search formula corrected by the patent search formula correcting unit is used to search for a patent publication, and when the correction determining unit determines not to correct, the search formula A patent search device comprising: a search unit that searches patent gazettes using a patent search formula received by a reception unit and outputs each search result. One or more terms included in the technical document information, which is information indicating a technical document, and one or more patent classification code information, which is information on a code indicating a patent classification for the technical document information, are the technical document. Patent classification code information storage unit stored in association with each information,
A search expression receiving unit that receives a patent search expression that is a search expression having at least one keyword that is a term used in the search;
A patent classification code information retrieval section for retrieving the patent classification code information keywords associated with satisfying terms denoting included in the patent search formula from the patent classification code information storage unit, the patent classification code information retrieval section A correction determination unit that determines whether or not to correct the patent search formula received by the search formula reception unit according to the number of appearances of each searched patent classification code information for each patent classification code information ;
Patent classification code information used in a patent search formula is obtained from the patent classification code information storage unit when the correction judgment unit determines that the patent classification code information is associated with a term that satisfies the condition indicated by the keyword. A candidate code information acquisition unit that acquires one or more candidate code information as candidates for
A candidate code information display unit for displaying one or more candidate code information acquired by the candidate code information acquisition unit;
A designation instruction receiving unit that receives a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more of the candidate code information acquired by the candidate code information acquisition unit;
A patent search formula correction unit that corrects the patent search formula using candidate code information specified by the specification instruction;
When the correction determining unit determines that the correction is to be performed, the patent search formula corrected by the patent search formula correcting unit is used to search for a patent publication, and when the correction determining unit determines not to correct, the search formula A patent search device comprising: a search unit that searches patent gazettes using a patent search formula received by a reception unit and outputs each search result. The number of technical document information including a term that matches the keyword included in the patent search formula of the number of appearances of each patent classification code information of the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit. 3. The patent search apparatus according to claim 2, wherein it is determined whether or not to correct the patent search formula according to a ratio to the number of patent classification code information associated with the technical document information. The patent classification code information storage unit includes the one or more terms included in the technical document information, term appearance frequency information that is information indicating the appearance frequency of the term in the technical document information, and the technical document information. And the one or more patent classification code information are stored in association with each technical document information,
The correction determination unit
A value obtained by performing a calculation specified in advance for each patent classification code information using a value indicated by the term appearance frequency information paired with each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit, Patent Search device according to claim 2 or claim 3 wherein said obtaining as each patent classification code information by the number of occurrences. The patent classification code information storage unit includes the one or more terms included in the technical document information, term appearance frequency information that is information indicating the appearance frequency of the term in the technical document information, and the technical document information. And the one or more patent classification code information are stored in association with each technical document information,
The correction determination unit
According to a value obtained by performing an operation designated in advance for each patent classification code information using a value indicated by term appearance frequency information paired with each patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit The patent search apparatus according to claim 2, wherein it is determined whether to correct the patent search formula. The patent search device according to claim 2 , wherein the correction determination unit determines that the correction is not performed when the patent classification code information associated with the term matching the keyword included in the patent search formula cannot be detected. A related term information storage unit that stores one or more related term information having a term and a related term that is a term related to the term, a search expression reception unit, a related term search unit, a correction determination unit, and a candidate Patent search method performed using a keyword acquisition unit, a designation instruction receiving unit, a patent search formula correction unit, and a search unit,
A search expression receiving step for receiving a patent search expression that is a search expression in which the search expression receiving unit has at least one keyword that is a term used in the search;
A related term search step in which the related term search unit searches the related term information for a related term associated with a term that matches a keyword included in the patent search formula;
The correction determining unit, when said could detect one or more related terms Ri by the related terms search step, determines to correct the patent search formula accepted by the search expression accepting step, it can not be detected related terms A correction determination step for determining that the patent search formula is not corrected when
When the candidate keyword acquisition unit determines that the correction is to be made in the correction determination step, the related term associated with the term that matches each keyword is selected from the related term information as a keyword candidate used in a patent search formula. A candidate keyword acquisition step for acquiring as a candidate keyword,
A candidate keyword display step in which the candidate keyword display unit displays the candidate keyword acquired in the candidate keyword acquisition step;
A designation instruction accepting step for accepting a designation instruction which is an instruction for the designation instruction accepting unit to designate one or more of the candidate keywords acquired in the candidate keyword acquiring step;
The patent search formula correction step, wherein the patent search formula correction unit corrects the patent search formula using candidate keywords specified by the specification instruction;
When the search unit determines that the correction is determined in the correction determination step, the patent search is performed using the patent search expression corrected in the patent search expression correction step, and the correction determination step determines that the correction is not performed. Includes a search step of searching for a patent publication using the patent search formula received in the search formula receiving step and outputting each search result. One or more terms included in the technical document information, which is information indicating a technical document, and one or more patent classification code information, which is information on a code indicating a patent classification for the technical document information, are the technical document. Patent classification code information storage unit stored in association with each information, search formula reception unit, patent classification code information search unit, correction determination unit, candidate code information acquisition unit, candidate code information display unit, A patent search method performed using a designation instruction receiving unit, a patent search formula correcting unit, and a search unit,
A search expression receiving step for receiving a patent search expression that is a search expression in which the search expression receiving unit has at least one keyword that is a term used in the search;
A patent classification code information search step in which the patent classification code information search unit searches the patent classification code information storage unit for patent classification code information associated with a term that satisfies a condition indicated by a keyword included in the patent search formula; ,
The correction determining unit, according to the patent classification code information by the number of occurrences of patent classification code information retrieved Ri by the patent classification code information searching step, modifying a patent search formula accepted by the search expression accepting step A correction determination step for determining whether or not,
When the candidate code information acquisition unit determines that the correction is performed in the correction determination step, the patent search is performed for patent classification code information associated with a term that satisfies the condition indicated by the keyword from the patent classification code information storage unit. A candidate code information acquisition step of acquiring as one or more candidate code information to be candidates for patent classification code information used in the formula;
A candidate code information display step in which the candidate code information display unit displays one or more candidate code information acquired in the candidate code information acquisition step;
A designation instruction accepting step for accepting a designation instruction, wherein the designation instruction accepting unit designates one or more of the candidate code information acquired in the candidate code information acquiring step;
The patent search formula correcting step, wherein the patent search formula correction unit corrects the patent search formula using candidate code information designated by the designation instruction;
When the search unit determines that the correction is determined in the correction determination step, the patent search is performed using the patent search expression corrected in the patent search expression correction step, and the correction determination step determines that the correction is not performed. Includes a search step of searching for a patent publication using the patent search formula received in the search formula receiving step and outputting each search result. A computer capable of accessing a related term information storage unit in which one or more related term information having a term and a related term that is a term related to the term is stored;
A search expression receiving unit that receives a patent search expression that is a search expression having at least one keyword that is a term used in the search;
A related term search unit that searches the related term information for related terms associated with terms that match the keywords included in the patent search formula;
When the related term search unit can detect one or more related terms, it is determined that the patent search formula received by the search formula receiving unit is to be corrected, and when the related term cannot be detected, the patent search formula is determined. A correction determination unit that determines not to correct,
When the correction determination unit determines that the correction is to be made, the related term associated with the term that matches each keyword is acquired from the related term information as a candidate keyword that is a candidate for a keyword used in a patent search formula. A candidate keyword acquisition unit;
A candidate keyword display unit for displaying the candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit;
A designation instruction receiving unit that receives a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more candidate keywords acquired by the candidate keyword acquisition unit;
A patent search formula correction unit that corrects the patent search formula using candidate keywords specified by the specification instruction;
When the correction determining unit determines that the correction is to be performed, the patent search formula corrected by the patent search formula correcting unit is used to search for a patent publication, and when the correction determining unit determines not to correct, the search formula A program for causing a patent publication to be searched using a patent search expression received by a reception unit and functioning as a search unit for outputting each search result. One or more terms included in the technical document information, which is information indicating a technical document, and one or more patent classification code information, which is information on a code indicating a patent classification for the technical document information, are the technical document. A computer that can access the patent classification code information storage unit stored in association with each information,
A search expression receiving unit that receives a patent search expression that is a search expression having at least one keyword that is a term used in the search;
A patent classification code information search unit that searches the patent classification code information storage unit for patent classification code information associated with a term that satisfies the condition indicated by the keyword included in the patent search formula;
A correction determination for determining whether or not to correct the patent search formula accepted by the search formula acceptance unit according to the number of appearances of each patent classification code information of the patent classification code information searched by the patent classification code information search unit And
Patent classification code information used in a patent search formula is obtained from the patent classification code information storage unit when the correction judgment unit determines that the patent classification code information is associated with a term that satisfies the condition indicated by the keyword. A candidate code information acquisition unit that acquires one or more candidate code information as candidates for
A candidate code information display unit for displaying one or more candidate code information acquired by the candidate code information acquisition unit;
A designation instruction receiving unit that receives a designation instruction that is an instruction to designate one or more of the candidate code information acquired by the candidate code information acquisition unit;
A patent search formula correction unit that corrects the patent search formula using candidate code information specified by the specification instruction;
When the correction determining unit determines that the correction is to be performed, the patent search formula corrected by the patent search formula correcting unit is used to search for a patent publication, and when the correction determining unit determines not to correct, the search formula A program for causing a patent publication to be searched using a patent search expression received by a reception unit and functioning as a search unit for outputting each search result.

Images