JP6777445B2 - Citation map generator, citation map generation method and computer program - Google Patents

Description

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

Reference information, which is information on cited references or cited documents, is extracted from an externally specified target, and each time reference information is extracted, the extracted reference information is newly set as a target to extract reference information. A document information display device has been proposed that repeatedly displays reference information extracted in a potato-type manner as a result in relation to a target (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2009-116536

The document information display device of Patent Document 1 displays a citation relationship starting from a specific target (patent document) designated via an input unit. The present inventor presents to the user a citation map in which the documents are related to each other based on the citation relationship for the plurality of documents extracted by the search conditions specified by the user, so that the plurality of documents extracted by the search can be obtained. I thought it would be easier for the user to intuitively understand the relationship.

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

In order to solve the above problem, the citation map generation device of a certain aspect of the present invention is specified from a plurality of documents that are conditions input by the user and may have a citation relationship with other documents. An acquisition unit that acquires the conditions for extracting the documents of the above, a search unit that extracts a plurality of documents that satisfy the conditions acquired by the acquisition unit from a plurality of documents stored in a predetermined storage unit, and a search unit. When a citation map is generated, which is an image in which a plurality of objects showing a plurality of extracted documents extracted by the above are arranged, and a citation relationship is established between the first extracted document and the second extracted document, A generation unit that generates a citation map in which an object indicating the first extracted document and an object indicating the second extracted document are arranged in association with each other, and an output unit that presents the citation map generated by the generation unit to the user. Be prepared.

Another aspect of the present invention is a citation map generation method. This method includes a step of obtaining a condition for extracting a specific document from a plurality of documents that are input by the user and may have a citation relationship with another document, and a predetermined method. From the plurality of documents stored in the storage unit, a step of extracting a plurality of documents satisfying the conditions acquired in the acquisition step and a plurality of objects indicating the plurality of extracted documents extracted in the extraction step are arranged. A citation map, which is an image, is generated, and when a citation relationship is established between the first extracted document and the second extracted document, the object indicating the first extracted document and the second extracted document are shown. The computer executes a step of generating a reference map in which objects are associated with each other and a step of presenting the reference map generated in the generation step to the user.

It should be noted that any combination of the above components and the conversion of the expression of the present invention between a system, a computer program, a recording medium in which the computer program is stored, and the like are also effective as aspects of the present invention.

According to the present invention, it is possible to present to the user the relationship between a plurality of documents extracted by the search conditions specified by the user in an easy-to-understand manner.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the information system of an Example. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the document search apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the citation relation in the extraction patent. It is a figure which shows the example of the search screen provided by the document search apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of the search screen provided by the document search apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of the citation map provided by the document search apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of the document search apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of the citation map provided by the document search apparatus of the modified example.

Before explaining the embodiment of the present invention, the outline will be described first.
The document search device of the example has a feature of predicting noise and omission in the patent search based on the citation information and the cited information of the patent group extracted by the search, and a citation based on the patent group extracted by the search. It has the feature of displaying a map.

Features 1. Prediction of noise and leaks in patent search:
In various patent-related searches, a database containing patent documents may be searched under search conditions given by the user to extract the target patent documents. If the search condition (search formula) given by the user is not appropriate, the patent document of the purpose to be originally extracted may not be sufficiently extracted, that is, a search omission may occur. In addition, the extracted patent documents may include noise patent documents that do not correspond to the target patent documents.

If the accuracy is coarse, the noise ratio can be determined to some extent based on the search result list and the technical classification code, the name of the invention, or the like. However, in order to grasp the noise ratio with high accuracy, it is necessary for the user to read the extracted document. Further, the leakage rate can be determined to some extent by whether or not the known patent document has been extracted if the user has knowledge about the known patent document, but it is difficult to determine without that knowledge. is there. In this way, in order to determine the ratio of noise and leakage in the patent search results, it is necessary for the user to read the extracted document and the knowledge of the user, and it is easy to efficiently determine the ratio of noise and leakage. It wasn't.

Therefore, the document search device of the embodiment detects candidates for leakage and noise in the document search based on the citation relationship between the document extracted by the search and other documents, and provides information (ratio, etc.) regarding the detected leakage and noise. ) Is presented to the user. By presenting information on omissions and noise in the document search to the user, the accuracy of document extraction can be confirmed before the user actually reads the extracted document, and it becomes easier to judge the validity of the search condition.

Feature 2. Display of citation map with patent search results as population:
Usually, in the patent search result, a plurality of patent documents are often listed in a tabular format. The document search device of the embodiment presents the patent search result to the user by using a citation map showing the citation relationship between the plurality of patent documents extracted by the search and other documents. A citation map is an image in which a plurality of objects showing a plurality of patent documents extracted by a search are arranged in an associative manner based on a citation relationship. This helps the user to intuitively grasp the relationship between the plurality of patent documents extracted by the search.

The configuration of the document search device of the embodiment is applicable not only to the search of patent documents but also to the search of documents related to various industrial property rights including utility models, designs and trademarks. In addition, the configuration of the document search device of the example is not limited to the search of documents related to industrial property rights, and documents that can have a citation relationship with other documents (for example, academic papers, degree request papers, standardization technology are formulated. It can be widely applied to the search of contributions and books (references described in books correspond to cited references), various technical documents, etc., which are proposed technical documents for the purpose. This citation relationship may be specified by the applicant or author of the document, or may be specified in the process of examination / trial of the document (notice of reasons for refusal, etc.). In the following examples, a search for patent documents (public patent gazettes and patent publication gazettes) will be described as an example.

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

Leaked patents are required patents that are not included in the extracted patents. That is, the leaked patent is a patent document that is not included in the extracted patent but is expected to be highly relevant to the extracted patent. In other words, a leaked patent is a patent document that is expected to meet the user's search purpose, but is not extracted by the user's search condition.

A noise patent is one of a plurality of extracted patents, but is a patent document that cites only a non-extracted patent that is not included in the extracted patent, or a patent document that is cited only by a non-extracted patent. .. In other words, a noise patent is a patent document that has a citation relationship but is not cited by any of the plurality of extracted patents, and is a patent document that does not cite any of the plurality of extracted patents. In other words, the noise patent is a patent document that is expected to be highly related to the non-extracted patent (it can be said that it is highly related to the non-extracted patent and less related to other extracted patents). In other words, a noise patent is a patent document extracted according to a user's search condition, but is a patent document that does not match the user's search purpose (that is, should not be extracted originally). In the above, the noise patent is a patent document that cites only the non-extracted patent, or the patent document is cited only by the non-extracted patent, but the noise patent is a patent document that cites only the non-extracted patent. Moreover, it may be a patent document cited only by a non-extracted patent. Note that patent documents of extraction patents (both extraction patents and non-extraction patents) that are not related to citation are not usually treated as noise patents, but may be treated as noise patents. Further, the patent documents of non-extracted patents (both extracted patents and non-extracted patents) that are not cited are not treated as omission patents, but may be treated as omission patents.

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

The document DB 12 is a database server that stores data of a plurality of patent documents. The data of the patent document includes the main body data of the application, the specification, the drawing, and the abstract. In addition, it includes various attribute information related to patent documents such as filing date, examination status, and cited documents. The document search device 10 and the document DB 12 are connected via a communication network 14 such as a LAN or an intranet. Reference DB 12 holds information indicating the citation type of the cited document cited for a certain patent document. The citation type includes the type of the entity that established the citation relationship and the type of citation timing, for example, citation by the applicant, citation at the time of examination, citation at the time of trial, citation of the notice of reasons for refusal, or citation decision Includes information indicating citations, etc.

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

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

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

For example, the function of each block of the control unit 20 may be implemented as a computer program, and the computer program may be installed in the storage of the document search device 10. Then, the CPU of the document search device 10 may read the computer program into the main memory and execute the program to exert the function of each block of the control unit 20. Further, the storage unit 22 may be realized by the main memory or storage (HDD, SSD, etc.) of the document search device 10.

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

The request acquisition unit 26 acquires a search request transmitted from the user terminal 16 and including a search condition input by the user on the user terminal 16. Further, the request acquisition unit 26 acquires a citation map provision request requesting the provision of citation maps relating to a plurality of patent documents as a search result from the user terminal 16.

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

The required patent detection condition can be said to be a leaked patent detection condition, and includes the number of citations and the number of citations specified by the user. Further, the detection conditions of the necessary patents range from the first patent document to the second patent document when a direct or indirect citation relationship is established between the first patent document and the second patent document. Includes "number of generations", which is the number of stages of multi-stage citations up to. The number of generations includes the number of cited generations indicating the number of generations in the direction in which one document cites another document, and the number of cited generations indicating the number of generations in the direction in which one document is cited by another document. ..

For example, assume a citation relationship of patent D → patent B → patent A → patent C → patent E (the side indicated by the tip of the arrow). When the number of cited generations is 1 and the number of cited generations is 1, the range up to the patent B directly cited by the patent A is defined as the range of the cited direction, and the range up to the patent C directly cited by the patent A is extracted as the range of the cited direction. It is determined whether or not there is a patent, and whether or not patent A is a necessary patent. When the number of cited generations is 2 and the number of cited generations is 2, the range of the citation direction is from patent B directly cited by patent A to patent D directly cited by patent B, and patent A is directly cited. The presence or absence of the extracted patent is determined with the range of the patent C to be cited and the patent E that directly cites the patent C as the range of the cited direction, and whether or not the patent A is a necessary patent is determined.

The detection condition of the noise patent includes the number of citations and the number of citations specified by the user. Further, the detection conditions of the noise patent range from the first patent document to the second patent document when a direct or indirect citation relationship is established between the first patent document and the second patent document. Includes the number of generations up to (number of cited generations and number of cited generations). The number of citations, citations, citation generations, and citation generations as detection conditions for required patents and the number of citations, citations, citation generations, and citation generations as detection conditions for noise patents are different from each other. A value may be specified.

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

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

The detection unit 30 determines the leaked patent based on the citation relationship between each of the plurality of extracted patents extracted by the search unit 28 and the other patent document (that is, the citation relationship indicated by the patent document data provided from the document DB 12). Detect at least one of the noise patents. Citation relationships include both relationships in which one patent document cites another patent document and relationships in which one patent document is cited by another patent document. The citation relationship may be set by the applicant of the patent document, or may be set during the examination or trial process of the patent document. The detection unit 30 of the embodiment detects both the leak patent and the noise patent. The detection unit 30 includes a necessary document detection unit 31, a leak detection unit 32, and a noise detection unit 34.

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

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

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

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

Condition 2 is a subject in which the number of non-extracted patents in which a certain extracted patent is directly or indirectly cited within the number of cited generations specified in the noise patent detection condition is specified in the noise patent detection condition. It is more than the number of citations. In other words, in condition 2, the number of non-extracted patents that cite a certain extracted patent within the range of the number of cited generations specified in the noise patent detection condition is equal to or greater than the number of citations specified in the noise patent detection condition. That is. Condition 3 is that one extract patent does not cite any of the other extract patents and is not cited by any of the other extract patents.

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

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

Here, the number of citations = 1, the number of citations = 1, the number of citation generations = 1, and the number of citation generations = 1 are specified as the necessary patent detection conditions, and the number of citations = 1 and the number of citations = 1 as noise patent detection conditions. , Number of cited generations = 1, and number of cited generations = 1 are specified. In the example of FIG. 3, patent documents B and X are detected as necessary patents. Of these, Patent Document X is not included in the extracted patents, and is therefore detected as a leaked patent. Further, Patent Document Y cites one or more non-extracted patents but does not cite other extracted patents, and is cited by one or more non-extracted patents but not from other extracted patents. Therefore, it is detected as a noise patent.

If Patent Document C is not extracted by the search, Patent Document B is not cited from the extracted patents within one generation, and is excluded from the necessary patents. However, when the number of cited generations of the required patent detection condition is set to 2 or more, the patent document B is cited from the patent document C two generations ahead, so that the patent document C is not extracted. Detected as a required patent. Further, if the number of citation generations of the required patent extraction condition is set to 2 or more, the patent document D cites the patent document B two generations ahead, so that the patent document D is detected as a necessary patent. Will be done. In this way, the larger the set values of the number of cited generations and the number of cited generations, the wider the detection range of required patents.

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

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

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

The search result providing unit 38 provides the search result information generated by the search result generating unit 36, and provides the user terminal 16 with search result information including information on at least one of the omission patent (or necessary patent) and the noise patent. To display. The search result providing unit 38 of the embodiment transmits the search result information including the total number of extracted patents, the required document content rate, and the noise document rate to the user terminal 16. As a modification, the search result providing unit 38 may transmit the other type of ratio information to the user terminal 16 instead of or together with the information.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a search screen provided by the document search device 10. The user operates the user terminal 16 to access the document search device 10, and the document search device 10 causes the user terminal 16 to display the search screen 50. The user inputs a search item, a keyword, and a logical expression as search conditions on the search screen 50. When the user presses the search button 52, the user terminal 16 transmits a search request including the search conditions input on the search screen 50 to the document search device 10.

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

When the list display button 60 is selected on the search screen 50 of FIG. 5, the search result providing unit 38 of the document search device 10 transmits and displays a list of extracted patents showing a list of seven extracted patents to the user terminal 16. Let me. The search result providing unit 38 may further transmit a list showing a list of leaked patents and / or noise patents to the user terminal 16. Further, a patent list including extracted patents and leaked patents may be transmitted to the user terminal 16 for display, and the leaked patents and noise patents may be marked to indicate their types in the list. Furthermore, the search result providing unit 38 adds the omission patent to the extracted patent as the information of the patent document to be confirmed by the user, while the user obtains the patent document list information (list) showing the result of excluding the noise patent from the extracted patent. It may be provided to the terminal 16.

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

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

When the citation map generation unit 40 has a citation relationship (that is, a citation relationship or a citation relationship) between the first extraction patent and the second extraction patent among the plurality of extraction patents, the first A citation map is generated in which the object showing the extracted patent 1 and the object showing the second extracted patent are arranged in association with each other. When associating a plurality of objects, the citation map generation unit 40 of the embodiment connects these objects with an arrow line. The citation map providing unit 42 transmits the citation map data generated by the citation map generation unit 40 to the user terminal 16 and displays it.

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

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

For example, the citation map generation unit 40 arranges an object indicating a leaked patent and an object indicating an extracted patent having a citation relationship with the leaked patent in association with each other by connecting them with an arrow line. Further, the citation map generation unit 40 uses an object indicating a noise patent and an object indicating an object document (specifically, another patent document not included in the extracted patent) having a citation relationship with the noise patent. By connecting them with arrow lines, they are associated and placed on the citation map 70. As shown in FIG. 6, the citation map 70 of this embodiment is not generated from one patent document as a starting point, but shows the citation relationship of each of the plurality of patent documents extracted by the search. Objects of a plurality of patent documents are associated in a network.

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

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

In addition, the display order of the applicant on the Y-axis is such that the object displayed by the target applicant and the displayed object of another applicant who has a direct citation relationship with this object are the same. When the lanes of the applicant and the lanes of other applicants are adjacent to each other, they are arranged in the respective lanes, which makes the display mode easier to see. Here, regardless of such a display mode, the applicant's lanes can be arranged and configured in ascending or descending order of the applicant's name, and further, the order of the applicant's lanes can be changed according to the user's designation. You may. Further, in the display of FIG. 6, one applicant is displayed in one lane, but objects of a plurality of applicants may be displayed in one lane. For example, an application in which the number of display objects is a predetermined number or less. People may be displayed together in one lane, or may be displayed in the same lane when the applicants have a corporate relationship (such as a relationship between a parent company and a subsidiary). Of course, the object of a specific applicant who has been designated by the user may be displayed in one lane.

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

In the citation map 70 of FIG. 6, the objects showing the required patents (Reference B, Document X) are indicated by thick line boxes. The object showing the leaked patent (Reference X) is shaded with diagonal lines. In addition, the object showing the noise patent (Reference Y) is shown by shading horizontal lines. In addition, objects indicating the target documents other than the extracted patents are indicated by a broken line box. Different marks may be added to each of the object showing the required patent, the object showing the leaked patent, the object showing the noise patent, and the object showing the target document other than the extracted patent, and different colors for each type. May be set.

In the citation map 70 of FIG. 6, seven extracted patents are shown as the extracted document group 80, and patents that match the user's original search purpose are shown as the object document group 82. In the target document group 82, the omission patent is added to the extraction patent, while the noise patent is excluded. The citation map generation unit 40 may display only the extracted document group 80 on the citation map 70 or display only the target document group 82 on the citation map 70 according to the instruction of the user. As a result, the number of documents that the user should check can be reduced.

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

The third mode is not included in a plurality of extracted patents, but a patent document that cites at least one extracted patent, or an object indicating a patent document cited by at least one extracted patent, is obtained from a plurality of extracted patents. It may be a mode to generate a citation map 70 arranged in addition to the indicated object. In the third mode, in addition to the object showing a plurality of extracted patents, an object showing a leaked patent and an object showing a target document that is neither an extracted patent nor a leaked patent but has a citation relationship with the extracted patent (G to FIG. 6). This is a mode for generating a citation map 70 in which J) is arranged. That is, the citation map 70 of FIG. 6 is a citation map generated in the third mode.

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

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

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

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

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

As described above, the document search device 10 of the embodiment presents to the user an objective index value indicating the validity of the search condition specified by the user. By confirming the required document inclusion rate and the noise document rate in the search result information 64 of FIG. 5, the user can easily determine the validity of the search condition (search formula) before reading the extracted document or the like. For example, if the required document content rate is high and the noise document rate is low, it can be judged that the validity of the search condition is high. On the other hand, if the required document content rate is low, that is, there are many omission patents, it can be judged that the validity of the search condition is low. Further, if the noise document rate is high, it can be determined that a search item should be added. Further, in the embodiment, the user can specify the number of citations, the number of citations, and the number of generations as the detection conditions for the leaked patent (necessary patent) and the noise patent. As a result, the detection conditions for the leaked patent (necessary patent) and the noise patent can be specified in detail according to the theme of the document to be searched (for example, the type and characteristics of the invention).

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

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

The user can easily grasp the citation relationship between the extracted patents by checking the citation map. For example, extracted patents cited by many patents can be grasped as basic technical patents. Further, in the citation map of the embodiment, the required patent, the omission patent, and the noise patent are displayed in different modes. As a result, the user can easily identify the required patent, the leaked patent, and the noise patent, and can intuitively grasp, for example, the intrinsic rate of the required patent, the ratio of the leaked patent, the ratio of the noise patent, and the like. Furthermore, in the citation map of the example, the horizontal axis is the time axis such as the filing date and the vertical axis is the applicant, so that the user can intuitively grasp additional information such as the filing date and the applicant. it can.

The present invention has been described above based on examples. This embodiment is an example, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible for each component and combination of each processing process, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

As a first modification, a modification relating to a three-dimensional citation map will be described.
In the above embodiment, the objects of the target document are arranged at different positions on the vertical axis (Y axis) for each applicant, but as a modification, the objects of the target document are arranged at different positions in the depth direction (Z axis) for each applicant. It may be placed in. Specifically, the citation map generation unit 40 uses an object indicating the first target document and a second target document when the applicant or the author is different between the first target document and the second target document. You may generate a three-dimensional citation map (also called a three-dimensional graph) in which the objects to be shown are arranged at different positions in the depth direction.

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

Here, in FIG. 8, the target documents of each applicant are displayed on each XY plane on the Z axis of each applicant, and the display order of each applicant on the X axis is that of the target applicant. The displayed object and the displayed object of another applicant who has a direct citation relationship with this object are adjacent to the XY plane of the applicant and the XY plane of the other applicant. When configured, the citation relationship between the objects arranged on each XY plane can be displayed in a more visible display mode. Here, regardless of such a display mode, the XY planes of the applicant on the Z-axis can be arranged and configured in ascending or descending order of the applicant's name, and further, the applicant on the Z-axis can be arranged and configured according to the user's designation. The XY plane can also be arranged and configured. Further, in the display of FIG. 8, one applicant is displayed on one XY plane, but objects of a plurality of applicants may be displayed on one XY plane, for example, the number of display objects is a predetermined number or less. Applicants may be collectively displayed on one XY plane, or may be displayed on the same XY plane when the applicants have a corporate relationship (relationship between a parent company and a subsidiary, etc.). .. Of course, the object of a specific applicant who has been designated by the user may be displayed on one XY plane.

The lateral direction (X-axis direction) of the citation map 70 of FIG. 8 is the time direction as in FIG. 6, and the citation map generation unit 40 is arranged on the origin side as the target document has an earlier filing date (or priority date, etc.). .. In other words, the later the filing date (or priority date, etc.) of the target document, the larger the X coordinate value. Further, the citation map generation unit 40 arranges a plurality of target documents having the same or similar filing date (or priority date, etc.) side by side in the vertical direction (Y-axis direction) of the citation map 70.

When the first target document of the first applicant cites the second target document of the second applicant, the citation map generation unit 40 starts from the document object 76 of the second target document. , The arrow line 78 ending at the document object 76 of the first target document is connected. In this case, the citation map generation unit 40 sets the arrow line 78 from the XY plane of the second applicant to the XY plane of the first applicant.

Even in the three-dimensional citation map, the citation map generation unit 40 has different aspects of the object showing the required patent, the object showing the leaked patent, the object showing the noise patent, and the object showing the target document other than the extraction patent. Place it on the citation map with. For example, in FIG. 8, a thick line box is set for the objects (B, X) indicating the required patents. Further, the object (X) showing the leak patent is shaded with diagonal lines, and the object showing the noise patent (Y) is shaded with horizontal lines.

The citation map generation unit 40 is set so that the Z-axis of the citation map 70 is in the depth direction (the depth direction of the screen) as seen by the user, and for example, the Z-axis of the citation map 70 is parallel to the line-of-sight direction of the user. May be set to. Further, the citation map generation unit 40 may make it possible for the user to simultaneously confirm the XY planes of a plurality of applicants by setting a predetermined transparency in the XY planes of each applicant. Further, the citation map generation unit 40 may set the citation map 70 so that the position on the Z axis displaying the XY plane can be switched according to the user's operation. According to such a first modification, even if there are a large number of target documents, the user can intuitively grasp the existence and number of target documents (further required patents, omission patents, noise patents) for each applicant. Can help.

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

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

For example, the citation map generator 40 may be located at different positions on the Z axis of the citation map 70 in FIG. 8: (1) an XY plane for the original application (or no division application), and (2) a child application (in other words, division 1). An XY plane for (3rd generation) and (3) an XY plane for grandchild application (in other words, the second generation of division) may be arranged. When the target document is the original application, the citation map generation unit 40 arranges the object of the target document on the XY plane of the above (1), and when the target document is a child application, it is placed on the XY plane of the above (2). Objects of the target document may be arranged.

Further, the citation map generation unit 40 may arrange (1) an XY plane for a basic application and (2) an XY plane for a priority claim application at different positions on the Z axis of the citation map 70 in FIG. Good. The citation map generation unit 40 arranges the object of the target document on the XY plane of the above (1) when the target document is a basic application, and when the target document is a priority claim application, the XY plane of the above (2). The object of the target document may be placed on the top. The XY plane in the second modification may be a citation map in the format of FIG. 6 having the horizontal axis as the time axis and the vertical axis as the applicant axis.

In a divisional application (priority claim application), the citation relationship with other documents is often similar to that of the original application (basic application). If the divisional application (priority claim application) and the original application (basic application) are placed near each other on the same plane, the number of objects on the same plane becomes large, and as a result of the complicated arrow lines, the readability and readability of the quote map Sex may be reduced. According to the second modification, objects and arrows drawn on the same plane by arranging the object indicating the divisional application (priority claim application) and the object indicating the original application (basic application) at different positions in the depth direction. It is possible to reduce the number of lines and suppress the deterioration of the readability and readability of the citation map.

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

As a third modification, a modification relating to the display mode of the citation map will be described.
The citation map generation unit 40 may arrange a plurality of objects in different modes for each applicant instead of arranging a plurality of objects indicating a plurality of target patents having different applicants at different vertical positions of the citation map. Good. For example, different colors and different marks may be added to each applicant. Further, the citation map generation unit 40 may arrange arrow lines indicating the citation relationship in the citation map by adding information indicating the citation type, and each arrow line may be arranged in a different mode (for example, different colors or different colors) for each citation type. It may be set to a different line type). The citation type includes the type of the entity for which the citation relationship has been set and the type of citation timing. Specifically, the citation by the applicant, the citation at the time of examination, the citation at the time of trial, the citation of the notice of reasons for refusal, and the citation of the decision of refusal. Etc. are included. Furthermore, the citation map generation unit 40 provides information indicating the number of citations of each target document (the number of citations of other target documents) and the number of citations of each target document (others) in the vicinity of the object of each target document. Information indicating (the number cited by the target document) may be set.

A fourth modification will be described.
As mentioned above, citation relationships between documents may be declared by the applicant or author, and / or instead, set in the process of examination or trial (notice of reasons for refusal, etc.). Sometimes. Although not mentioned in the examples, the required document detection unit 31, the leak detection unit 32, and the noise detection unit 34 exclude the citation relationship declared by the applicant or the author, and the citations set in the examination and trial process. Necessary patents, leak patents, and noise patents may be detected based on the relationship. In other words, the citation relationships declared by the applicant or author are not reflected in the detection of required patents, omission patents, and noise patents, and only the citation relationships established in the examination and trial process are required patents, omission patents, and noise. It may be reflected in the detection of the patent. The citation relationships declared by the applicant or author are relatively inaccurate, and the citation relationships established during the examination and trial process are relatively accurate. According to the fourth modification, the accuracy of detecting necessary patents, leak patents, and noise patents can be improved.

When the document DB 12 further holds information indicating the main cited document (so to speak, the main reference) among the plurality of cited documents as the cited document information for a certain patent document, as a different aspect of the fourth modification, The required document detection unit 31, the leak detection unit 32, and the noise detection unit 34 detect the necessary patent, the leakage patent, and the noise patent based on the citation relationship with the main reference among the citation relationships set in the process of examination and trial. You may. In other words, only the citation relationship with the reference document may be reflected in the detection of necessary patents, omission patents, and noise patents. According to this aspect, the accuracy of detection of necessary patents, omission patents, and noise patents can be further improved.

A fifth modification related to the fourth modification will be described.
Although not mentioned in the above embodiment, the citation map generation unit 40 excludes the citation relationship declared by the applicant or the author, and indicates the target document based on the citation relationship established in the examination and trial process. You may generate a citation map that associates the objects. In other words, the citation map generation unit 40 does not reflect the citation relationship declared by the applicant or the author, but sets an arrow line between the objects to reflect only the citation relationship set in the examination and trial process. May be good. According to the fifth modification, the accuracy of the citation relationship shown by the citation map can be improved, in other words, a citation map showing the connection of documents whose contents are actually similar can be generated.

When the document DB 12 further holds information indicating the main cited document (so to speak, the main reference) among the plurality of cited documents as the cited document information for a certain patent document, as a different aspect of the fifth modification, The citation map generation unit 40 may generate a citation map based on the citation relationship with the main reference among the citation relationships set in the process of examination and trial. In other words, the arrow lines between the objects may be set to reflect only the citation relationship with the document that is the main reference. According to this aspect, documents having a high degree of similarity in content can be shown in association with each other in the citation map, and the usefulness of the citation map can be further enhanced.

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

Further, the document search device 10 further includes a second extraction unit that extracts words and phrases included in the leaked patent (which is a subset of the required patents) but not included in the other required patents as characteristic words of the leaked patent. You may prepare. The words and phrases extracted by the second extraction unit can be said to be words and phrases included only in the omission patents among the necessary patents, and can be said to be words and phrases not included in the extracted documents among the necessary cases. The second extraction unit may extract words and phrases included in the leaked patent but not in other required patents by using a known technique such as a chi-square test. The search result generation unit 36 may include the words and phrases extracted by the second extraction unit in the search result data as candidates to be added to the search condition, for example, words and phrases to be added to the current search formula under the OR condition.

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

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

The search result generation unit 36 may generate information on the number and ratio of required patents or missing patents for each search item (for example, the required document content rate) based on the required number of patents and the number of missing patents for each search item. .. Further, the search result generation unit 36 may generate information on the number and ratio of noise patents for each search item (for example, noise document rate) based on the number of noise patents for each search item. The search result generation unit 36 may set the required document content rate and the noise document rate for each search item next to the number of hits of each search item on the search screen 50 of FIG. According to the seventh modification, it becomes easier for the user to understand the search items (and keywords) that contribute to the appropriate narrowing down of the literature and the search items (and keywords) that cause noise mixing, and the search conditions can be changed. It is possible to provide users with useful information for improving validity.

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

Any combination of the examples and modifications described above is also useful as an embodiment of the present invention. The new embodiments resulting from the combination have the effects of the combined examples and the modifications. It is also understood by those skilled in the art that the functions to be fulfilled by each of the constituent elements described in the claims are realized by a single component or a cooperation thereof shown in the examples and modifications.

10 Document search device, 12 Document DB, 26 Request acquisition unit, 28 Search unit, 30 Detection unit, 31 Required document detection unit, 32 Leakage detection unit, 34 Noise detection unit, 36 Search result generation unit, 38 Search result provision unit, 40 Citation map generator, 42 Citation map provider, 100 Information system.

Claims (11)

An acquisition unit that acquires a condition for extracting a specific document from a plurality of documents that are input by the user and may have a citation relationship with another document.
A search unit that extracts a plurality of documents that satisfy the conditions acquired by the acquisition unit from the plurality of documents stored in a predetermined storage unit, and a search unit.
A citation map, which is an image in which a plurality of objects showing a plurality of extracted documents extracted by the search unit are arranged, is generated, and a citation relationship is established between the first extracted document and the second extracted document. In this case, a generation unit that generates a citation map in which the object indicating the first extracted document and the object indicating the second extracted document are arranged in association with each other.
An output unit that presents the citation map generated by the generation unit to the user,
Noise, which is a document included in the plurality of extracted documents but expected to be highly relevant to the non-extracted document, based on the citation relationship between each of the plurality of extracted documents extracted by the search unit and the other document. A detector that detects documents and
Equipped with a,
The generating unit, the object indicating the noise literature, the reference map generation apparatus characterized that you reveal the reference map in a different manner from the object indicating extraction document is not a noise literature. Data related to the date is associated with each of the plurality of extracted documents.
The claim is characterized in that the generation unit generates a citation map in which a plurality of objects indicating the plurality of extracted documents are arranged in a time series according to a date associated with each of the plurality of extracted documents. The citation map generator according to 1. Data on the applicant or author is associated with each of the plurality of extracted documents.
The generation unit determines the position on the first axis of the citation map on which the object of each extracted document should be arranged according to the date associated with each extracted document, and is associated with each extracted document. The citation map generator according to claim 2, wherein the position on the second axis of the citation map on which the object of each extracted document should be arranged is determined according to the applicant or the author. The cited map is a three-dimensional graph, the three-dimensional graph includes a horizontal axis, a vertical axis, and an axis in the depth direction, and the first axis, the second axis , and the third axis are axes different from each other. It is one of the horizontal axis, the vertical axis, and the axis in the depth direction in the cited map.
The generation unit is a plurality of planes having a side extending along the first axis and a side extending along the third axis, and is a plurality of planes corresponding to a plurality of applicants or authors. In addition, a reference map is generated in which a plurality of planes having predetermined transparency are provided at positions where the values of the second axis are different.
When the applicants or authors of the first extracted document and the second extracted document are different, the generation unit uses the object indicating the first extracted document and the object indicating the second extracted document in the citation map. The citation map generator according to claim 3, wherein the citation map generator is arranged on a different plane corresponding to the applicant or the author of each of the extracted documents among the plurality of provided planes . The plurality of extracted documents are publications relating to industrial property rights, and are
The cited map is a three-dimensional graph, the three-dimensional graph including a horizontal axis, a vertical axis, and an axis in the depth direction.
In the generation unit, when the first extracted document is a divisional application based on the second extracted document, or the first extracted document is a priority claim application based on the second extracted document. , The object showing the first extracted document and the object showing the second extracted document are arranged at different positions in the direction of any of the horizontal axis, the vertical axis, and the depth direction axis in the citation map. The citation map generator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The detection unit further detects as a necessary document a document that cites at least one of the plurality of extracted documents and that is cited by at least one of the plurality of extracted documents .
Claims 1 to 5 characterized in that the generation unit associates an object indicating a detected required document with an object indicating an extracted document having a citation relationship with the required document and reveals it in the citation map. Citation map generator described in any of. The detection unit is not included in the plurality of extracted documents, but is related to the plurality of extracted documents, based on the citation relationship between each of the plurality of extracted documents extracted by the search unit and the other documents. Further detect leaked documents that are expected to be expensive ,
Any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the generation unit associates an object indicating the leaked document with an object indicating an extracted document having a citation relationship with the leaked document and reveals the object in the citation map. Citation map generator described in. The generation unit generates a citation map in which only objects showing the plurality of extracted documents are arranged according to a user's instruction, and at least one extracted document that is not included in the plurality of extracted documents. Claim 1 characterized by switching between generating a citation map in which an object indicating a document cited or cited by at least one extracted document is arranged in addition to the object indicating the plurality of extracted documents. Citation map generator according to any one of 7 to 7 . The first extracted document and the second extracted document are publications relating to industrial property rights.
The generation unit excludes the citation relationship declared by the applicant from the citation relationships between each extracted document and other documents, and associates an object indicating each extracted document based on the citation relationship set in the examination. The citation map generator according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , wherein the citation map is generated. A step of acquiring a condition for extracting a specific document from a plurality of documents that are input by the user and may have a citation relationship with another document.
A step of extracting a plurality of documents satisfying the conditions acquired in the acquisition step from the plurality of documents stored in a predetermined storage unit, and
A citation map is generated, which is an image in which a plurality of objects showing a plurality of extracted documents extracted in the extraction step are arranged, and a citation relationship is established between the first extracted document and the second extracted document. If so, a step of generating a citation map in which the object indicating the first extracted document and the object indicating the second extracted document are arranged in association with each other, and
The step of presenting the citation map generated in the generated step to the user, and
The computer runs ,
The computer is further related to the non-extracted documents included in the plurality of extracted documents based on the citation relationship between each of the plurality of extracted documents extracted in the extraction step and the other documents. Perform the steps to detect the potential citation, the noise citation,
A method for generating a citation map, wherein the generation step includes a step of revealing an object showing the noise document in the citation map in a manner different from an object showing an extracted document that is not the noise document . A function to acquire a condition for extracting a specific document from a plurality of documents that are input by the user and may have a citation relationship with another document.
A function of extracting a plurality of documents satisfying the conditions acquired by the acquisition function from the plurality of documents stored in a predetermined storage unit, and
A citation map, which is an image in which a plurality of objects showing a plurality of extracted documents extracted by the extraction function are arranged, is generated, and a citation relationship is established between the first extracted document and the second extracted document. If so, a function to generate a citation map in which the object indicating the first extracted document and the object indicating the second extracted document are arranged in association with each other, and
A function to present the citation map generated by the generated function to the user, and
Based on the citation relationship between each of the plurality of extracted documents extracted by the extraction function and other documents, the documents are included in the plurality of extracted documents but are expected to be highly related to the non-extracted documents. The ability to detect noise literature and
To the computer ,
The function to generate is a computer program characterized in that an object showing the noise document is displayed on the citation map in a manner different from an object showing an extracted document that is not the noise document .

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