WO2007032655A1

WO2007032655A1 - Methods for automatically classifying patents using computing machines and systems thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2007032655A1
Application number: PCT/KR2006/003716
Authority: WO
Inventors: Il-Soo Kim; Sik Choi
Original assignee: Wisdomain
Priority date: 2005-09-16
Filing date: 2006-09-18
Publication date: 2007-03-22
Also published as: KR100809452B1; KR20070032496A

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of automatically analyzing and classifying patent data according to a technical classification and a system thereof. A method of automatically classifying a patent group consisting of at least one patent having a respective technical classification using a computing apparatus including a control unit, a technical classification reading means, an output mode setting means, and a level establishing means is provided. The method includes: inputting patent data belonging to the patent group into the control unit; establishing a level of reading a technical classification ID using the level establishing means; reading the technical classification ID of the patent data corresponding to the level established by the technical classification reading means; removing redundancy of the technical classification IDs read by the control unit; outputting a hierarchical structure of the read technical classification IDs together with the technical classification IDs according to the level from the output mode setting means to a display screen connected to the computing apparatus, wherein the technical classification ID has a hierarchical structure in which a low level code belongs to a high level code within the same group, and the technical classification ID is subdivided according to each level .

Description

_^

[DESCRIPTION] [Invention Title]

METHODS FOR AUTOMATICALLY CLASSIFYING PATENTS USING COMPUTING MACHINES AND SYSTEMS THEREOF [Technical Field]

<ι> The present invention relates to a method of classifying patent data and a system using the same, and more particularly, to a method of automatically analyzing and classifying patent data according to a hierarchical structure of technical classification systems such as an international patent classification (IPC) system, a United States patent class (UPC) system, an EP classification (ECLA) system, a file index (FI) code system, an F-term code system, an industrial technical classification, a United States industrial classification, and a technical classification of an individual corporation. [Background Art]

<3> A prior art (patent) research is performed during invention or technical development or in association with a patent dispute. It would require much time and effort if the patent search and analysis is performed on a country-by-country basis. Also, it would be impossible to obtain a desired result .

<s> For this reason, a database system which stores and manages an amount of patent information has been widely used to effectively perform the prior art research.

<7> Recently, the numbers of patent applications and registered patents are increasing in nearly all countries, and at least all of the registered patents should be targeted for the patent search. Therefore, the number of searched patents that should be analyzed during the patent research becomes significantly large.

<9> A patent application contains objects, constructions, functions, and effects of invention. Also, related arts, systems of method-related invention, or application fields of object-related invention may be referenced in the application in order to fully describe subject matters of invention. As a result, patents relating to subject matters other than user's intention may be searched out.

<ιi> It would be a cumbersome work consuming time and effort if such erroneously searched results should be reviewed in this condition.

<i3> The searched results should be systematically classified in order to effectively utilize them in the subsequent technical development. In conventional classification methods, each of the searched results including related patents and technical documents should be separately reviewed and classified one by one. This work also consumes human resources, time, and cost. In addition, the classification may not be systematically performed if there is no standard, or there is difference of personal understanding capability, or an error which may occur due to repetition of a simple work.

<is> Accordingly, a method of effectively and conveniently searching patents using a unified standard has been required in the art. [Disclosure] [Technical Problem]

<i7> The invention provides a method of operating a computing apparatus for automatically classifying patents of a particular patent group on the basis of a technical classification and a system structure thereof.

<2i> The invention provides a method of operating a computing apparatus for automatically classifying technical classifications of the patents belonging to a particular patent group, displaying the corresponding technical classifications on a display screen, and hyperlinking corresponding patents to each displayed patent classification, and a system structure thereof.

<23> The invention provides a method of operating a computing apparatus for automatically classifying technical classifications of the patents belonging to a particular patent group on the basis of a predetermined level, displaying the corresponding technical classifications on a display screen, and hyperlinking corresponding patents to each displayed patent classification, and a system structure thereof. <25> The invention provides a method of operating a computing apparatus for automatically classifying technical classifications of the patents belonging to a particular patent group on the basis of a predetermined level with reference to a technical classification manual, displaying the corresponding technical classifications on a display screen, and hyperlinking corresponding patents to each displayed patent classification, and a system structure thereof.

<27> The invention provides a method of operating a computing apparatus for automatically classifying technical classifications of the patents belonging to a particular patent group on the basis of a predetermined hierarchical technical classification code, displaying the corresponding technical classifications on a display screen, and hyperlinking corresponding patents to each displayed patent classification, and a system structure thereof.

<29> The invention provides a method of operating a computing apparatus for automatically classifying technical classifications of the patents belonging to a particular patent group, displaying the corresponding technical classifications on a display screen, counting the number of patents corresponding to each technical classification, and hyperlinking corresponding patents to each patent classification, and a system structure thereof.

<3i> The invention provides a method of operating a computing apparatus for automatically classifying technical classifications of the patents belonging to a particular patent group, displaying the corresponding technical classifications on a display screen, counting the number of patents corresponding to each technical classification, separating the technical classifications having the number of patents smaller than a predetermined value as a minor classification set, and hyperlinking patents to corresponding patent classifications, and a system structure thereof.

<33> The invention provides a method of operating a computing apparatus for automatically classifying technical classification of the patents belonging to a particular patent group, displaying the corresponding technical classification together with their definition on a display screen, and hyperlinking the patents to the corresponding technical classifications, and a system structure thereof.

<35> The invention provides a method of operating a computing apparatus for automatically classifying technical classification of the patents belonging to a particular patent group, displaying the technical classifications, hyperlinking the patents to the corresponding technical classifications, and storing the data displayed on the display screen in a variety of formats, and a system structure thereof.

<39> The invention provides a method of automatically tracking and systematically classifying high and low level technical classification levels of a particular patent in the technical classification table in a real-time manner even when a specification of a particular patent does not describe its high or low level technical classification, and a system structure thereof.

<4i> The invention provides a method of classifying electronic document data having a particular hierarchical classification system according to its classification and a system thereof. [Technical Solution]

<43> According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of automatically classifying a patent group consisting of at least one patent having a respective technical classification using a computing apparatus including a control unit, a technical classification reading means, an output mode setting means, and a level establishing means, the method comprising: inputting patent data belonging to the patent group into the control unit; establishing a level of reading a technical classification ID using the level establishing means; reading the technical classification ID of the patent data corresponding to the level established by the technical classification reading means; removing redundancy of the technical classification IDs read by the control unit; outputting a hierarchical structure of the read technical classification IDs together with the technical classification IDs according to the level from the output mode setting means to a display screen connected to the computing apparatus, wherein the technical classification ID has a hierarchical structure in which a low level code belongs to a high level code within the same group, and the technical classification ID is subdivided according to each level.

<45> In addition, the computing device may additionally include a hyper linking means, and the patent data corresponding to the technical classification IDs may be hyperlinked to the technical classification IDs using the hyper linking means.

<47> In addition, when the technical classification has a hierarchical structure, the computing apparatus may further include an input means for inputting an external instruction, and the method may further include: reading the technical classification ID of the patent data corresponding to the low level code using the technical classification reading means when the level establishing means receives an instruction for outputting the technical classification ID corresponding to the low level code of a predetermined technical classification on a display screen from an input means! removing redundancy of the read technical classification IDs of the low level code using the output mode setting means and outputting them on a display screen connected to the computing apparatus; and hyper linking the patent data corresponding to the technical classification IDs of the low level code to the technical classification ID of the low level code using the hyperlinking means .

<49> According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of automatically classifying a document group consisting of electronic documents having one or more technical classifications using a computing apparatus including a control unit, a classification reading means, an output mode setting means, and a level establishing means, the method comprising: inputting the document data belonging to the document group to the control unit; establishing a level for reading classification IDs using the level establishing means", reading classification IDs of the document data on the basis of the established level using the classification reading means; removing redundancy of the read classification IDs using the control unit; and outputting a hierarchical structure of the read classification IDs base on the level together with the read classification IDs on a display screen connected to the computing apparatus using the output mode setting means, wherein the classification IDs have a hierarchical structure in which a low level code having a narrow range is included in a high level code having a larger range within the same group, and corresponding classification IDs are established to each level.

<5i> According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of automatically classifying a patent group consisting of patents having one or more technical classifications using a computing apparatus including a control unit, a technical classification reading means, an output mode setting means, and a hyper linking means, the method including: inputting the patent data belonging to the patent group to the control unit; reading technical classification IDs of the patent data using the technical classification reading means; removing redundancy of the read technical classification IDs and outputting the technical classification IDs on a display screen connected to the computing apparatus using the output mode setting means; and hyper linking the patent data corresponding to the technical classification IDs to the technical classification IDs using the hyper 1 inking means .

<53> According to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of automatically classifying a document group consisting of electronic documents having one or more technical classifications using a computing apparatus including a control unit, a classification reading means, an output mode setting means, and a hyperlinking means, the method including: inputting the document data belonging to the document group to the control unit; reading classification IDs of the document data using the classification reading means; removing redundancy of the read classification IDs and outputting the classification IDs on a display screen connected to the computing apparatus using the output mode setting means; and hyper linking the document data corresponding to each classification ID to each classification ID using the hyperlinking means.

[Advantageous Effects]

<56> The invention relates to a method of automatically analyzing and classifying patent data according to a technical classification and a system thereof.

<ό()> By using the computing apparatus according to the invention, it is possible to automatically classifying a target patent group of searched results according to technical classifications in a real-time manner. This allows the patent search and classification works to be efficiently performed in a high speed in comparison with a conventional method.

<62> In addition, through the efficient patent classification of the invention, it is possible to efficiently filter out unnecessary patent data from the target patent group as well as conveniently search necessary patent data.

<64> In addition, the invention allows the computing apparatus having a level establishing means to automatically classify patent data up to a very low level of the technical classification. Therefore, a user can efficiently search a desired patent by reducing the search range from a wide technical classification to a narrow technical classification as necessary.

<66> In addition, according to the invention, a hierarchical structure of technical classification is displayed in an accurate and minute manner, so that the target patent group can be automatically classified and analyzed according to the hierarchy of the technical classifications.

<68> In addition, according to the invention, technical distribution of patent data belonging to the target patent group is recognized in a real-time manner, so that useful data and useless data can be efficiently discriminated.

-7o> In addition, according to the invention, definition of each technical classification is displayed on a display screen together with its hierarchical structure in order to allow a user to conveniently recognize characteristics of the technical classification system of the target patent group. As a result, it is possible to more accurately perform analysis. <72> In addition, according to the invention, technical classifications having a relatively small number of patents are integrated into a minor classification set for each level. As a result, it is possible to allow a user to conveniently search major technologies and patents.

<74> In addition, according to the invention, a user can store the data analyzed and displayed on a technical classification window or a patent data window in a variety of formats as necessary. As a result, it is possible to obtain a successive workflow and a convenient subsequent work. [Description of Drawings]

<7(» FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of the invention.

<77> FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus of the invention.

<78> FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram illustrating an analysis target patent group.

<8o> FIG. 4 is an example of a technical classification window and a patent data window.

<x2.> FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus including a level establishing means according to the invention.

<84> FIG. 6 is an example of a technical classification window hierarchically expressed using a level establishing means.

<86> FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus including a technical classification manual according to the invention.

<88> FIG. 8 is an example of a technical classification window.

<.H9> FIG. 9 is an example of a hierarchical technical classification code table.

<9i> FIG. 10 is another example of another hierarchical technical classification code table.

<93> FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to the invention including a hierarchical technical classification code table.

<95> FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to the invention including a counting means.

<97> FIG. 13 is an example of a technical classification window where the number of patents is displayed. <-99> FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to the invention including a technical classification definition table. <ιoι> FIG. 15 is an example of a technical classification window where definition of the technical classification is displayed. <!03> FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to the invention including a minor classification selection means. <iϋ's> FIG. 17 is an example of a technical classification window for selecting a minor classification set. <-iϋ7> FIG. 18 is an example of a technical classification window including a minor classification input means. ^i09> FIG. 19 is another example of a technical classification window for selecting a minor classification set. <.ιii> FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to the invention including a storing type setting means. <ιπ> FIG. 21 is an example of a technical classification window including a storage type button. <ii5> FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored according to a storage type.

[Best Mode] <ιi7> Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. <ιio> FIRST EMBODIMENT: COMPUTING APPARATUS INCLUDING TECHNICAL

CLASSIFICATION READING MEANS <i2i> FIG. 1 is a flowchart schematically illustrating an operating method according to the invention. <_^i2j> Referring to FIG. 1, a patent group that should be analyzed

(hereinafter, referred to as a target patent group) is selected. One of the most general methods of selecting the target patent group is to select patents searched by a user through at least one time of patent searches as the target patent group. O2s> If the target patent group is selected, patents belonging to the target patent group are input to the computing apparatus according to the invention, and the input patents are processed by the computing apparatus. A main work of the computing apparatus is to recognize technical classifications of the patents belonging to the target patent group.

-12"- Here, an expression "patent data" refers to information of searched patents because each patent is processed by the computing apparatus as a piece of data. That is, the patent data includes bibliopolical materials and contents of a specification corresponding to actual contents of a patent right as understood by common people, and also means electronic information that can be processed by a computer.

■-129- When the technical classifications of the patent data are recognized, the computing apparatus removes redundant technical classifications, classifies each technical classification according to its format, and displays the technical classifications on a display screen.

<πι> Then, the computing apparatus hyperlinks the patent data of the target patent group corresponding to each technical classification to the respective technical classifications.

Ή$> If the hyperlink is completed, a basic process of the invention is completed. If necessary, or in response to a user's command, subsequent processes may follow. For example, specific contents of the hyperlinked patent data may be displayed on a display screen or stored in a storage connected to the computing apparatus.

-.π^ The method shown in FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an operating method of the invention. Each process may be subdivided into a plurality of embodiments as described above.

<i37> FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration having a computing apparatus of the invention for implementing an operating method shown in FIG. 1.

- π')> Referring to FIG. 2, the computing apparatus 20 according to the invention is connected to an external device 21 for assisting operation of the computing apparatus 20. The external device includes an input means 22 for inputting commands required for the computing apparatus of the invention, a storage unit 26 for storing data, and a patent database unit 24 for storing patent data.

<i4i> The input means 22 may be used to search data in the database unit 24 if necessary as well as to input commands for operating the computing apparatus 20. The input means 22 may include a variety of input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse that can be conceived by common people.

<i43> The patent database unit 24 is a general database which stores and manages the patent data. The result analyzed by the patent database unit 24 may be a target patent group that should be analyzed by the computing apparatus according to the invention. However, it should be noted that patent data obtained from other devices such as the storage unit 26 may be used as the target patent group.

<i45> The storage unit 26 may include typical storage devices such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, and a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) well known in the art. The storage unit 26 may be operated as a memory used in operation of the computing apparatus according to the invention, or may store the patent data of the target patent group or data output from the computing apparatus 20 according to the invention.

<147> The computing apparatus 20 according to the invention includes a control unit 201 which executes external instructions and controls the entire apparatus, a technical classification reading means 202 which recognizes technical classifications of patents belonging to the target patent group, an output mode setting means 204 which sets an output format when the read technical classification is displayed on the display screen 203, and a hyper linking means 205.

<i49> Now, the technical classification reading means, an output mode setting means, and a hyper linking means will be described in detail.

<i5i> FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a target patent group that should be analyzed by the computing apparatus according to the invention. For reference, the patent numbers, the patent classification codes, and titles shown in FIG. 3 are virtually created for exemplifying the invention and have no relationship to the real patents. In addition, all patent number or patent classification numbers which will be exemplified hereinafter are virtually created and have no relationship to effectiveness of the invention.

<i53> The patents of the target patent group shown in FIG. 3 may be obtained by retrieving the database unit or stored in the storage unit, and may include two or more patents. In addition, all the patents are registered in the United States Patent Trademark Organization (USPTO) and have respective international patent classification (IPC) codes. Although the IPC codes or the U.S. patent registration numbers are just shown in the drawing as an example, the target patent group may be selected from patents of other countries such as Korea, Japan, Europe, and China or a combination thereof. In addition, other technical classification systems such as UPC, ECLA, FI, F- Term, an industrial technical classification, or a technical classification of individual corporations may be used as a technical classification system of the invention. Furthermore, 1aid-open patent applications as well as registered patents may be selected as a target patent group.

<i55> Alternatively, the target patent group may be selected from patents obtained by performing at least two times of different patent search operations using a patent searching means and removing redundancy from the result of the search.

<i57> Different technical classification systems as well as the same technical classification system may be used. For example, U.S. patents having a UPC code system as well as Japanese patents having an F-Term system may be included in the same target patent group. In this case, the patents of the UPC system and the patents of the F-Term system may be recognized as separate technical classifications having no hierarchical dependency or no relationship between each other.

<i59> In addition, the invention may be applied to other kinds of technical documents or articles as well as the patents having a technical classification system. Furthermore, the invention may be applied to various fields of electronic document data having a predetermined classification system as well as the technical documents. Therefore, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that FIG. 3 is just an example for conveniently describing the invention.

<J6i> For example, the patent data shown in FIG. 3 has at least one IPC classification code. Hereinafter, an operating method of the invention will be described on the basis of the IPC system.

• !6<> The patent data belonging to the selected target patent group shown in FIG. 3 are input to the computing apparatus according to the invention. The technical classification reading means 202 shown in FIG. 2 parses the patent data of the target patent group, and recognizes their technical classifications.

- H'^> When each patent data which follows the selected patent data structure has a technical classification code as one of the fields, the recognition method is performed by searching the corresponding field and reading the data of the field. When the patent data does not have a technical classification code defined by the fields, or when the patent data is provided in the level of a mechanical language, the technical classification reading means 202 classifies the technical classification of the patent data on the basis of a technical classification lookup table (not shown) connected to the computing apparatus, for example, containing the IPC code. That is, data having the same or nearly the same format as one of those listed in the technical classification lookup table is searched from data strings included in a single patent, and the searched data is considered to have that technical classification. i67> When the technical classifications of the patent data belonging to the target patent group is read by the technical classification reading means 202, the control unit 201 shown in FIG. 2 determines whether or not the read technical classifications are redundant. After the redundancy is determined, if the patent technical classifications read from different patent data are identical to one another (i.e., if they are redundant), they are recognized as one classification, and then only one of them is selected as a representative technical classification. Hereinafter, this process is called a "redundancy removal".

<i69> The redundancy removal is performed by comparing data representing the technical classifications and deleting the redundant technical classifications.

<i7i> After the technical classification reading means 202 recognizes the technical classifications of the target patent group and removes the redundancy therefrom as shown in FIG. 3 using the aforementioned method, the results may be displayed as shown in FIG. 4.

<i73> The window (referred to as a "technical classification window") 4B of FIG. 4 shows that redundancy of technical classifications of the patents 3A, 3B, and 3C of FIG. 3 is removed. Particularly, both the patents 3B and 3C have a technical classification code C30B-2/00, while the technical classification code C30B-2/00 is displayed on the technical classification window 4B only one time. This is because the technical classification window 4B is displayed after the aforementioned redundancy removal.

<-i7s> The window 4A of FIG. 4 shows an example of a method of searching the target patent group. That is, a search condition input to a query box specifies the target patent group designated as United States registered patents of specifications containing words "semiconductor" and "device". In addition to the search window 4A, typical interfaces provided by other commercial patent database services may be directly used.

<177> A method of displaying the technical classification window is set by the output mode setting means 204 of the computing apparatus according to the invention. The output mode setting means 204 determines a mode of displaying the technical classification on the window 4B, for example, which order is used to display the technical classifications.

_^|79> According to an embodiment of the invention, the output mode setting means 204 may display the technical classifications in descending order from the technical classification having the highest number of patents or may display the technical classifications in the order listed in the technical classification manual. Alternatively, particular technical classifications may be grouped and displayed in a single time. For example, minor technical classifications having a little number of patents may not be displayed one by one, but may be collectively displayed as a miscellaneous group or a minor group. Such methods will be described in detail below.

<i8i> Before or after the process of displaying the technical classifications of the target patent group on the technical classification window 4B, the hyperlinking means 205 shown in FIG. 2 hyperlinks the patent data to each of the technical classifications.

<ικ3> Now, operations after the hyperlink process will be described in brief. In FIG. 4, a user may instruct to display the patent data belonging to the respective technical classification by clicking or selecting a particular display point such as a predetermined technical classification code (for example, C30B-2/00) on the technical classification window 4B using an input means such as a mouse or a pointing device 41. The computing apparatus receives this instruction and displays the patent data hyperl inked to the respective technical classifications in a separate window 4C (hereinafter, referred to as a "patent data window") as shown in FIG. 4. Such a patent data window 4C may allow a user to see the patent data belonging to the selected technical classification in detail.

<i85> The hyperlink process for hyperlinking the patent data to the respective point of the technical classification window may be performed in a similar way to HTML, and such a method is already well known in the art. Therefore, any person skilled in the art would not fail to embody the hyperlink process of the invention, and the description thereof will not be described.

<i87> The patent data may be hyperlinked to a lot of technical classifications. This means that, if a patent belongs to two or more technical classifications as shown in the patent 3B of FIG. 3, the patent data of the patent 3B can be hyperlinked to both the classifications C30B- 2/00 and H01S-3/18 of the technical classification window 4B of FIG. 4.

<i89> If a hyperlink point on the patent data window 4C is selected by clicking a mouse or a pointing device in order to see the details of the linked patent data after the patent data window 4C is created, data on the selected patent may be fetched from the database unit connected to the computing apparatus according to the invention in a wireless or wired connecting manner and displayed. Such a manner is similar to a method of displaying output data of a typical patent database on a display unit.

<i9i> The aforementioned method is just one of the embodiments of the invention. Since the searched patents of the target patent group can be classified according to each technical classification in a real-time manner, it is possible to efficiently classify the patents in a higher speed in comparison with conventional classification works in which the patent data are analyzed by separately searching them according to a technical classification or each patent data are manually and visually inspected for each technical classification.

<i93> As a result of the effective automatic patent classification method according to the invention, it is possible to effectively filter out unnecessary patent data from the target patent group using definition of each patent classification, and find necessary patent data in an easier manner.

<i95> SECOND EMBODIMENT: COMPUTING APPARATUS INCLUDING LEVEL ESTABLISHING

<I97> FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating another computing apparatus 50 including a level establishing means 206 according to the invention. The construction of FIG. 5 is similar to that of FIG. 2 except for the level establishing means 206, and like reference numerals denote like elements throughout the drawings and embodiments.

<i99> First of all, the "level" of the invention will be described by exemplifying the IPC code. For example, in an IPC code H01L-3/18, "H" denotes a section, "01" denotes a class, "L" denotes a subclass, "3" denotes a main group, and "18" denotes a sub-group, so that the technical classification is expressed from the highest level to the low level. If necessary, sub-divisions (i.e., the number of dots) may be used to classify the technical classification level. Such a technical classification level can be recognized by referencing a respective technical classification manual. The hierarchical structure is not limited to the IPC code system, but commonly used by most of other patent classification systems such as UPC, FI , and F-Term.

<2ϋi> The invention may be embodied in such a way that the hierarchical structure of the technical classifications is simultaneously displayed when the target patent group is classified on the basis of the technical classification system and displayed on a display screen. In this case, the level establishing means is used to determine the highest level displayed on the display screen. As described above, the "level" according to the invention is the same or similar concept to the hierarchical structure of the typical technical classification system.

<203> The level establishing means is operated when a user instructs to classify the patents of the target patent group up to a predetermined level of the technical classification system. The operating method of the level establishing means will be described.

<2O5> First of all, the technical classification such as H01L3-18 for operating the level establishing means according to the invention has a hierarchical structure in which the search range becomes narrower as descending from a high level to a low level. The technical classification code is established on the basis of each level, and the computing apparatus includes the level establishing means for establishing the level for reading the technical classification code.

<207> It is recognized that the classification codes HOlL and HOlS are included in the same section and the same class. Also, the classification code HOl has a wider range while the classification code HOlS or HOlL has a narrow range. <209> In addition, the technical classification corresponding to each level in the above example means that the technical classification code corresponding to the high level is HOl and the technical classification code corresponding to the low level is HOlS or HOlL. For more general expression, the technical classification of each level has a unique code expressing its level. For example, the technical classification code "HOlS" contains a high level code HOl and a low level code S.

<2iι> If a user inputs the level of the technical classification ID through an input means such as a mouse, a keyboard, and a pointing device, or if a predetermined level is preset as a default value, the level is established by the level establishing means and transmitted to a control unit.

<2i3> Then, if the level is established to a low level in the above example, the technical classification reading means reads the technical classification ID HOlS or HOlL corresponding to the low level in a process of reading the technical classification ID.

<2i5> Subsequently, an output mode setting means outputs the read technical classification IDs on the display screen. In this case, a hierarchical structure based on the level of the technical classification IDs (a relationship of HOlL or HOlS and HOl) is output together with the technical classification IDs HOlL and HOlS. The hierarchical structure may be output on the display screen such as a monitor in such a way that a relationship between the high level code HOl and the low level code HOlS or HOlL can be identified by a user using, for example, a tree structure. The tree structure is expressed by visually connecting a plurality of branches between the high level codes and the low level codes to show their dependency.

<2i7> Now, the aforementioned processes will be described in more detail through an example.

<2i^y> First of all, when the selected target patent group is input to the computing apparatus 50, the technical classification reading means 202 reads the technical classification codes of the patent data up to a default level (e.g., "section + class" levels in the case of an IPC code system) and performs the redundancy removal process.

<22i> Then, the read technical classification codes are displayed on the technical classification window, and the aforementioned hyperlink process is performed as described in order to hyperlink the patent data to respective technical classification codes.

<223> The window 6B of FIG. 6 shows the technical classification codes up to the default level displayed on the technical classification window after the redundancy removal process. For example, assuming that U.S. patent No. 6,XXX,345 has a default level code HOl of the technical classification code (e.g., the IPC code) H01L-21/30, U.S. patent No. 5,XXX,453 has default level codes C30 and HOl, U.S. patent No. 5,XXX,830 has default level codes C30 and HOl, and U.S. patent No. 4,XXX,383 has a default level code B23. The default level codes HOl, C30, and 23 are displayed on the technical classification window after their redundancy is removed. Characters and numerals representing a part of the technical classification code, such as HOl, HOlL, and C30 displayed on the interface are hereinafter referred to as technical classification identifications (IDs).

<227> In the above description, the default level means a level automatically displayed on the technical classification window by the output mode setting means 204 when a user does not determine the level. Although the default level is established to the level of "section + class" in the above example, the default level may be set to include only the "section" for a wider search range, or set to include the "section + class + subclass" for a narrower search range. Otherwise, the default level may be established to include low level codes such as "section + class + subclass + ...". In addition, a user may always establish the level shown on the technical classification window using the level establishing means without establishing the default level.

<229> A user may want to classify the patent data according to the low level of the technical classification which is lower than the default level as necessary after the process of displaying the default level on the technical classification window. Hereinafter, the level having the higher order number in an ascending order from the first level, the second level, the third level, toward a high level will denote the lower technical classification which has a more detailed level. In the above case, the code including the levels "section + class" is referred to as a zero (0) level code.

<23i> A user may input the level using a desired method. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a user may click a mark "+" displayed in the left side of the technical classification ID on the technical classification window 6B using an input means such as a mouse or a pointing device 41, so as to input an instruction for classifying the patent data belonging to the low level which is lower than the level corresponding to the clicked symbol in order to set the technical classification to a desired level. Alternatively, a level input window may be additionally displayed in order to select a format of a particular level.

<235> More specifically, the technical classification IDs are initially displayed on the technical classification window 6B up to the default level including only the "section + class". If a user clicks one of the marks "+" displayed in left side of the technical classification IDs (e.g., HOl) using a mouse or a pointing device 41, the level establishing means 206 recognizes this click operation as an instruction for displaying the low level codes (i.e., the first level codes) of which levels are lower than the level of the selected default level code (i.e., the zero level codes in the above example) on the technical classification window without redundancy and notifies this instruction to the control unit 201 and/or the technical classification reading means 202.

<237> The technical classification reading means 202 notified of this instruction from the level establishing means 206 reads the IPC codes of the patent data belonging to the target patent group up to the first level. Specifically, in the above example, the technical classification reading means 202 selects the patent data having the IPC code HOl corresponding to the default level including the "section + class", and simultaneously or subsequently reads the IPC codes of the selected patent data up to the sub- class level. Then, a process of removing redundancy from the codes obtained by combining the levels "section + class + subclass" is performed.

<-239> The technical classification reading means 202 may classify each level by counting the number of digits included in the technical classification codes read according to the level established by the level establishing means 206. That is, when an instruction of reading the IPC codes up to the first level is input to the level establishing means, the technical classification reading means 202 reads leftmost four symbols such as HOlS of each patent data, and then, the process of removing redundancy is processed on the basis of the four symbols. Alternatively, a "hierarchical technical classification code table" dedicated to the invention may be used, as will be described later.

•--4I-. The technical classification window 6B' of FIG. 6 shows the result of the aforementioned processes, in which the low level codes (i.e., the first level codes) HOlL and HOlS are listed under the high level code (i.e., the zero level code) HOl. In addition, the hyperlinking means of the invention searches the patent data having the IPC codes HOlL and HOlS as the first level code from the target patent group and hyperlinks them to the respective technical classification IDs immediately after or before the process of displaying the window 6B¹.

<243> Referring to FIG. 6, when a user inputs an instruction of classifying the patent data up to the second level including the "section + class + subclass + main group" using a mouse or a pointing device in a method similar to the aforementioned process (i.e., the mark "+" displayed in left side of the technical classification ID HOlS is clicked using a mouse or a pointing device), the technical classification window 6B is changed to a technical classification window 6B' shown in FIG. 6. A user may feel that the hierarchical interface of the invention is similar to that of a folder system of the Microsoft Windows Explorer. However, the invention has novel advantages that cannot be anticipated from the Microsoft Windows Explorer because the invention is applied to the technical classification system, and allows the patent classification to be conveniently performed.

<245> In the window 6B' , the low level codes H01S-3 and H01S-7 are further displayed under the high level code HOlS without redundancy, and respective patent data are hyperlinked thereto.

<247> As a result, a user can classify the patent data in detail as required using the aforementioned level establishing means.

<.M<)> In addition, it is possible to hyperlink all of the patents belonging to the low level codes if a particular patent classification code is selected. For example, as shown in the window 6C of FIG. 6, if the technical classification ID HOl of the IPC code system is clicked using the mouse or the pointing device 41, all of the patents (e.g., corresponding to the selected patent classification ID up to the level of the "section + class + subclass" such as HOlS and HOlL) may be displayed on the patent data window.

<25i> It would be apparent to those skilled in the art that the interface such as the window 6A shown in FIG. 6 is just an example of the invention, and also should not be understood as limitation of the invention.

<253> In addition, the aforementioned embodiment including the process of displaying the low level codes when the mark "+" is clicked, or the process of displaying a separate window on the patent data window when a particular technical classification ID is clicked is just an example and may be modified in various forms. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a box 61 may be additionally displayed in the left side of the technical classification ID on the technical classification window, and the patent data corresponding to the technical classification ID HOl may be displayed on the patent data window 6C when a user selects the box 61 located in the left side of the technical classification ID HOl.

<255> More specifically, in the above description, the output mode setting means displays the marks "+" in each left side of the technical classification IDs on the display screen, and receives the instruction of outputting the technical classification IDs corresponding to the low level codes belonging to a predetermined technical classification code (i.e., the high level code) selected by the input means. This process is performed by a selection operation such as clicking of a predetermined symbol or mark using an input device such as a mouse or a pointing device. It should be noted that various symbols or marks other than the aforementioned mark "+" may be used, and a string of the technical classification ID itself may function as a selection mark. That is, when a character string of a predetermined high level code is clicked, the low level codes belonging to clicked high level code may be unfolded. In this case, the patent data hyperlinked thereto may be displayed using another method different from the clicking of the technical classification ID.

<257> THIRD EMBODIMENT: COMPUTING APPARATUS INCLUDING TECHNICAL CLASSIFICATION MANUAL

<259> The invention can allow a hierarchical structure of technical classifications difficult to be identified from the technical classification IDs such as IPC or UPC to be more accurately displayed. Such a hierarchical structure may be displayed to show the technical classification codes up to the sub-division level.

<26i> As apparent to those skilled in the art, the hierarchical relationship of the technical classification codes is determined on the basis of the number and the position of the dots in the IPC code system. This relationship is similarly applied to other technical classification systems. For example, according to the seventh edition of the IPC code system, the classification code H01S-3/00 has no dot, the classification code H01S-3/09 has one dot, the classification code H01S-3/091 has two dots, the classification code H01S-3/0915 has three dots, the classification code HOlS- 3/092 has four dots, and the classification code H01S-3/093 has five dots. The technical classifications are sequentially recorded in the manual in this order. Such a representation means that the classification codes H01S-3/09, H01S-3/091, H01S-3/0915, H01S-3/092, and H01S-3/093 are sequentially specified and classified under the classification code H01S-3/00. As recognized from this example, the representations (i.e., the alphabetic characters or the numerals) of the main group or the sub-group are not always accurately matched to such a classification and a division.

<~>63> For this reason, in the above example, it would be difficult to recognize that the classification code H01S-3/092 belongs to the classification code H01S-3/0915 on the basis of only the technical classification IDs without referencing the IPC manual. Needless to say, although the aforementioned "dot" is expressed as three digits according to the FI classification system used in the Japanese Patent Organization, this is just an exceptional case.

<2()5> The invention is constructed such that the classification codes can be hierarchically classified up to the sub-division concept. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a computing apparatus 70 of the invention in which the hierarchical structure of the technical classification IDs can be identified and constructed in a real-time manner.

<-267> A component newly added to the computing apparatus 70 shown in FIG. 7 is an electronic technical classification manual 207. In the electronic technical classification manual 207, hierarchical information on the technical classification system such as IPC and UPC is electronically recorded up to the sub-division level. Specifically, the electronic classification manual 207 may be implemented such that an electronic document having a file format such as PDF and XML files is converted into an appropriate format and input to the computing apparatus according to the invention, so as to be analyzed by the technical classification reading means.

<269> The computing apparatus 70 shown in FIG. 7 is operated such that the target patent group is selected and input as described above, and the computing apparatus 70 receives from a user through an input means 22 an instruction for classifying the target patent group on the basis of a technical classification system having a particular level selected using the level establishing means 206 as necessary.

<ii\> Then, the computing apparatus 70 recognizes the technical classification using the aforementioned method and removes redundancy. Immediately before or after this process, the control unit requests the technical classification manual 207 to search a corresponding technical classification to recognize its hierarchical structure and display the hierarchical structure such as the technical classification window shown in FIG. 8 through the output mode setting means 204 on the basis of the recognized hierarchical structure. Operating methods of other components are similar to those of the first and second embodiments.

<273> As a result, according to the third embodiments of the invention, it is possible to more accurately display the hierarchical structure of the technical classification unlike the second embodiment in which the patent data are classified on the basis of only the technical classification IDs or the hierarchical structure is estimated and displayed on the basis of only the technical classification IDs. In addition, it is possible to automatically recognize the hierarchical structure of the technical classifications and classify the patents up to a more specific level such as a sub-division level which is not easily recognized using only the technical classification IDs.

<275> FOURTH EMBODIMENT: COMPUTING APPARATUS INCLUDING HIERARCHICAL TECHNICAL CLASSIFICATION CODE

<277> The computing apparatus according to the invention includes a hierarchical technical classification code system in order to allow an operation speed required to analyze the hierarchical structure of the technical classification to be significantly increased.

<28i> The hierarchical technical classification code system of the invention is a technical classification code system reconstructed on the basis of the conventional technical classification system and uniquely used in the present invention to show the hierarchical structure of the conventional technical classification system. That is, this is made for each technical classification ID. Its structure may include a unique code representing its level and a high level code having its high level technical classification ID.

<285> FIG. 9 is a table representing a relationship between a conventional technical classification system and the hierarchical technical classification code system of the invention by exemplifying a subclass symbol HOlJ on the basis of the seventh edition of the IPC code system. In this table, the left column specifies the IPC code, the center column specifies a dot structure of the IPC code (i.e., the sub-division structure is shown as the number of dots), and the right column specifies the hierarchical technical classification code of the invention, constructed to appropriately show the hierarchical structure reflecting the aforementioned conditions. Each classification code is a series of symbols except for the omitted portion, and the abbreviation N/A means that there is no dot.

<287> According to FIG. 9, it is recognized on the basis of the dot expression that the classification code HOlJ-1/00 belongs to the high level codes HOl and HOlJ, and includes the low level codes HOlJ-1/02 to HOlJ-1/08. In this case, the hierarchical technical classification code system reflects the hierarchical condition using a combination of characters and numerals having a predetermined number of digits.

<289> For example, the hierarchical technical classification code system may be constructed of character strings having a predetermined digit number n in which a first digit is used to specify an original technical classification code system, subsequent four digits are used to specify symbols of an original technical classification code up to the "section + class + subclass" level (i.e., the first level), and remaining digits are used to specify different numerals according to the order of the original technical classification codes represented in its manual.

<29i> In the table shown in FIG. 9, the hierarchical technical classification code of the class HOl is expressed as "IHOIJOOOO ... 0". In this expression, the leftmost character I specifies that the original technical classification system is the IPC code system. The class HOl is given similar to that of the original technical classification code. The subclass HOlJ is similarly expressed as "IHOIJOOOO ... 0".

<293> However, the construction of the hierarchical technical classification code system is somewhat changed from the level of the main group HOlJ-1/00. That is, the order of the group HOlJ-1/00 in the subclass HOlJ is reflected. Since the group HOlJ-1/00 has the first order in the subclass HOlJ according to the seventh edition of the IPC code system, "001" is attached to the end of the subclass code HOlJ, and remaining blanks are filled with zeros "0" to the end of the number n of digits, so that the hierarchical classification code becomes "IHOIJOOlO ... 0. The two zeros "00" of the numeral "001" are attached to the end of the subclass code HOlJ because the technical classification code of this level may require three digits.

<29.s> In addition, since the subgroup HOlJ-1/02 belongs to the main group HOlJ-1/00, and has the first order in the main group HOlJ-1/00, a numeral "01" is attached to the end of the code "IHOlJOOl". Since the subgroup HOlJ- 1/04 has the first order in the subgroup HOlJ-1/02, a numeral "01" is attached to the end of the code "IHOUOOIOI". Similarly, the number of subgroups may be larger than 10, a numeral "01" rather than "1" is attached.

<297> In this way, all hierarchical technical classification codes do not have their unique number until the code symbols are directly arranged from the leftmost side in descending order from the highest level. The unique number may be determined by referencing the order in the belonging group in the technical classification manual. The classification code HOlJ-1/08 has the third order in the group HOlJ-1/04 following HOlJ-1/05 and HOlJ-1/06. Therefore, the hierarchical technical classification code becomes "IH01J001010100300 ... 0".

<299> However, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that the unique number may not be given according to the order in the manual within the same level. That is, the number that can be discriminated from each other may be attached in the same technical level. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the numbering is given in the order of the manual for convenient description. <3oi> Similarly, since the subgroup H01J-3/14 belongs to main group HOlJ- 3/00, and has an eighth order, "08" is attached to the unique hierarchical technical classification code of H01J-3/00, so as to be "IH01J0020800000 ... 0". For example, the main group H01J-3/00 belongs to the subclass HOlJ, and has a second order following HOlJ-1/00 which is the same level.

<3O3> The construction of the aforementioned hierarchical technical classification code system is just an example, and various modifications can be made. For example, the number of digits in the string of the code may be made to exist as much as the number of digits required in the corresponding level, or a code having a simpler format may be attached instead of the conventional technical classification code such as HOl.

<3()5> The method of preparing the hierarchical technical classification code may be made such that, if an electronic data book having information on a hierarchical structure or an original technical classification manual is prepared, the data book is read, and the unique hierarchical technical classification code is given for all classes, subclasses, and groups using the aforementioned method on the basis of the data book.

<3()7> Although the IPC code system has been described in the above example, the unique hierarchical technical classification code can be made for other code systems such as the UPC or F-TERM on the basis of a similar principle.

<3ϋ9> For example, FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a hierarchical technical classification code of an FI code H01L-021/30501. Referring to FIG. 10, a symbol "F" representing the FI code system is attached to the heading, and the code is give in descending order such as "section + class", "section + class + subclass", and "section + class + subclass + group", and using the aforementioned method. In addition, a level recognizable by the computing apparatus of the invention is given for each code by establishing the widest classification level "section + class" to a zero level, establishing the next classification level "section + class + subclass" to a first level, and so on. In this case, the order of the level increases as the classification range becomes narrower. <iii> FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a computing apparatus 110 of the invention including the aforementioned hierarchical technical classification code 208. The hierarchical technical classification code 208 is a data code stored in the storage device 26 in a physical sense, but is a module operated separately from the storage unit in functional sense. Therefore, the computing apparatus 110 is separately illustrated in FIG. 11.

<?π> In addition, two types or formats of the hierarchical technical classification code 208 can be made as shown in the drawing. For example, in a type A, if a classification code HOlJ-1/08 is given, its high level classification codes, their levels, and the corresponding hierarchical technical classification code are also recorded in a table (referred to as a hierarchical technical classification code table). On the contrary, in a type B, only the classification code HOlJ-1/08 and its hierarchical technical classification code are recorded in a table. This different format may cause difference of an operating method in the computing apparatus 110. oι^-> Assuming that a technical classification code of a predetermined patent belonging to the target patent group is HOlJ-1/08, an operating method of the computing apparatus 110 of FIG. 11 will be described.

-=-317> First of all, assuming that the computing apparatus 110 has the hierarchical technical classification code table of a type B which is relatively simpler, the technical classification reading means does not read all symbols of the hierarchical technical classification code string but reads only four proceeding digits (i.e., IHOl) according to a predetermined algorithm when each patent data is input to the computing apparatus and the technical classification reading means 202 reads a default level of a predetermined patent. After only four preceding digits of the hierarchical technical classification code are read from all patents belonging to the target patent group, redundancy of the read codes is removed.

<3i9> Therefore, for this process, there should be a process of setting the number of digits of high level codes and the number of digits of the unique codes of the technical classification ID corresponding to each level. The process of reading the technical classification ID according to a predetermined level in the technical classification reading means should be performed such that symbols of a high level code are read to recognize information on a high level code such as a section or a class, and the information on the high level code is transmitted to a control unit and/or an output mode setting means in order to display the technical classification ID as a low level code of a high level code.

<32i> The digit number of the low level code may be established to a two- digit number if the number of codes is less than 100 as described above, or may be set to a three-digit number if the number of codes is less than 1000. Therefore, it would be alright if the unique code is created according to this or similar standard from the highest level, the high level code is subsequently attached to make an entire code, and the number of digits to be read for each level according to that is set.

<325> Such limitation of the digit number is just an example.

<326> For the data of the technical classification remained after removing redundancy, an original technical classification is reversely searched using this data again, and only the original technical classification as much as the digit number corresponding to the zero level is notified to the control unit using the determined algorithm again, and displayed on the display screen using the output mode setting means 204 or the like.

<328> This process may be seen to have no difference from an original method of reading the technical classification code or may be considered inefficient. However, the invention has effects different from simply processing the original technical classification code when the technical classification is read and classified in a low level, particularly, in the level including the dot concept.

<^"π<>- For example, if the classification code HOlJ-1/05 of the fifth level is read by the level establishing means 206 without the hierarchical technical classification code, information obtained by searching the technical classification manual should be referenced as described above in order to determined whether or not this group consists of the high level HOlJ-1/04. Since an amount of patents included in the entire technical classification manual should be searched for this purpose, an operating speed of the computing apparatus may be relatively reduced.

<^2> Meanwhile, when the hierarchical technical classification code of the type B is included, the hierarchical technical classification code of each patent is read as much as a digit number determined according to a determined algorithm (14 digits from the leftmost side if the fifth level is used), and a process of removing redundancy is performed. Therefore, it is possible to remarkably increase a processing speed and efficiency.

<334> If the computing apparatus uses the hierarchical technical classification code table of the type A, the processing speed is more remarkably increased. The type A has a table format containing a plurality of hierarchical technical classification codes constructed according to each level and corresponding levels. Each technical classification ID is read such that the hierarchical technical classification code corresponding to the level instructed by the level establishing means is read instead of counting the digit number, and a process of removing redundancy is performed.

<336> That is, when the default level of each patent data is read, the technical classification reading means searches the zero level from the hierarchical technical classification code table of the patent data, reads only the hierarchical technical classification code corresponding to the zero level, removes redundancy, and then displays it.

<33S> Furthermore, if the classification of a predetermined level is instructed from the level establishing means 206, the corresponding level is searched from the hierarchical technical classification code table of each patent data, and only the hierarchical technical classification code corresponding to the level is read and processed. Therefore, it is possible to more remarkably increase process efficiency.

<i40> The hierarchical technical classification code of the fourth embodiment is a very fast and effective means for accurately recognizing hierarchy. <342> FIFTH EMBODIMENT: COMPUTING APPARATUS INCLUDING COUNTING MEANS

<343> One of the important embodiments is a computing apparatus including a counting means. According to the invention, the counting means is a means for measuring the amount or the number of patents. FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a computing apparatus 120 including the counting means 211.

<345> The computing apparatus shown in FIG. 12 is operated such that the counting means counts the number of patents corresponding to each technical classification ID, the number of counted patents is provided to the output mode setting means, and the numbers of the patents corresponding to the technical classification IDs are displayed on the display screen by the output mode setting means together with the technical classification IDs.

<'47> More specifically, the target patent group is input in a similar way to the aforementioned embodiments, the technical classification codes of a default level of each patent data or a predetermined level determined by the level establishing means 206 are recognized, redundancy is removed, and the technical classification is displayed on a display screen 203.

<349> Before and after this process, the counting means 211 counts the number of patents corresponding to each technical classification already displayed or to be displayed on the technical classification window. In this case, the patent corresponding to the technical classification means patent data having a respective technical classification of a respective level.

<35i> The counting may be performed such that the technical classification reading means transmits IDs of the corresponding patent data, and the counting means 211 counts the number of IDs or the number of hyperlinks immediately before or after the hyper linking means is operated.

<353> When the counting means 211 calculates the quantity of patents belonging to the respective level and provides it to the control unit, the control unit 201 and the output mode setting means 204 are operated to display the quantity of patents belonging to each classification on the display screen together. <.w> In this case, the quantity of patents means at least the number of patents and/or its percentage.

<359> Specifically, FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate a technical classification window in which the number of patents and the technical classifications are displayed together. FIG. 13A illustrates a technical classification window 13A in the zero level. The number of patents corresponding to the zero level and its percentage are displayed together on each zero level classification. In the illustrated example, the percentage is calculated under the assumption that a denominator, i.e., the total number of the patent data belonging to each classification is 1000.

<363> For reference, the sum of the numbers of patent data of each technical classification is not always equal to the total number of patent data of the target patent group because, when a single patent belongs to two or more technical classifications, this patent is redundantly counted in each technical classification. Therefore, the total number of patent data in the target patent group is larger than the sum of the numbers of patents of each technical classification.

<365> FIG. 13B shows a technical classification window 13B reorganized with respect to the low level of the zero level HOl shown in FIG. 13A, i.e., a first 1eve1.

<367> In this case, the counting means 211 is operated again. That is, when the technical classification ID HOl is clicked using a mouse (not shown), and the level establishing means starts to operate, the technical classification analyzing means analyzes the technical classification of the patent data with respect to the technical classification of a next low level of the clicked symbol HOl, and removes redundancy, so that the subclass symbols HOlL and HOlS are displayed on a display screen. In this case, the counting means 211 also counts the number of patents included in the technical classifications of HOlL and HOlS, and displays the number of patent data such as 250 or 203. Also, a percentage can be displayed. In this case, the denominator of the percentage may be set to 1000 which is the total sum or 452 which is the number of patent data of HOl. This depends on decision of a user or a designer.

--369> Then, the technical classification window is reorganized with respect to the low levels which are lower than HOlS using the level establishing means again, and the counting means is operated to count the number of patents having classification codes H01S-3 and H01S-7, so that the numbers of patents are displayed. Immediately after or before this process, the hyper linking means may be operated as described above.

<>7i> Through the present embodiment, a user can recognize technical distribution of patent data belonging to the target patent group in a real^¬ time manner. In addition, if definition of each technical classification is identified, it is possible to easily identify what is desired patent data among the target patent group or which is unnecessary patent data on the basis of the number of patents. As a result, it is possible to effectively filter out garbage data.

<3?3> For reference, although the aforementioned technical classification drawing is displayed in descending order from the classification having a larger number of patent data within the corresponding level, the technical classification may be displayed on the display screen in order regardless of the number of patents, for example, in order described in the original technical classification manual or in alphabetical order of the technical classification ID.

<375> The number of patents may be displayed such that, when the mouse is located on the symbol of the technical classification ID, this is recognized as an instruction of displaying the number of patents, and a separate small pop-up window may be temporarily displayed to show the number of patents belonging to the corresponding technical classification.

-'V7> SIXTH EMBODIMENT: COMPUTING APPARATUS INCLUDING TECHNICAL CLASSIFICATION DEFINITION TABLE

<379> Another embodiment of the invention is a computing apparatus including a technical classification definition table connected to the control unit, and FIG. 14 is a block diagram thereof.

<38i> The technical classification definition table 213 is an electronic document obtained by matching definition of a general technical classification manual or brochure to each technical classification. Therefore, generally speaking, the technical classification manual 207 shown in FIG. 7 corresponds to the technical classification definition table 213. More strictly speaking, although the manual 207 shown in FIG. 7 is allowable if only the technical classification ID and its hierarchy are described, the technical classification definition table 213 of the present embodiment is sufficient if each technical classification ID and its definition are described in a text- format. Needless to say, the same electronic document containing the hierarchy and its definition may be used in both the manual 207 and the table 213.

<383> In FIG. 14, if the control unit 201 receives data on the definition of each technical classification ID already displayed or to be displayed by referencing the technical classification definition table 213 immediately before or after a process of displaying the technical classification IDs of a predetermined level corresponding to the technical classification window after each technical classification of the target patent group is analyzed and its redundancy is removed, and the output mode setting means displays the data on the definition of each technical classification ID together with the technical classification IDs. The displayed contents may be a part of or the entire of the corresponding technical classification definition.

<38.^£i> FIG. 15A illustrates an example of the technical classification window displayed as described above. A user may more accurately perform the analysis by reading the properties of the technical classifications belonging to the target patent group with reference to the displayed definition of each technical classification.

< «7> In addition, when the counting means additionally displays the number of patents belonging to each classification by adding the characteristic of the aforementioned fifth embodiment, a user can more conveniently select a desired group from the target patent group.

<390> FIG. 15B is a modification of FIG. 15A. In FIG. 15B, only the definition of each technical classification and the number of patents are displayed instead of the technical classification codes.

O92> From the viewpoint of a user, it would be useless if a user sees each technical classification code consisting of a combination of numerals and characters, but it would be actually more important to recognize technical definition of the corresponding code and/or the number of patents of each classification. Therefore, such a technical classification window is an embodiment that can be useful .

<394> In this case, if the hyperlinked patent data window is required, there is no need to use the technical classification ID (i.e., the technical classification code), but a method of clicking the definition sentence using a pointer or the like may be used.

<3%> It is recognized that an object that can be clicked on the technical classification window when the patent data window is required using the aforementioned method may include the definition of the corresponding technical classification or the like as well as the technical classification code. Therefore, the technical classification ID used throughout the invention should be understood to have a wide range of meaning including any one of such a technical classification code, a sentence defining the technical classification, and a portion hyperlinked to the patent data to characterize the technical classification. vv;κ> SEVENTH EMBODIMENT: COMPUTING APPARATUS INCLUDING MINOR CLASSIFICATION SELECTION MEANS

<4oo> One of the most important characteristics of the invention is a computing apparatus including a minor classification selection means which collects and arranges technical classifications having the number of patents smaller than a predetermined value as a minor classification group.

<402> Generally, if the technical classification of a target patent group is analyzed in a predetermined level, particularly a low level, it is recognized that there is a lot of technical classifications having a little number of patent data such as one or two. In addition, it is probable that the technical classifications having a little number of patents are not included in a target patent group or a target technical classification.

<4ϋ4> Nevertheless, when the minor technical classifications are mixed with the major technical classifications, and they are displayed on the technical classification window, a user may confusingly and inconveniently rummage each technical classification.

<406> The present embodiment is made to prevent such an ineffective condition, and relates to a computing apparatus including a minor classification selection means which allows a technical classification (hereinafter, referred to as a minor classification) having the number of patents smaller than a predetermined value to be displayed on the technical classification window as a collection or not to be displayed.

<408> FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a computing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 16, the minor classification selection means 219 includes a counting means 221 which counts the number of patents and a threshold value setting means 223 which sets the limitation of the number of patents to be selected as a minor classification set.

<4io> According to the present embodiment, a limitation of the number of patents is set by the threshold value setting means. The limitation may be previously set or arbitrarily set by a user in each analysis.

--'ti2> Subsequently, the counting means counts the number of patents corresponding to each technical classification ID. Then, each number of patents of the technical classification IDs are summed in ascending order from the technical classification ID having a smallest number of patents. Otherwise, each number of patents of the technical classification IDs are summed in descending order from the technical classification ID having a largest number of patents.

<4i4> When the summed number of patents reaches the limitation, the technical classification IDs participating in the summing are not individually output but integrated into a minor classification set, and the minor classification set is output on a display screen by the output mode setting means if the number of patents is summed in ascending order. If the number of patents is summed in descending order, the technical classification IDs not participating in the summing are integrated into the minor classification set, and the minor classification set is output.

<4i6> More specifically, the limitation may be set as a default value by a designer in the threshold value setting means 223 of the minor classification selection means 219. Otherwise, the limitation may be immediately set by a user .

-'••ti8> For example, when the limitation is set to 1% as a default value by the threshold value setting means 223, the computing apparatus 160 is operated as follows if the target patent group is input.

<420> That is, if the technical classification reading means 202 reads the technical classification of the patent data belonging to the target patent group in a respective level, a minor classification arranging means 219 is operated. In this case, specifically, the counting means 221 counts the number of patent data belonging to each technical classification.

<422> If the number of patent data is counted on a technical classification basis, the counting means 221 or the control unit 201 calculates a percentage of the number of patent data belonging to each classification with respect to the total number of the patent data for each technical classification. For example, FIG. 17A shows that the number of patents belonging to each classification is calculated in the zero level. However, FIG. 17A is not provided to display it on a display screen, but provided to show a calculation method.

<424> If the number of patents is calculated on a classification basis, the control unit 201 sums the number of patents in ascending order from the technical classification having a smallest number of patents. Then, the minor classification set is selected up to the technical classification having the summed number of patents smaller than or nearest to the limitation (e.g., 1%) set by the threshold value setting means 223.

<-426> Subsequently, the technical classifications selected as a minor classification set are displayed on the technical classification window by the output mode setting means 204.

<428> FIG. 17B shows an example of the technical classification window displayed as describe above, in which all the technical classifications of the minor classification set belong to a group called Minor Class, and its amount is 0.7% smaller than 1%. If necessary, the minor classification set may be constructed such that the belonging technical classifications and their patent data can be displayed in detail when a user clicks a mark "+" positioned in the left end of the Minor Class.

-4Mb- Through the aforementioned method, a user can conveniently separate major technical classifications of the target patent group. In addition, if one of the patents included in the minor classification set is an important patent desired by a user, it is probable that one of the technical classifications of that patent belongs to the major classification set. Therefore, a user may not miss that patent during the search, so that it is possible to guarantee safety.

\u- FIG. 18 illustrates another example of the technical classification window which uses the minor classification selection means. In FIG. 18A, the threshold value setting means input window 181 is displayed on a display screen, so that a user can arbitrarily set the limitation for selecting the minor classification set.

-4λ4> A user directly inputs a desired threshold value in an input window using an arrow indication 182 or an input means 22 instead of a predetermined default value and presses a "START" button. Then, the input unit receives the threshold value through the threshold value setting means, and determines the technical classifications belonging to the minor classification set on the basis of the threshold value, so that the technical^' classifications belonging to the minor classification set are displayed as shown in FIG. 18B.

- ιu» It would be apparent that a user who reviews the result may change the threshold value as necessary and press the "START" button again so as to obtain a different result.

<438> FIG. 19 shows another embodiment of the invention, in which the minor classification set is created for each technical classification level. That is, when the technical classification window of a zero level is created after the threshold value is set according to the default value or the user's input, a minor classification set 191 of the zero level is created and displayed as described above. Then, a user may classify the patents in a more detailed level such as the first level as necessary. In this case, the minor classification set 192 is also created on the basis of the threshold value in the selected level of the corresponding classification and then displayed.

<440> It would be apparent to those skilled in the art that the technical classifications that does not participate in the summing should be included in the minor classification set if the number of patents is summed in descending order from the technical classification having the largest number of patents in the aforementioned embodiments.

<442> As described above, it is possible to improve efficiency of analysis and/or search by allowing a user to conveniently find important technologies and patents using the minor classification set in a detailed level.

<444> EIGHTH EMBODIMENT: COMPUTING APPARATUS INCLUDING storing type setting means

<446> The invention provides a structure of a computing apparatus including a storing type setting means capable of setting a storage type in various manners when the technical classification window and/or the corresponding patent data that have been classified and reviewed are stored in a storage unit in order to reused them later.

<448> FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating a computing apparatus 200 including a storing type setting means 225, and FIG. 21 shows an example of the technical classification window 21A for setting the storage type.

<45ϋ> In FIG. 21, each "SAVE X" button can be used as an instruction to store the data using various storage formats. For example, a "SAVE A" (e.g., SAVE ALL) button may be used as an instruction button to store the data as displayed in the current technical classification window 21A and store all the hyperlinked patent data to be related to each technical classification. Therefore, when the stored data are loaded according to this storage format, they may be displayed as the current window and may be operated similar to the current display condition.

<452> In addition, a "SAVE B" (e.g., "SAVE SELECTED") button may be used as a button for storing a part of technical classifications selected using an inverted check box 250 (i.e., HOlL, HOlS and C30 in the drawing) and only the patent data hyperlinked thereto. FIG. 22A is an example of a window displayed when the stored file is loaded later.

<454> In addition, a "SAVE C" button may be used as a button for storing the patent data belonging to the technical classification selected using a black inverted check box 250 as a single file regardless of the technical classification. FIG. 22B shows an example of a data format that can be displayed when the stored file is loaded. Particularly, it is possible to construct the data format by recording the technical classification together to indicate where the corresponding patent data is classified from so as to be used later.

•-4S6- Through this method, each button is connected to the storing type setting means so that the storing type setting means can store various data on the technical classification window or the patent data window in an external storage connected to the computing apparatus 200 according to the invention.

<458> NINTH EMBODIMENT: COMPUTING APPARATUS OBTAINED BY COMBINING EMBODIMENTS

<460> Two or more aforementioned embodiments may be combined to provide a computing apparatus according to the invention. In this case, a part of redundant components such as the counting means 211 of FIG. 12 and the counting means 221 of FIG. 16 may be embodied in the same means. Those skilled in the art may easily embody such modifications by reading this specification of the invention, and they will not be described.

<462> Those skilled in the art may easily understand the principle of the invention and make various modifications according to the invention. For example, the aforementioned embodiments may be combined to a single form, or an analysis target may be changed to apply the invention to all electronic data such as a technical paper as well as the patent of which the hierarchical classification can be made. [Industrial Applicability]

<464> A method and a system according to the invention may be widely used in a patent search and analysis system.

Claims

[CLAIMS] [Claim 1]

A method of automatically classifying a patent group consisting of patents having at least one technical classification using a computing apparatus including a control unit, a technical classification reading means, an output mode setting means, and a level establishing means, the method comprising: inputting patent data belonging to the patent group into the control unit ; establishing a level of reading a technical classification ID using the level establishing means! reading the technical classification ID of the patent data corresponding to the level established by the technical classification reading means! removing redundancy of the technical classification IDs read by the control unit; outputting a hierarchical structure of the read technical classification IDs together with the respective technical classification IDs according to the level to a display screen connected to the computing apparatus by the output mode setting means, wherein the technical classification ID has a hierarchical structure in which a low level code belongs to a high level code within the same group, and the respective technical classification ID is assigned for each level. [Claim 2]

The method according to claim 1, wherein a patent database storing the patent data and a patent search means are connected to the computing apparatus, and wherein the patent group is obtained by searching the patent database using the patent search means. [Claim 3]

The method according to claim 1, wherein a patent database storing the patent data and a patent search means are connected to the computing apparatus, and wherein the patent group is obtained by searching the patent database at least two times using the patent search means on the basis of different conditions and removing redundancy of the search results using the search means . [Claim 4]

The method according to claim 1, wherein the technical classification ID has a technical classification code selected from a group consisting of an IPC code, a UPC code, an ECLA code, an FI code, an F-term code, an industrial technical classification code, an industrial classification code, and a technical classification code of an individual corporation. [Claim 5]

The method according to claim 1, wherein the the technical classification ID has a technical classification code selected from a group consisting of an IPC code system, a UPC code system, an ECLA code system, an FI code system, an F-term code system, an industrial technical classification, an industrial classification, and a technical classification of an individual corporation, or a text sentence for defining the technical classification code. [Claim 6]

The method according to claim 1, further comprising hyperlinking the patent data corresponding to the technical classification ID to the corresponding technical classification ID, wherein the computing apparatus additionally includes a hyperlinking means. [Claim 7]

The method according to claim 6, wherein each technical classification ID of each level includes a unique code representing its level and a high level code of the technical classification ID. [Claim 8]

The method according to claim 6, wherein the hierarchical structure is output in a tree structure having a high level code of the technical classification ID and a low level codes of the technical classification ID which are included the high level code. [Claim 9]

The method according to claim 6, wherein the computing apparatus further comprises an input means for inputting an external instruction, and wherein the method further comprises: reading the technical classification ID of the patent data corresponding to a low level code using the technical classification reading means when the level establishing means receives an instruction for outputting the technical classification ID corresponding to the low level code of a predetermined technical classification on a display screen by the input means; removing redundancy of the read technical classification IDs of the low level code using the output mode setting means and outputting them on the display screen connected to the computing apparatus; and hyperlinking the patent data corresponding to the technical classification IDs of the low level code to the technical classification ID of the low level code using the hyperl inking means. [Claim 10]

The method according to claim 9, further comprising outputting a predetermined mark for each technical classification ID on the display screen using the output mode setting means, wherein the inputting of the instruction of outputting the technical classification ID corresponding to the low level code of a predetermined technical classification from the input means is performed by pointing out the predetermine mark using the input means. [Claim 11]

The method according to claim 6, further comprising setting a hierarchical technical classification code including a unique code representing a level of each technical classification ID and a high level code of the technical classification ID of a high level according to the technical classification ID of each level, wherein the reading of the technical classification ID according to the established level by the technical classification reading means is performed by reading a hierarchical technical classification code corresponding to the established level . [Claim 12]

The method according to claim 6, further comprising: setting a hierarchical technical classification code including a unique code representing a level of each technical classification ID and a high level code of the technical classification ID of each level; and setting a digit number of the high level code of the technical classification ID corresponding to each level and a digit number of the unique code, wherein the reading of the predetermined technical classification ID according to the established level by the technical classification reading means includes: reading the technical classification ID up to the digit number of the high level code to recognize which high level corresponds to the digit number ; and transmitting information on the recognized high level code to the output mode setting means. [Claim 13]

The method according to claim 6, further comprising providing the control unit with a hierarchical technical classification code table which contains a plurality of hierarchical technical classification codes and respective levels corresponding to each of the hierarchical technical classification codes in descending order from the highest level to the lowest level , wherein the reading of the technical classification ID according to the established level by the technical classification reading means is performed by reading the hierarchical technical classification code corresponding to the established level in the hierarchical technical classification code table, and wherein the hierarchical technical classification code includes a unique code representing its level and a high level code of the technical classification ID. [Claim 14]

The method according to claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus further comprises a counting means for counting the number of patent data, and wherein the method further comprises^ counting the number of patents corresponding to each technical classification ID using the counting means; providing the counted number of patents to the output mode setting means ; and outputting the number of patents corresponding to the corresponding technical classification IDs together with the technical classification IDs to the display screen using the output mode setting means. [Claim 15]

The method according to claim 9, wherein the computing apparatus further comprises a counting means for counting the number of patents, and wherein the method further comprises, before or after the outputting of the read technical classification IDs of the low level on the display screen using the output mode setting means: counting the number of patents corresponding to the read technical classification IDs of the low level code; providing the counted number of patents to the output mode setting means; and outputting the number of patents corresponding to the technical classification IDs of the low level together with the corresponding technical classification IDs of the low level on the display screen using the output mode setting means. [Claim 16]

The method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the number of patents is displayed as a number or a percentage. [Claim 17]

The method according to claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus further comprises a table in which the technical classification codes corresponding to the technical classification ID are defined, and wherein the outputting of the technical classification IDs on the display screen includes the step of outputting at least a part of definition of the technical classification corresponding to each technical classification ID with reference to the definition table as a text sentence. [Claim 18]

The method according to claim 9, wherein computing apparatus further comprises a table in which the technical classification corresponding to the technical classification ID is defined, and wherein the method further comprises, before or after the step of outputting of the technical classification IDs of the low level on the display screen, the step of outputting at least a part of definition of the technical classification corresponding to the technical classification ID of the low level with reference to the definition table as a text sentence . [Claim 19]

The method according to claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus further comprises a counting means for counting the number of patents corresponding to the technical classification ID and a threshold value setting means for setting a threshold value for the number of patents, and wherein the method further comprises: setting the threshold value of the number of patents using the threshold value setting means; counting the number of patents corresponding to each technical classification ID using the counting means; summing the number of patents of technical classification IDs in ascending order from the technical classification ID having a smallest number of the counted patents; outputting the technical classification IDs participating in the summing in an individual manner or in a combinational manner as a single minor classification set on the display screen using the output mode setting means when the summed number of patents reaches the threshold value. [Claim 20]

The method according to claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus further comprises a counting means for counting the number of patents corresponding to the technical classification ID and a threshold value setting means for setting a threshold value for the number of patents, and wherein the method further comprises: setting the threshold value for the number of patents using the threshold value setting means; counting the number of patents corresponding to each technical classification ID using the counting means! summing the number of patents of technical classification IDs in descending order from the technical classification ID having a largest number of the counted patents; outputting the technical classification IDs not participating in the summing in an individual manner or in a combinational manner as a single minor classification set on the display screen using the output mode setting means when the summed number of patents reaches the threshold value. [Claim 21] The method according to claim 6, wherein the computing apparatus further comprises a counting means for counting the number of patents corresponding to the technical classification ID and a threshold value setting means for setting a threshold value for the number of patents, and wherein the method further comprises: setting the threshold value for the number of patents using the threshold value setting means; counting the number of patents corresponding to each technical classification ID using the counting means! summing the number of patents of technical classification IDs in ascending order from the technical classification ID having a smallest number of counted patents within the level established by the level establishing means ; outputting the technical classification IDs participating in the summing in an individual manner or in a combinational manner as a single minor classification set belonging to a low level of the set level on the display screen using the output mode setting means when the summed number of patents reaches the threshold value. [Claim 22]

The method according to claim 6, wherein the computing apparatus further comprises a counting means for counting the number of patents corresponding to the technical classification ID and a threshold value setting means for setting a threshold value for the number of patents, and wherein the method further comprises: setting the threshold value for the number of patents using the threshold value setting means! counting the number of patents corresponding to each technical classification ID using the counting means! summing the number of patents of technical classification IDs in descending order from the technical classification ID having a largest number of counted patents within the level established by the level establishing means; outputting the technical classification IDs not participating in the summing in an individual manner or in a combinational manner as a single minor classification set belonging to a low level of the established level on the display screen using the output mode setting means when the summed number of patents reaches the threshold value. [Claim 231

The method according to claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus further comprises a storing type setting means, and wherein the method further comprises selecting a part of the technical classification IDs output on the display screen and storing the selected technical classification IDs in an external storage unit using the storing type setting means. [Claim 24]

The method according to claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus further comprises a storing type setting means, and wherein the method further comprises selecting patent data hyperlinked to a part of the technical classification IDs output on the display screen and storing the selected hyperlinked data in an external storage unit using the storing type setting means. [Claim 25]

The method according to claim 6, wherein the computing apparatus further comprises a storing type setting means, and wherein the method further comprises: selecting a part of the technical classification IDs output on the display screen and storing the selected technical classification IDs in an external storage unit using the storing type setting means, when technical classification IDs are displayed on the display screen in a hierarchical manner I and storing the hierarchical structure of the selected technical classification IDs in the storage unit using the storing type setting means. [Claim 26]

A method of automatically classifying a patent group consisting of patents having one or more technical classifications using a computing apparatus including a control unit, a technical classification reading means, an output mode setting means, and a hyperlinking means, the method comprising: inputting the patent data belonging to the patent group to the control unit ; reading technical classification IDs of the patent data using the technical classification reading means; removing redundancy of the read technical classification IDs and outputting the technical classification IDs on a display screen connected to the computing apparatus using the output mode setting means; and hyperlinking the patent data corresponding to the technical classification IDs to the technical classification IDs using the hyperlinking means . [Claim 27]

A method of automatically classifying a document group consisting of electronic documents having one or more technical classifications using a computing apparatus including a control unit, a classification reading means, an output mode setting means, and a level establishing means, the method comprising: inputting the document data belonging to the document group to the control unit; establishing a level for reading classification IDs using the level establ ishing means; reading classification IDs of the document data on the basis of the established level using the classification reading means; removing redundancy of the read classification IDs using the control Lini t ; and outputting a hierarchical structure of the read classification IDs base on the level together with the read classification IDs on a display screen connected to the computing apparatus using the output mode setting means, wherein the classification IDs have a hierarchical structure in which a low level code having a narrow range is included in a high level code having a wide range within the same group, and corresponding classification IDs are established to each level. [Claim 28]

A method of automatically classifying a document group consisting of electronic documents having one or more technical classifications using a computing apparatus including a control unit, a classification reading means, an output mode setting means, and a hyperlinking means, the method comprising: inputting the document data belonging to the document group to the control unit; reading classification IDs of the document data using the classification reading means; removing redundancy of the read classification IDs and outputting the classification IDs on a display screen connected to the computing apparatus using the output mode setting means; and hyperlinking the document data corresponding to each classification ID to each classification ID using the hyperlinking means.