Apparatus for and method of searching and organizing intellectual property information utilizing an IP thesaurus
First Claim
1. A method of developing an element list for intellectual property information, the method comprising the steps of designating a source grouping containing documents having intellectual property information;
- and generating a list of elements found in the documents in the source intellectual property information; and
providing at least a portion of the elements in the list as candidate search criteria for later use in searching.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for and a method of searching and organizing intellectual property (IP) is provided. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, an apparatus (and corresponding method) is provided for formulating and facilitating searches for intellectual property, and organizing results of such searches. In an exemplary embodiment, a search and organization server is provided with one or more modules to create and process search queries to be run on local or remote database systems. A class search module, for example, may be provided to provide on-line access to classification information and facilitate searching of intellectual property using select classifications. An IP thesaurus module may be provided for developing a list of elements (e.g., words, textual phrases, concepts, representations, numbers, identifications, pictures, graphics, features, etc.) found in select intellectual property information (e.g., groupings of patents). In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the list of elements may be used as an aid in learning a new technology, as a search tool to refine search queries or criteria, as a drafting tool to assist in the preparation of technical or legal documents (e.g., proposals, licenses, patent applications, etc.), or any other practical use. A field-of-search module may be provided to creation of a field-of-search based on search information identified from select intellectual property information. Additional modules (e.g., search engine, workspace module, alert generator, report generator, etc.) may be provided in the search server to formulate, store, organize and output results achieved through operation of the search server.
105 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method of developing an element list for intellectual property information, the method comprising the steps of
designating a source grouping containing documents having intellectual property information; - and
generating a list of elements found in the documents in the source intellectual property information; and
providing at least a portion of the elements in the list as candidate search criteria for later use in searching. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of utilizing an intellectual property thesaurus, the method comprising:
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(a) designating a field of search based on selection of at least one of a plurality of classifications of an intellectual property classification system;
(b) generating a list of words found in intellectual property information classified in the field of search designated in said designating step (a);
(c) entering search criteria utilizing keywords; and
(d) determining searchable elements related to keywords in the search criteria based on the list of words generated in said generating step (b). - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. In a search system for use in searching for intellectual property information, the improvement comprising an article of manufacture having stored thereon an executable program operative to effectuate searching for intellectual property information in connection with the search system, wherein the executable program is executed to perform the steps of:
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(a) designating a source grouping comprising at least one document having intellectual property information;
(b) generating a list of words found in the at least one document in the intellectual property information within the source grouping designated in said designating step (a); and
providing at least a portion of the elements in the list for later use as search criteria. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification