System and method for matter clusters in an IP management system

• US 20060212480A1
• Filed: 03/21/2005
• Published: 09/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: FoundationIP LLC (Clarivate Plc)
• Original Assignee: FoundationIP LLC (Clarivate Plc)
• Inventors: Sinha, Pradeep, Lundberg, Steven W., Kalis, Janal M., Brennan, Thomas F., Jain, Shal
• Application Number:
  US11/085,813
• Publication Number:
  US 20060212480A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Method and apparatus are disclosed for managing intellectual property information including organizing intellectual property data in a data processing system according to file clusters. A method comprises organizing intellectual property data in an intellectual property data management system, wherein the management system tracks events and data related to a plurality of patent matters processed by one or more government agencies and owned by at least one patent owner. Representations of the patent matters are entered into a data structure in the data management system. A user of the data management system can selectively associate patent matters together into clusters wherein the clusters have names and wherein at least one of a plurality of clusters maintained in the system can be located and viewed. One of the matters associated with the cluster can be selected and the data of the matter viewed or processed by a user. Further, the clusters can be organized and categorized so that selected users can not view the clusters.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

organizing intellectual property data in an intellectual property data management system, wherein the management system tracks events and data related to a plurality of patent matters;

entering into a data structure in the data management system a representation of the patent matters;

a user associating patent matters together into clusters wherein the clusters have names and wherein at least one of a plurality of clusters maintained in the system can be located and viewed by a user, and wherein one of the matters associated with the cluster can be selected and the data of the matter viewed or processed.

2. A method according to claim 1 further including at least one of the clusters accessible by members of an organization hosting the system, and including at least one of the clusters accessible only by an individual user belonging to the organization.

3. A computer implemented legal services data processing system comprising:

data organized in a client, client matter and matter activity hierarchical format, wherein a client comprises a plurality of client matters and each of the plurality of matters comprises a plurality of matter activities; and

a client matter grouping routine that can be selectively executed by a user to associate a plurality of client matters into a named cluster, wherein the plurality of client matters associated into the named cluster can be viewed via the cluster name.