Intellectual property asset manager (IPAM) for context processing of data objects

• US 20070078886A1
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Published: 04/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/1993
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DataCloud Technologies, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: F Poszat Hu LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Hohmann, Luke, Goretsky, David, Jackson, Adam, Puglia, David, Park, Brian, Smith, David, Rosenquist, Brent, Paradan, Thierry, Rappaport, Irving, Scnitz, Matthew, Kurowski, Scott, Dewolfe, Andrew, Rivette, Kevin, Rabb, Charles
• Granted Patent: US 9,092,545 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5846 using extracted text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/80 of semi-structured data, e.g. markup language structured data such as SGML, XML or HTML content-based retrieval of web data G06F16/95
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2216/11 Patent retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/117 Tagging; Marking up details of markup languages G06F40/143; Designating a block; Setting of attributes style sheets, e.g. eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation [XSLT], G06F40/154
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/184 Intellectual property management

Abstract

Context data processing is described herein. One or more contexts are selected. Each context includes one or more attributes, and a plurality of data objects that satisfy the attributes. A list of data objects contained in the selected contexts is displayed. At least some of the data objects in the selected contexts are processed. Such processing may involve generating claim trees, citation trees, and data object families, which may be displayed using hyperbolic trees. In an embodiment, the contexts are groups. In other embodiment, the contexts are each associated with a data object type. In this latter embodiment, the contexts include data objects of their respective data object types.

Claims

1-37. -37. (canceled)

38. A computer implemented method of enabling review of patents in an electronic patent shoe, comprising the steps of:

(1) causing generation of an electronic patent shoe comprising a plurality of patents;

(2) causing display of a list of patents in said electronic patent shoe;

(3) causing display of image data representative of at least a portion of a patent from said electronic patent shoe;

(4) causing, pursuant to a command to view a next patent, retrieval and display of at least image data representative of at least a portion of said next patent; and

(5) causing, pursuant to a command to view a previous patent, retrieval and display of at least image data representative of at least a portion of said previous patent.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising the steps of:

(6) determining whether requested information pertaining to a patent is locally available; and

(7) if said requested information is not locally available, then providing an option to preview said requested information; and

(8) if said option is selected, then retrieving and displaying at least a portion of said requested information.

40. A method of assignee name processing, comprising the steps of:

(1) selecting a normalized assignee name for an entity;

(2) identifying name representations corresponding to said entity in a data set; and

(3) linking said name representations to said normalized assignee name.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein step (3) comprises the substep of:

substituting at least some instances of said name representations with said normalized assignee name.

42. The method according to claim 40, further comprising the step of processing linked records of said data set to provide an assignee-specific processed subset.

43. A method of enabling review of data objects comprising the steps of:

(1) aggregating a set of data objects;

(2) causing display of a list of data objects in said aggregated set;

(3) causing display of a representation of at least a portion of a data object from aggregated set;

(4) responding to a set of set navigation tools to provide user access to respective data objects within the aggregated set; and

(5) responding to a set of classification tools for creating subsets of said aggregated set.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising the steps of:

(6) determining whether a data object is locally available; and

(7) if said data object is not locally available, then providing an option to preview said data object; and

(8) if said option is selected, then retrieving and displaying at least a portion of said data object.

45. The method according to claim 43, wherein said method is computer implemented, and data objects comprise patents, and said aggregated set comprises an electronic patent shoe, wherein

step (1) causes generation of an electronic patent shoe comprising a plurality of patents;

step (2) causes display of a list of patents in said electronic patent shoe;

step (3) causes display of image data representative of at least a portion of patent from said electronic patent shoe

and step (4) comprises causing, pursuant to a command to view a next patent retrieval and display of at least image data representative of at least a portion of said next patent; and

causing, pursuant to a command to view a previous patent, retrieval and display of at least image data representative of at least a portion of said previous patent.

46. The method of claim 43, further comprising the step of performing patent-centric processing of said data objects.

47. The method of claim 43, wherein said patent-centric processing step comprises generating a patent citation tree comprising patents and non-patent data objects that (i) are cited by a base patent, or (ii) cite a base patent.

48. The method of claim 47, further comprising the step of visualizing said patent citation tree as a hyperbolic tree.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein each node of said hyperbolic tree comprises state information including display attribute information.

50. The method of claim 45, wherein patent-centric processing comprises the step of generating a patent claim tree comprising nodes corresponding to claims in one of said patents, and links between said nodes indicative of dependencies among said claims.

51. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of displaying at least a portion of a claim corresponding to one of said nodes when a selection device is positioned proximate to said one of said nodes.

52. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of displaying a dependent claim, a base claim of said dependent claim, and any intervening claims between said dependent claim and said base claim upon appropriate user command.

53. The method of claim 44, further comprising the steps of:

(9) generating a data object family tree comprising a plurality of data objects and indicative of relationships between said data objects; and

(10) displaying said data object family tree.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein step (1) comprises the step of displaying said data object family tree as a hyperbolic tree.

55. The method of claim 43, further comprising the step of generating at least one annotation and associating the annotation with a respective data object.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein said generating a annotation is linked to a portion of at least one of said data objects.

57. The method of claim 43, wherein a data object comprises image data, further comprising the step of generating at least one annotation and associating the annotation with image data of a respective data object.

58. The method of claim 43, further comprising the step of determining an authorization of a user prior to displaying data objects thereto.

59. The method of claim 43, further comprising the step of graphing information relating to at least one data object.

60. The method of claim 43, further comprising the step of displaying a map of information relating to at least one data object.

61. The method of claim 43, further comprising the step of providing a plug-in manager having an application programming interface (API) for permitting external applications to operate on data objects.

62. The method of claim 43, further comprising the step of providing at least two distinct application programming interfaces (APIs) for permitting applications to operate on data objects.

63. The method of claim 43, further comprising the steps of:

providing a plug-in manager for permitting plug-in application to access data objects;

translating messages from said plug-in manager to said plug-in applications to a format conforming to a first application programming interface (API); and

translating messages from said plug-in applications to said plug-in manager to a format conforming to a second application programming interface (API).

64. The method of claim 43, wherein data objects comprise patent-related information, further comprising the steps of:

accessing databases of patent and patent bibliographic information;

accessing one or more contexts, each of said one or more contexts or groups comprising any number of patents represented in said databases; and

automatically performing patent centric and context oriented processing of at last some of said patents in at least one of said one or more contexts or groups.

65. The method of claim 64, further comprising the step of annotating a patent represented in said databases.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein said annotating step comprises the step of annotating said patent using an annotation form.

67. The method of claim 43, further comprising the steps of:

automatically processing at least one of said data objects;

creating a new temporary group as a subset of said aggregated set; and

converting said new temporary group to a permanent group.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein at least one of said data objects is related to one or more of patents, contracts, licenses, leases, notes, commercial papers, legal papers and financial papers.

69. The method of claim 43, further comprising the steps of:

maintaining a group of a permanent type, wherein said permanent type can be either system defined or user defined, wherein said group of permanent type is comprised of any number of data objects;

generating a group of a temporary type during processing of a command by automatically processing one or more of said data objects in said group of permanent type in conjunction with information from at least one database; and

allowing a user to convert said group of temporary type to a group of permanent type.

70. A system for enabling review of data objects comprising:

(1) a set of data objects;

(2) a display for presenting a list of data objects in said aggregated set, said display representing of at least a portion of a data object from aggregated set;

(3) a set of set navigation tools to provide user access to respective data objects within the aggregated set; and

(4) a set of classification tools for creating subsets of said aggregated set.

71. The system of claim 70, further comprising:

(5) means for determining whether a data object is locally available; and

(6) a processor for providing an option to preview said data object if said data object is not locally available, then retrieving and displaying at least a portion of said data object if said option is selected.

72. The system according to claim 70, wherein said system comprises a computer, and data objects comprise patents, and said aggregated set comprises an electronic patent shoe, wherein:

said set of data objects comprises an electronic patent shoe comprising a plurality of patents; and

said display displays image data representative of at least a portion of patent from said electronic patent shoe.

73. The system according to claim 70, wherein said set of navigation tools comprises a command to view a next patent retrieval and display of at least image data representative of at least a portion of said next patent;

and a command to view a previous patent, retrieval and display of at least image data representative of at least a portion of said previous patent.

74. A method of context data processing, comprising the steps of:

(1) selecting one or more contexts each including one or more attributes and a plurality of data objects that satisfy said attributes;

(2) displaying a list of data objects contained in said contexts; and

(3) processing a plurality of said data objects contained in said contexts.

75. The method of claim 74, wherein said contexts are groups.

76. The method of claim 74, wherein each of said contexts is associated with a data object type and comprises data objects of said data object type.

77. The method of claim 74, wherein said data objects are of interest to a corporate entity.

78. The method of claim 77, wherein said data objects are patents, and wherein step (3) comprises the step of:

(a) performing patent-centric processing of said data objects.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein step (a) comprises the step of:

generating a patent citation tree comprising patents and non-patent data objects that (i) are cited by a base patent, or (ii) cite a base patent.

80. The method of claim 79, further comprising the step of:

visualizing said patent citation tree as a hyperbolic tree.

81. The method of claim 80, wherein each node of said hyperbolic tree comprises state information including display attribute information.

82. The method of claim 80, wherein step (a) comprises the step of:

generating a patent claim tree comprising nodes corresponding to claims in one of said patents, and links between said nodes indicative of dependencies among said claims.

83. The method of claim 82, further comprising the step of:

displaying at least a portion of a claim corresponding to one of said nodes when a selection device is positioned proximate to said one of said nodes.

84. The method of claim 82, further comprising the step of:

displaying a dependent claim, a base claim of said dependent claim, and any intervening claims between said dependent claim and said base claim upon appropriate user command.

85. The method of claim 84, further comprising the steps of:

(4) generating a data object family tree comprising a plurality of data objects and indicative of relationships between said data objects; and

(5) displaying said data object family tree.

86. The method of claim 85, wherein step (5) comprises the step of:

displaying said data object family tree as a hyperbolic tree.

87. The method of claim 84, further comprising the steps of:

(4) generating at least one annotation.

88. The method of claim 87, wherein step (4) comprises the step of:

generating a document annotation that is linked to at least a portion of at least one of said data objects, and that has a scope of a group containing said at least one of said data objects.

89. The method of claim 88, wherein said document annotation is linked to at least a portion of image data related to said at least one of said data objects.

90. The method of claim 87, wherein step (4) comprises the step of:

generating a group annotation that has a scope of a group active when said group annotation was created.

91. The method of claim 87, wherein step (4) comprises the step of:

generating a data object type annotation that has a scope of a data object type active when said data object type annotation was created.

92. The method of claim 87, wherein step (4) comprises the step of:

generating a case annotation that is linked to at least a portion of at least one of said data objects, and that has a scope of a case active when said case annotation was created.

93. The method of claim 87, wherein step (4) comprises the step of:

generating an enterprise annotation that is linked to at least a portion of at least one of said data objects, and that is always accessible to users with appropriate authorization.

94. A method of context data processing, comprising the steps of:

(1) accessing databases of patents and patent bibliographic information;

(2) accessing one or more contexts, each of said one or more contexts comprising any number of patents represented in said databases; and

(3) automatically performing patent centric and context oriented processing of at least some of said patents in at least one of said one or more contexts.

95. The method of claim 94, further comprising the step of:

(4) annotating a patent represented in said databases.

96. The method of claim 95, wherein step (4) comprises the step of:

annotating said patent using an annotation form.

97. The method of claim 94, wherein step (3) comprises:

generating and displaying data object families.

98. A system for processing data, comprising:

an intellectual property asset manager (IPAM);

a plug-in manager coupled to said IPAM; and

at least one plug-in coupled to said plug-in manager.

99. The system of claim 98, further comprising:

at least one external data processing component coupled to said plug-in.

100. The system of claim 99, wherein said external data processing component displays data using at least graphs.

101. The system of claim 99, wherein said external data processing component displays data using at least maps.

102. The system of claim 99, wherein said plug-in manager has a first application programming interface (API), and said external data processing component has a second API.

103. The system of claim 102, wherein said plug-in comprises:

means for translating messages from said plug-in manager to said external data processing component to a format conforming to said second API; and

means for translating messages from said external data processing component to said plug-in manager to a format conforming to said first API.

104. A system for processing data, comprising:

an intellectual property asset manager (IPAM); and

at least one external data processing component coupled to said IPAM to expand functionality of said IPAM, wherein said external data processing component displays data from said IPAM using at least one of graphs and maps.

105. The system of claim 104, further comprising:

means for accessing databases of patents and patent bibliographic information;

means for accessing one or more groups, each of said one or more groups comprising any number of said patents represented in said databases; and

means for automatically performing patent centric and group oriented processing of at least some of said patents in at least one of said one or more groups.

106. The system of claim 104, further comprising:

means for generating and displaying data object families.

107. A method of processing data, comprising the steps of

(1) accessing at least one database of information representative of documents;

(2) accessing one or more groups, each of said one or more groups comprising any number of said documents represented in said at least one database;

(3) automatically processing at least one of said documents in at least one of said one or more groups;

(4) automatically creating a new temporary group during processing of a command; and

(5) converting said new temporary group to a permanent group.

108. The method of claim 107, wherein at least one of said documents is related to one or more of patents, contracts, licenses, leases, notes, commercial papers, legal papers and financial papers.

109. A system of processing data, comprising:

means for accessing at least one database of information representative of documents;

means for accessing one or more groups, each of said one or more groups comprising any number of said documents represented in said at least one database;

means for automatically processing at least one of said documents in at least one of said one or more groups;

means for automatically creating a new temporary group during processing of a command; and

means for converting said new temporary group to a permanent group.

110. The system of claim 109 wherein at least one of said documents is related to one or more of patents, contracts, licenses, leases, notes, commercial papers, legal papers and financial papers.

111. A method of maintaining groups to facilitate in processing and presenting data, comprising the steps of:

(1) maintaining a group of a permanent type, wherein said permanent type can be either system defined or user defined, wherein said group or permanent type is comprised of any number of documents from at least one database;

(2) generating a group of a temporary type during processing of a command by automatically processing one or more of said documents in said group of permanent type n conjunction with information from at least one second database; and

(3) allowing a user to convert said group of temporary type to a group of permanent type.

112. The method of claim 111, wherein one or more of said documents is related to one or more of patents, contracts, licenses, leases, notes, commercial papers, legal papers and financial papers.

113. A system of maintaining groups to facilitate in processing and presenting data, comprising:

means for maintaining a group of a permanent type, wherein said permanent type can be either system defined or user defined, wherein said group of permanent type is comprised of any number of documents from at least one database;

means for generating a group of a temporary type during processing of a command by automatically processing one or more of said documents in said group of permanent type in conjunction with information from at least one second database; and

means for allowing a user to convert said group of temporary type to a group of permanent type.

114. The system of claim 113, wherein one or more of said documents is related to one or more of patents, contracts, licenses, leases, notes, commercial papers, legal papers and financial papers.

115. A system for processing data, comprising:

a document manager;

a plug-in manager coupled to said document manager; and

at least one plug-in coupled to said plug-in manager;

wherein said document manager comprises;

means for selecting a group; and

means for invoking a function to operate on said selected group comprising,

means for transferring said selected group to said plug-in;

wherein said plug-in comprises;

means for processing said selected group; and

means for transferring results of said processing to said document manager; and

wherein said document manager further comprises means for generating a group using said transferred results.

116. The system of claim 115, further comprising:

at least one external data processing component coupled to said plug-in.

117. The system of claim 116, wherein said external data processing component displays data using at least graphs.

118. The system of claim 116, wherein said external data processing component displays data using at least maps.

119. The system of claim 116, wherein said plug-in manager has a first application programming interface (API), and said external data processing component has a second API.

120. The system of claim 119, wherein said plug-in further comprises;

means for translating messages from said plug-in manager to said external data processing component to a format conforming to said second API; and

means for translating messages from said external data processing component to said plug-in manager to a format conforming to said first API.

121. The system of claim 115, wherein said document manager is an intellectual property asset manager (IPAM).

122. A system for processing data, comprising:

a document manager;

a plug-in manager coupled to said document manager; and

at least one plug-in coupled to said plug-in manager;

wherein said document manager comprises;

means for selecting a first permanent group; and

means for invoking a function to operate on said selected first permanent group, comprising means for transferring said selected first permanent group to said plug-in;

wherein said plug-in comprises;

means for processing said selected first permanent group to create one or more subgroups;

means for selecting a subgroup from said one or more subgroups;

means for transferring said selected subgroup to said document manager; and

wherein said document manager further comprises means for generating a second permanent group using said transferred selected subgroup.