SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR PREPARING DATA FOR ANALYSIS

• US 20120011132A1
• Filed: 07/08/2011
• Published: 01/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PATENT ANALYTICS HOLDING PTY LTD
• Original Assignee: PATENT ANALYTICS HOLDING PTY LTD
• Inventors: Spielthenner, Doris
• Granted Patent: US 9,098,573 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/750
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/382 using citations hypermedia G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/24 Sorting, i.e. extracting data from one or more carriers, rearranging the data in numerical or other ordered sequence, and rerecording the sorted data on the original carrier or on a different carrier or set of carriers sorting methods in generalG06F7/36 takes precedence

Abstract

A method of preparing data for analysis, comprising the steps of receiving an initial data set including a plurality of records, each of the plurality of records including an identifier attribute and an associative attribute that identifies a further one or more records;

• • receiving the further one or more records identified by the associative attribute in each of the plurality of records; and
  • associating the further one or more records with the initial data set to form a final data set.

Claims

1. A method of preparing data for analysis, comprising the steps of:

receiving an initial data set including a plurality of records, each of the plurality of records including an identifier attribute and an associative attribute that identifies a further one or more records;

receiving the further one or more records identified by the associative attribute in each of the plurality of records; and

associating the further one or more records with the initial data set to form a final data set.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1, comprising the further step of upon receiving the initial data set, reviewing the associative attribute;

comparing each associative attribute from each of the plurality of data records to the identifier attribute in each of the plurality of records; and

only receiving the further one or more records identified by the associative attribute if the associative attribute does not match any one of the identifier attributes in the initial data set.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of receiving an initial data set is preceded by the step of inputting a search query arranged to extract the initial data set from a database of data records.

4. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the plurality of records includes information regarding patents.

5. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the plurality of records includes information regarding registered trade marks.

6. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the plurality of records includes information regarding scientific publications.

7. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the identifier attribute is one of a patent serial number or a patent application number.

8. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the associative attribute is a list of citations.

9. A method in accordance with claim 7, wherein the list of citations include at least one of forward citations and backward citations.

10. A method in accordance with claim 1, comprising the further step of iterating one or more of the method steps.

11. A method in accordance with claim 1, comprising the further step of reviewing each of the data records received to determine whether the data record is in a format suitable for analysis, and if not, one of reformatting the data record or removing the data record.

26. A method in accordance with claim 1, comprising the further step of displaying the one or more selected networks utilising a visualisation methodology.

27. A method for preparing data for analysis, comprising the steps of receiving a data set in accordance with claim 26 and reducing the number of data records in each of the one or more networks.

28. A method in accordance with claim 27, wherein the step of reducing the number of data records includes the further step of:

identifying at least one pair of data records that are linked by a common attribute value; and

identifying further data records that are linked to both of the at least one pair of data records by the common attribute value, to derive a count of the total number of links between the pair of data records.

29. A method in accordance with claim 27, comprising the further step of iterating the further step of displaying the one or more selected networks utilising a visualisation methodology, to derive a count of the total links between all of the pairs of data records in the data set.

30. A method in accordance with claim 28, comprising the further step of setting a predetermined level of links between a pair of data records and removing all pairs of data records that have a number of links below the predetermined level.

31. A method in accordance with claim 27, wherein the step of reducing the number of data records includes the further step of:

identifying each link between a pair of data records;

counting the number of degrees of separation for each link to derive a separation value representative of the number of instances of each of the number of degrees of separation for the pair of data records;

assigning a multiplier to each of the degrees of separation;

multiplying each multiplier with each respective separation value to derive a count value for each degree of separation; and

removing all pairs of records with a count value below a predetermined value.

32. A method in accordance with claim 31, comprising the further step of removing any data records that are not connected to any of the other data records.

65. A computer program, including at least one instruction, which, when executed on a computing system, is arranged to implement a method in accordance with claim 1.

66. A computer readable media including a computer program in accordance with claim 65.

67. Transmitting or receiving a computer data signal comprising at least one encoded instruction in accordance with the computer program of claim 65.

12. A method of preparing data for analysis, comprising the steps of:

receiving a data set including a plurality of data records, each data record including an identifier attribute and an associative attribute; and

linking each of the plurality of data records that share at least one common identifier attribute value, to form one or more networks of data records.

13. A method in accordance with claim 12, comprising the further step of reviewing the network of data records to identify data records that are not linked to any other data record, and removing the non-linked data records from the data set.

14. A method in accordance with claim 12, comprising the further step of, for each network of data records, counting the number of data records in each of the one or more networks to ascribe a size value to each of the one or more networks.

15. A method in accordance with claim 14, comprising the further step of selecting only the network with the largest size value.

16. A method in accordance with claim 14, comprising the further step of:

setting a predetermined size value;

comparing the predetermined size value to the size value for each of the one or more networks; and

selecting only the one or more networks that have a size value greater than the predetermined size value.

17. A method in accordance with claim 14, comprising the further step of:

setting a predetermined ratio value as a function of the largest size value;

determining a ratio value for each of the one or more networks as a function of the predetermined ratio; and

selecting only the one or more networks that are less than the predetermined ratio.

18. A method in accordance with claim 14, comprising the further step of:

determining a subject matter value for each of the one or more networks; and

selecting only the one or more networks that have a subject matter value that is substantially similar to one or more predetermined subject matter values.

19. A method in accordance with claim 18, wherein the step of identifying the subject matter value includes the further step of identifying one or more subject matter attributes for each of the records in each of the one or more networks;

and

utilising the one or more subject matter attributes to derive a subject matter value.

20. A method in accordance with claim 18, wherein the step of utilising the one or more subject attributes includes the further step of providing at least one of the one or more subject matter attributes to a user for review and receiving user input regarding the subject matter value.

21. A method in accordance with claim 18, further including the step of utilising the subject matter value to rank the records.

22. A method in accordance with claim 21, wherein one of the subject matter attributes is the number of forward citations and the step of ranking includes ranking the data records from most forward citations to least forward citations.

23. A method in accordance with claim 21, wherein one of the subject matter attributes is the number of family members and the step of ranking includes ranking the data records from most family members to least family members.

24. A method in accordance with claim 21, wherein one of the subject matter attributes is an International Patent Classification (IPC) code, and the step of ranking includes ranking the data records from most common IPC code to the least popular IPC code.

25. A method in accordance with claim 17, wherein one of the subject matter attributes is the number of times one or more keywords appears in the subject matter attribute;

and

the step of ranking includes ranking the data records from most number of times one or more keywords appear in the subject matter attribute to least number of times the keywords appear in the subject matter attribute.

33. A system for preparing data for analysis, comprising:

a receiving module arranged to receive an initial data set including a plurality of records, each of the plurality of records including an identifier attribute and an associative attribute that identifies a further one or more records;

the receiving module being further arranged to receive the further one or more records identified by the associative attribute in each of the plurality of records; and

an association module arranged to associate the further one or more records with the initial data set to form a final data set.

34. A system in accordance with claim 33, wherein the association module reviews the associative attribute;

and compares each associative attribute from each of the plurality of data records to the identifier attribute in each of the plurality of records;

wherein the further one or more records identified by the associative attribute are only received by the receiving module if the associative attribute does not match any one of the identifier attributes in the initial data set.

35. A system in accordance with claim 33, comprising a user interface arranged to receive a search query arranged to extract the initial data set from a database of data records.

36. A system in accordance with claim 33, wherein the plurality of records includes information regarding patents.

37. A system in accordance with claim 33, wherein the plurality of records includes information regarding registered trade marks.

38. A system in accordance with claim 33, wherein the plurality of records includes information regarding scientific publications.

39. A system in accordance with claim 33, wherein the identifier attribute is one of a patent serial number or a patent application number.

40. A system in accordance with claim 33, wherein the associative attribute is a list of citations.

41. A system in accordance with claim 40, wherein the list of citations include at least one of forward citations and backward citations.

42. A system in accordance with claim 33, wherein the receiving module is arranged to iteratively receive further initial data sets.

43. A system in accordance with claim 33, comprising a review module arranged to review each of the data records received to determine whether the data record is in a format suitable for analysis, and if not, one of reformatting the data record or removing the data record.

58. A system in accordance with claim 33, comprising a visualisation module arranged to display the one or more selected networks utilising a visualisation methodology.

44. A system of preparing data for analysis, comprising:

a receiving module arranged to receive a data set including a plurality of data records, each data record including an identifier attribute and an associative attribute; and

a linking module arranged to link each of the plurality of data records that share at least one common identifier attribute value, to form one or more networks of data records.

45. A system in accordance with claim 44, comprising a reviewing module arranged to review the network of data records to identify data records that are not linked to any other data record, and remove the non-linked data records from the data set.

46. A system in accordance with claim 44, comprising a sizing module arranged to, for each network of data records, count the number of data records in each of the one or more networks to ascribe a size value to each of the one or more networks.

47. A system in accordance with claim 46, comprising a selection module arranged to select only the network with the largest size value.

48. A system in accordance with claim 46, comprising a selection module arranged to:

set a predetermined size value;

compare the predetermined size value to the size value for each of the one or more networks; and

select only the one or more networks that have a size value greater than the predetermined size value.

49. A system in accordance with claim 46, comprising a selection module arranged to:

set a predetermined ratio value as a function of the largest size value;

determine a ratio value for each of the one or more networks as a function of the predetermined ratio; and

select only the one or more networks that are less than the predetermined ratio.

50. A system in accordance with claim 46, comprising a selection module arranged to:

determine a subject matter value for each of the one or more networks; and

select only the one or more networks that have a subject matter value that is substantially similar to one or more predetermined subject matter values.

51. A system in accordance with claim 50, wherein the selection module is arranged to identify one or more subject matter attributes for each of the records in each of the one or more networks;

and

utilise the one or more subject matter attributes to derive a subject matter value.

52. A system in accordance with claim 51, wherein at least one of the one or more subject matter attributes are provided to a user via a user interface for review, the user interface being further arranged to receive user input regarding the subject matter value.

53. A system in accordance with claim 51, further wherein the ranking module utilises the subject matter value to rank the records.

54. A system in accordance with claim 53, wherein one of the subject matter attributes is the number of forward citations and the ranking module ranks the data records from most forward citations to least forward citations.

55. A system in accordance with claim 53, wherein one of the subject matter attributes is the number of family members and the ranking module ranks the data records from most family members to least family members.

56. A system in accordance with claim 53, wherein one of the subject matter attributes is an International Patent Classification (IPC) code, and the ranking module ranks the data records from most common IPC code to the least popular IPC code.

57. A system in accordance with claim 49, wherein one of the subject matter attributes is the number of times one or more keywords appears in the subject matter attribute;

and

the ranking module is arranged to rank the data records from the most number of times one or more keywords appear in the subject matter attribute to the least number of times the keywords appear in the subject matter attribute.

59. A system for preparing data for analysis, comprising a receiving module arranged to receive a data set in accordance with claim 44 and a reducing module arranged to reduce the number of data records in each of the one or more networks.

60. A system in accordance with claim 59, wherein the reducing module is further arranged to:

identify at least one pair of data records that are linked by a common attribute value; and

identify further data records that are linked to both of the at least one pair of data records by the common attribute value, to derive a count of the total number of links between the pair of data records.

61. A system in accordance with claim 60, wherein the reducing module is arranged to iterate the identification step of claim 60, to derive a count of the total links between all of the pairs of data records in the data set.

62. A system in accordance with claim 61, wherein the reducing module is arranged to set a predetermined level of links between a pair of data records and removes all pairs of data records that have a number of links below the predetermined level.

63. A system in accordance with claim 59, wherein the reducing module is further arranged to:

identifying each link between a pair of data records;

counting the number of degrees of separation for each link to derive a separation value representative of the number of instances of each of the number of degrees of separation for the pair of data records;

assigning a multiplier to each of the degrees of separation;

multiplying each multiplier with each respective separation value to derive a count value for each degree of separation; and

removing all pairs of records with a count value below a predetermined value.

64. A system in accordance with claim 63, comprising the further step of removing any data records that are not connected to any of the other data records.