Management and analysis of document information text

• US 6,038,561 A
• Filed: 09/15/1997
• Issued: 03/14/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ipcomm
• Original Assignee: Manning & Napier Information Services LLC
• Inventors: Snyder, David L., Calistri-Yeh, Randall J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Amsbury, Wayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): ALAM, SHAHID AL
• Application Number:
  US08/929,603
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: 707/9, 707/10, 707/6, 707/1, 707/2, 707/3, 707/4, 707/5
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2272 Management thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3347 using vector based model
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/34 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2216/11 Patent retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

An interactive system for analyzing and displaying information contained in a plurality of documents employing both term-based analysis and conceptual-representation analysis. Particulars of the invention are especially effective for analyzing patent texts, such as patent claims, abstracts and other portions of a patent document.

Claims

1. A method of analyzing and displaying information regarding a plurality of documents, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a set of N different representations of each document, a given representation being designated the i^th representation where i is an integer in the range of 1 to N inclusive;

for selected pairs of documents, determining N utility measures, a given utility measure being designated the i^th utility measure where i is an integer in the range of 1 to N inclusive, the i^th utility measure being based on the respective i^th representations of the documents in that pair; and

displaying a scatter plot in an area bounded by N non-parallel axes, a given axis being designated the i^th axis where i is an integer in the range of 1 to N inclusive, where each selected pair is represented by a point in N-space having a coordinate along the i^th axis equal to the i^th utility measure.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of N different representations comprises:

a first representation being a conceptual-level representation; and

a second representation being a term-based representation.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the utility measure is a proximity score.

4. A method of analyzing and displaying information regarding a plurality of documents, the method comprising the steps of:

generating first and second different representations of each document;

for selected pairs of documents, determining (a) a first utility measure based on the respective first representations of the documents in that pair, and (b) a second utility measure based on the respective second representations of the documents in that pair; and

displaying a scatter plot in an area bounded by first and second non-parallel axes where each selected pair is represented by a point having a first coordinate along the first axis equal to the first utility measure and a second coordinate along the second axis equal to the second utility measure.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein:

the first representation is a conceptual-level representation; and

the second representation is a term-based representation.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein:

the first representation is a subject vector; and

the second representation is a word vector.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein each of the selected pairs consists of a particular document in the plurality of documents and a different respective one of the remaining documents in the plurality of documents.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the utility measure is a proximity score.

9. The method of claim 4 wherein the documents are publications.

10. The method of claim 4 wherein the documents are articles from journals.

11. The method of claim 4 wherein the documents are attributable to a product.

12. The method of claim 4 wherein the documents are contained in a split dataset for making comparisons between collections of documents.

13. The method of claim 4 wherein the documents are different parts of patents.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the different parts of patents include claims.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the different parts of patents include a detailed description.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the different parts of patents include an abstract.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the different parts of patents include a summary.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein the different parts of patents include a Background of Invention.

19. A method of analyzing information regarding a plurality of documents, each having a unique document index, the method comprising the steps of:

parsing each document into a plurality of elements;

generating a first representation of each of said elements; and

for selected pairs of documents, comprised of a first document and a second document, determining a first utility measure based on the respective first representation

of the plurality of elements for the documents in that pair.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said plurality of elements are in a hierarchical relationship, further comprising the step of:

displaying a representation of each of said plurality of elements reflecting said hierarchical relationship.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein said elements comprise patent claims.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein said representation is a hypertext link.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein said representation is a depiction of a sequence of said plurality of elements organized to reflect said hierarchical relationship.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein said plurality of elements are in a hierarchical relationship, further comprising the step of:

selecting a particular element from said plurality of elements as a basis for further analysis.

25. The method of claim 19 wherein the parsing step produces a transitive closure of said plurality of elements.

26. The method of claim 19 wherein the elements are claims and the parsing step comprises the steps of:

reading in text;

determining whether a new claim has begun;

tokenizing said text to extract a plurality of tokens;

adding said plurality of tokens to a word list for the claim; and

scanning said tokenized text for tokens which indicate a reference to a different claim.

27. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of displaying a plot in an area bounded by first and second non-parallel axes where each selected pair is represented by a point having a first coordinate along the first axis and a second coordinate along the second axis.

28. The method of claim 27 further comprising the steps of:

generating a second representation of each of said elements;

for the selected pairs of documents, determining a second utility measure based on the respective second representation of the plurality of elements for the documents in that pair; and

wherein in the displaying step, the plot is a scatter plot, the first coordinate is equal to the first utility measure and the second coordinate is equal to the second utility measure.

29. The method of claim 19 further comprising the steps of:

generating a second representation of each of said elements;

for the selected pairs of documents, determining a second utility measure based on the respective second representation of the plurality of elements for the documents in that pair.

30. The method of claim 27 further comprising the steps of:

wherein in the displaying step, the plot is a 2 dimensional visualization, the first coordinate is equal to the unique document index of the first document of a pair of documents and the second coordinate is equal to the unique document index of the second member of a pair of documents, and an icon representing the first utility measure is plotted for each pair of documents.

31. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of displaying a plot in an area bounded by first, second and third non-parallel axes where each selected pair is represented by a point having a first coordinate along the first axis, a second coordinate along the second axis and a third coordinate along the third axis.

32. The method of claim 31 further comprising the steps of:

wherein in the displaying step, the plot is a 3 dimensional visualization, the first coordinate is equal to the unique document index of the first document of a pair of documents and the second coordinate is equal to the unique document index of the second member of a pair of documents, and the third coordinate is equal to the first utility measure, and an icon representing the first utility measure is plotted for each pair of documents.

33. The method of claim 30 wherein said first utility measure is a combination of N utility measures.

34. The method of claim 32 wherein said first utility measure is a combination of N utility measures.

35. The method of claim 28, for an additional document further comprising:

parsing said additional document into a plurality of elements;

generating a first representation of each of said elements from the parsing step;

for selected pairs of documents drawn such that a first member of the pair is the additional document and a second member of the pair is from said plurality of documents, determining a first utility measure based on the respective first representation of the plurality of elements for the documents in that pair;

generating a second representation of each of said elements from the parsing step;

for selected pairs of documents drawn such that a first member of the pair is the additional document and a second member of the pair is from the plurality of documents, determining a second utility measure based on the respective second representation of the plurality of elements for the documents in that pair; and

wherein in the displaying step, the plot is a scatter plot, generating an overlay plot in contrasting color to the scatter plot, the first coordinate equal to the first utility measure computed on the pairs of documents including the additional document the second coordinate is equal to the second utility measure computed on the pairs of documents including the additional document.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein said additional document is a textual query entered by a user.

37. The method of claim 35 wherein:

the first representation is a conceptual-level representation; and

the second representation is a term-based representation.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein:

the first representation is a subject vector; and

the second representation is a word vector.

39. The method of claim 19 wherein said step of determining a first utility measure further comprises the steps of:

determining a first intermediate utility measure;

determining a second intermediate utility measure;

selecting a particular intermediate utility measure from said first intermediate utility measure and said second intermediate utility measure as said first utility measure.

40. The method of claim 29 wherein said step of determining a second utility measure further comprises the following steps:

determining a third intermediate utility measure;

determining a fourth intermediate utility measure;

selecting a particular intermediate utility measure from said third intermediate utility measure and said fourth intermediate utility measure as said second utility measure.

41. The method of claim 39 wherein:

said first intermediate utility measure is a combination of a first similarity measure for said first document element and said first similarity measure for said second document element and a first normalization constant; and

said second intermediate utility measure is a combination of a first similarity measure for said second document element and said first similarity measure for said first document element and a second normalization constant.

42. The method of claim 40 wherein:

(a) said third intermediate utility measure is a combination of a second similarity measure for said first document element and said second similarity measure for said second document element and a first normalization constant; and

(b) said fourth intermediate utility measure is a combination of said second similarity measure for said second document element and said second similarity measure for said first document element and a second normalization constant.

43. The method of claim 41 wherein said first similarity measure is a word weight vector.

44. The method of claim 42 wherein said second similarity measure is an SFC weight vector.

45. The method of claim 19 wherein:

said pairs of documents further comprises a first document and a second document,

said first document is a dependent claim, x, depending from an independent claim, X, and

said second document is a dependent claim, y, depending from an independent claim, Y,

said determining a first utility measure further comprises the following steps;

determining a first intermediate utility measure;

determining a second intermediate utility measure;

combining said first intermediate utility measure and said second intermediate utility measure.

46. The method of claim 29 wherein:

said pairs of documents further comprises a first document and a second document,

said first document is a dependent claim, x, depending from an independent claim, X, and

said second document is a dependent claim, y, depending from an independent claim, Y,

said determining a second utility measure further comprises the following steps;

determining a third intermediate utility measure;

determining a fourth intermediate utility measure;

combining said third intermediate utility measure and said fourth intermediate utility measure.

47. The method of claim 45 wherein:

(a) said first intermediate utility measure is a combination of a first similarity measure for said first document element, x, and said first similarity measure for said second document element Y; and

(b) said second intermediate utility measure is a combination of said first similarity measure for said first document element, X, and said first similarity measure for said second document element, Y.

48. The method of claim 46 wherein:

(a) said third intermediate utility measure is a combination of said second similarity measure for said first document element, x, and said second similarity measure for said second document element Y; and

(b) said fourth intermediate utility measure is a combination of said second similarity measure for said first document element, X, and said second similarity measure for said second document element, Y.

49. The method of claim 47 wherein said first similarity measure is a word weight vector.

50. The method of claim 48 wherein said second similarity measure an SFC weight vector.

51. The method of claim 45 wherein said step of combining comprises an averaging.

52. The method of claim 46 wherein said step of combining comprises an averaging.

53. A computer program product which analyzes and displays information regarding a plurality of documents comprising:

code for generating first and second representations of each document;

code for determining, for selected pairs of documents;

(a) a first utility score based on the respective first representations of the documents in that pair, and

(b) a second utility score based on the respective second representations of the documents in that pair;

code for displaying a scatter plot in an area bounded by a first and a second non-parallel axes where each selected pair is represented by a point having a first coordinate along the first axis equal to the first utility score and a second coordinate along the second axis equal to the second utility score; and

a computer readable storage medium for storing the codes.

54. A method of analyzing patent documents comprising the steps of:

providing a dataset containing a plurality of patent documents;

identifying within each patent document a portion of said document containing a set of claims;

generating a first representation of each set of claims within said plurality of patent documents; and

determining a first utility measure of at least one claim within at least one set of claims based upon similarity of said at least one claim with a query document.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein said query document is a concept query, patent or claim.

56. The method of claim 54 further comprising the step of displaying on a computer screen a ranking of a plurality of claims contained within said patent documents based upon said first utility measure associated with each of said plurality of claims, said screen including a claim number and rank number for each of said plurality of claims.

57. The method of claim 56 further comprising the step of providing a link at said claim number to a full-text display of an associated claim.

58. The method of claim 57 further comprising the step of providing a link at said rank number to a side-by-side textual display of said associated claim and said query document.

59. The method of claim 54 further comprising the step of parsing each set of claims to identify each individual claim within said each set and all claims referenced by said each individual claim.

60. The method of claim 54 further comprising the steps of:

generating a second representation of each set of claims within said plurality of patent documents; and

determining a second utility measure of said at least one claim within said at least one set of claims based upon similarity of said at least one claim with said query document.

61. The method of claim 60 further comprising the step of displaying on a computer screen a ranking of said plurality of patent documents based upon said first and second utility measures associated with claims of each of said patent documents, said screen including a rank number for each of said plurality of patent documents.

62. The method of claim 61 further comprising the step of providing a link at said rank number to a side-by-side textual display of an associated patent document and said query document.

63. The method of claim 62 further comprising the step of providing a link at a screen icon to a textual display of a ranked listing of matching claims of said associated patent document and said query document.

64. A method of analyzing a patent document comprising the steps of:

providing a dataset containing at least one patent document;

identifying within said at least one patent document a portion of said document containing a set of claims;

parsing said set of claims to identify an individual claim within said set and all claims referenced by said individual claim; and

displaying on a computer screen a link for each claim referenced by said individual claim.

65. The method of claim 64 further comprising the step of displaying on said computer screen at least a portion of said individual claim.

66. The method of claim 65 wherein activation of said link for a particular claim referenced by said individual claim produces a full text display of said particular claim.

67. The method of claim 66 wherein said link is a claim number.

68. The method of claim 67 wherein said full text display of said particular claim comprises a transitive closure of said particular claim.