Apparatus for and method of searching and organizing intellectual property information utilizing an IP thesaurus
First Claim
1. A method of utilizing an intellectual property thesaurus, the method comprising:
- (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;
(d) determining searchable elements related to keywords in the search criteria based on the list of words generated in said generating step (b);
wherein said generating step (b) further comprises the step, of determining a frequency of occurrence of each listed word found in the intellectual property information associated with the field of search;
(e) displaying, in the form of a word-frequency list. the list of words found in the intellectual property information classified in the field of search, wherein each listed word is associated with a corresponding frequency of occurrence of the listed word;
wherein said displaying step (e) comprises simultaneous display of the search criteria during operation of said entering step (c) and the display of the word-frequency list.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for and a method of searching and organizing intellectual property (IP) is provided. 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. 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.
220 Citations
11 Claims
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1. 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;
(d) determining searchable elements related to keywords in the search criteria based on the list of words generated in said generating step (b);
wherein said generating step (b) further comprises the step, of determining a frequency of occurrence of each listed word found in the intellectual property information associated with the field of search;
(e) displaying, in the form of a word-frequency list. the list of words found in the intellectual property information classified in the field of search, wherein each listed word is associated with a corresponding frequency of occurrence of the listed word;
wherein said displaying step (e) comprises simultaneous display of the search criteria during operation of said entering step (c) and the display of the word-frequency list. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
(f) submitting the search criteria as a search query to a database.
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5. The method of utilizing an intellectual property thesaurus as recited in claim 4, wherein said submitting step (f) includes transmission of the search query to a remote database over the Internet.
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2. 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;
(d) determining searchable elements related to keywords in the search criteria based on the list of words generated in said generating step (b);
wherein said entering step (c) comprises entering keywords that formulate a search query; and
wherein said determining step (d) comprises;
determining searchable elements related to select keywords in the search query by locating words on the list generated in said generating step (b) that are synonyms of select keywords in the search query;
storing the synonyms thus determined in an accrued synonym list corresponding to the select keywords in the search query; and
wherein said determining step (d) is automatically performed to determine synonyms for keywords in the search query. - View Dependent Claims (3)
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6. 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 of intellectual property information;
(b) generating a list of words found in intellectual property information within the source grouping designated in said designating step (a);
(c) formulating search criteria utilizing input keywords;
(d) determining searchable elements related to the input keywords in the search criteria based on the list of words generated in said generating step (b);
wherein said determining step (d) comprises;
determining searchable elements related to select keywords in the search criteria by locating words on the list generated in said generating step (b) that are synonyms of select keywords in the search criteria; and
wherein said formulating step (c) automatically adds to the search criteria the synonyms determined in said determining step (d) search criteria utilizing input keywords. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
receiving input signals from a user containing a selection of at least one of a plurality of classifications of an intellectual property classification system; and
designating the source grouping as a field of search based on the input selection from the user.
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8. The article of manufacture of claim 7, wherein the classification system is the system used by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for classification of patents, and wherein the input signals contain a selection of a plurality of classes and subclasses that form the source grouping.
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9. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the source grouping includes selected intellectual property information stored in a database, and wherein said generating step (b) includes the step of retrieving the selected intellectual property information from the database and compiling the list of words found in the retrieved intellectual property information.
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10. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the executable program further comprises the step of:
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outputting the search criteria to a user interface; and
accessing at least one remote database unit for intellectual property information corresponding to the search criteria.
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11. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein said outputting step further comprises the step of simultaneously displaying a word-frequency list and the search criteria, wherein the word-frequency list is a list of all the words appearing in the source grouping, together with the frequency of occurrence in the source grouping.
Specification