Computer-implemented method and system for managing attributes of intellectual property documents, optionally including organization thereof
First Claim
1. A method for managing a plurality of attributes in association with a plurality of electronic documents and a plurality of attribute types, implemented by a computer system, said method comprising at least one of sequential, non-sequential and sequence-independent steps in the computer system of:
- (A) providing, in the computer system, a first data storage having a group of a plurality of documents including at least one document;
(B) accepting, from an input device, a user'"'"'s selection of a plurality of attributes to be associated with a single pre-determined attribute type for the at least one document, the attribute type having parent and child attribute types, the selected attributes being predetermined and having different parent attributes, attribute types being predetermined and ordered in a predetermined tree-structure hierarchy; and
(C) responsive to the selection of the attributes, automatically tagging, in the first data storage, the documents in the group including the at least one document, with the selected attributes, and with all attributes of all ancestors but not descendants or siblings according to the hierarchy of the selected attributes; and
storing, in a second data storage, respective references in association with the selected attributes and the ancestor attributes, for later retrieval of individual documents in the group by searching the ancestor attributes instead of the selected attributes, the respective references uniquely indicating respective individual documents in the first data storage,wherein the at least one document is a data record including a plurality of fields,wherein the attribute and the attribute type are different from the fields in the document and contents of the fields.
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Abstract
A computer-enabled system, method, and medium is provided to support, e.g., analyzing intellectual property documents by assigning attributes to the documents. The present invention is suitable for use by intellectual property professionals and is flexible to support development and use of customized attribute types and attributes. Optionally, a group of intellectual property documents can be divided into projects, which can be ingested including assigning attributes. Optionally, the attributes can be used to filter information included in e.g., searches, and/or reports.
81 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method for managing a plurality of attributes in association with a plurality of electronic documents and a plurality of attribute types, implemented by a computer system, said method comprising at least one of sequential, non-sequential and sequence-independent steps in the computer system of:
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(A) providing, in the computer system, a first data storage having a group of a plurality of documents including at least one document; (B) accepting, from an input device, a user'"'"'s selection of a plurality of attributes to be associated with a single pre-determined attribute type for the at least one document, the attribute type having parent and child attribute types, the selected attributes being predetermined and having different parent attributes, attribute types being predetermined and ordered in a predetermined tree-structure hierarchy; and (C) responsive to the selection of the attributes, automatically tagging, in the first data storage, the documents in the group including the at least one document, with the selected attributes, and with all attributes of all ancestors but not descendants or siblings according to the hierarchy of the selected attributes; and
storing, in a second data storage, respective references in association with the selected attributes and the ancestor attributes, for later retrieval of individual documents in the group by searching the ancestor attributes instead of the selected attributes, the respective references uniquely indicating respective individual documents in the first data storage,wherein the at least one document is a data record including a plurality of fields, wherein the attribute and the attribute type are different from the fields in the document and contents of the fields. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for managing a plurality of attributes in association with a plurality of electronic documents and a plurality of attribute types, implemented by a computer system, said method comprising the at least one of sequential, non-sequential and sequence-independent steps in the computer system of:
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(A) providing, in the computer system, a first data storage having a group of a plurality of documents including at least one document; (B) accepting, from an input device, a user'"'"'s selection of a plurality of attributes to be associated with a single pre-determined attribute type for the at least one document, the attribute type having parent and child attribute types, the selected attributes being predetermined and having different parent attributes, attribute types being predetermined and ordered in a predetermined tree-structure hierarchy; (C) responsive to the selection of the attributes, automatically tagging, in the first data storage, the documents in the group including the at least one document, with the selected attributes, and with all attributes of all ancestors but not descendants or siblings according to the hierarchy of the selected attributes; and
storing, in a second data storage, respective references in association with the selected attributes and the ancestor attributes, for later retrieval of individual documents in the group by searching the ancestor attributes instead of the selected attributes, the respective references uniquely indicating respective individual documents in the first data storage; and(D) wherein the at least one document and the at least one other document are representative of at least one of;
an invention disclosure document, a patent document, a trademark document, a copyright document, a product description document, a contract document, a license document, a sui generis protection document, a design registration document, a trade secret document, and an opinion document,wherein a document is a data record including a plurality of fields, wherein the attribute and the attribute type is different from the fields in the document and contents of the fields. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer program product, for use in managing a plurality of attributes in association with a plurality of electronic documents and a plurality of attribute types, stored in connection with at least one computer system, said computer program product comprising:
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(A) at least one computer readable medium, readable by the at least one computer system; (B) instructions, provided on the at least one computer readable medium, for providing a first data storage having a group of a plurality of documents including at least one document; (C) instructions, provided on the at least one computer readable medium, for accepting, from an input device, a user'"'"'s selection of a plurality of attributes to be associated with a single pre-determined attribute type for the at least one document, the attribute type having parent and child attribute types, the selected attributes being predetermined and having different parent attributes, attribute types being predetermined and ordered in a predetermined tree-structure hierarchy; and (D) instructions, provided on the at least one computer readable medium, for automatically tagging, responsive to the selection of the attributes, in the first data storage, the documents in the group including the at least one document, with the selected attributes, and with all attributes of all ancestors but not descendants or siblings according to the hierarchy of the selected attributes; and
storing, in a second data storage, respective references in association with the selected attributes and the ancestor attributes, for later retrieval of individual documents in the group by searching the ancestor attributes instead of the selected attributes, the respective references uniquely indicating respective individual documents in the first data storage;(E) wherein the at least one document and the at least one other document are representative of at least one of;
an invention disclosure document, a patent document, a trademark document, a copyright document, a product description document, a contract document, a license document, a sui generis protection document, a design registration document, a trade secret document, and an opinion document,wherein a document is a data record including a plurality of fields, wherein the attribute and the attribute type is different from the fields in the document and contents of the fields. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A system, implemented on at least one computer, for managing a plurality of attributes in association with a plurality of electronic documents and a plurality of attribute types, said system comprising:
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(A) means, in the at least one computer, for providing a first data storage having a group of a plurality of documents including at least one document; (B) means, in the at least one computer, for accepting, from an input device, a user'"'"'s selection of a plurality of attributes to be associated with a single pre-determined attribute type for the at least one document, the attribute type having parent and child attribute types, the selected attributes being predetermined and having different parent attributes, attribute types being predetermined and ordered in a predetermined tree-structure hierarchy; and (C) means, in the at least one computer, responsive to the selection of the attributes, for automatically tagging, in the first data storage, the documents in the group including the at least one document, with the selected attributes, and with all attributes of all ancestors but not descendants or siblings according to the hierarchy of the selected attributes; and
storing, in a second data storage, respective references in association with the selected attributes and the ancestor attributes, for later retrieval of individual documents in the group by searching the ancestor attributes instead of the selected attributes, the respective references uniquely indicating respective individual documents in the first data storage;(D) wherein the at least one document and the at least one other document are representative of at least one of;
an invention disclosure document, a patent document, a trademark document, a copyright document, a product description document, a contract document, a license document, a sui generis protection document, a design registration document, a trade secret document, and an opinion document,wherein a document is a data record including a plurality of fields, wherein the attribute and the attribute type are different from the fields in the document and contents of the fields. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification