Infringer finder

• US 7,941,468 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2004
• Issued: 05/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zellner, Samuel N., Frank, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Ly, Cheyne D
• Application Number:
  US11/026,737
• Publication Number:
  US 20060149711A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,322 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/932
• US Class Current: N/A
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/30 of unstructured textual data document management systems G06F16/93
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/932 Infringement detection

Abstract

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for an infringer finder to search public information sources for possible patent infringers. Some embodiments provide for analyzing an issued patent, associated patent support data, such as Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) information, and other reference materials, along with user input to create a patent search profile. Using the patent search profile, a search is made of public information sources and a report is generated summarizing possible patent infringement targets.

Claims

1. A method utilizing a computer for finding patent infringers, comprising:

receiving patent information related to at least one patent, associated patent support data relating to the patent information, and reference materials;

analyzing the patent information, the associated patent support data relating to the patent information, and the reference materials;

creating a patent search profile based at least in part on analysis of the patent information, the associated patent support data relating to the patent information, and the reference materials, the patent search profile at least including keywords associated with the at least one patent;

analyzing claim structure of the at least one patent to determine a dependency relationship among at least two claims of the at least one patent;

based on analysis of the claim structure of the at least one patent, utilizing the keywords of the patent search profile determined to be included in the at least two claims having the dependency relationship together when conducting a search for the patent infringers;

searching sources of public information utilizing the patent search profile for the patent infringers of the at least one patent and providing patent search results identifying the patent infringers of the at least one patent; and

generating a patent search results report.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing the patent search profile, the patent information, the associated patent support data relating to the patent information, and the reference materials, to create a new patent search profile, and wherein the searching utilizes previous patent search results.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the patent information includes first information included in the at least one patent, the patent support data includes second information included in a prosecution history of the at least one patent, and the reference materials include other public information.

4. The method of claim 1,

wherein creating the patent search profile utilizes factors comprising:

claim type;

parsed keywords;

context analysis;

similar and opposite meaning interpretation of claim language;

dictionary meaning;

analysis of claim modification;

analysis of office actions;

analysis of prior art; and

analysis of other documents cited during patent prosecution; and

further comprising specifying patent analysis user tuner interface factors comprising at least one of;

industries;

companies;

standard industrial classification codes;

technology;

time period;

geography;

related articles;

related products;

related services;

domain names;

uniform resource locators; and

extensible markup language tags;

wherein creating the patent search profile utilizes the patent analysis user tuner interface factors.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein searching the sources of public information utilizes at least one of:

a search engine; and

a web crawler;

and further comprising specifying search user tuner interface factors comprising at least one of;

duration;

schedule;

cost;

accuracy level;

domain names;

uniform resource locators;

geography;

date range;

content type; and

extensible markup language tags;

wherein searching the sources of public information utilizes the search user tuner interface factors.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising specifying report user input factors comprising at least one of:

output format; and

notification preference;

wherein generating the patent search results report utilizes the report user input factors and creates the patent search results report comprising at least one of;

infringer targets;

content;

contact information;

accuracy rating;

alternative search suggestions;

search criteria used;

date of information; and

location of information.

7. A system for utilizing a computer for finding infringement of at least one patent, the system comprising:

a memory device for storing a program for finding infringement of the at least one patent; and

a processor, functionally coupled to the memory device, the processor being responsive to computer-executable instructions contained in the program and operative to;

receive patent information related to the at least one patent, associated patent support data relating to the patent information, and reference materials,

analyze the patent information, the associated patent support data relating to the patent information, and the reference materials,

create a patent search profile based at least in part on analysis of the patent information, the associated patent support data relating to the patent information, and the reference materials, the patent search profile at least including keywords associated with the at least one patent,

analyze claim structure of the at least one patent to determine a dependency relationship among at least two claims of the at least one patent,

based on analysis of the claim structure of the at least one patent, utilize the keywords of the patent search profile determined to be included in the at least two claims having the dependency relationship together when conducting a search for possible patent infringers,

utilize the patent search profile to conduct the search of sources of public information for the possible patent infringers of the at least one patent and to provide patent search results identifying possible patent infringement of the at least one patent, and

utilize the patent search results to provide a patent search results report.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further operative to analyze the patent search profile, the patent information, the associated patent support data, and the reference materials, to create a new patent search profile, and wherein the processor is further operative to utilize previous patent search results.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the patent information includes first information included in the at least one patent, the associated patent support data includes second information included in a prosecution history of the at least one patent, and the reference materials include other public information.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further operative to create the patent search profile based on factors comprising:

claim type;

parsed keywords;

context analysis;

similar and opposite meaning interpretation of claim language;

dictionary meaning;

analysis of claim modification;

analysis of office actions;

analysis of prior art; and

analysis of other documents cited during patent prosecution;

the system further comprising a patent analysis user tuner interface operable to specify patent analysis factors comprising at least one of;

industries;

companies;

standard industrial classification codes;

technology;

time period;

geography;

related articles;

related products;

related services;

domain names;

uniform resource locators; and

extensible markup language tags

wherein the processor utilizes the patent analysis factors to create the patent search profile.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor utilizes at least one of:

a search engine; and

a web crawler;

the system further comprising a search user tuner interface to specify search factors for use by the processor, the search factors comprising at least one of;

duration;

schedule;

cost;

accuracy level;

domain names;

uniform resource locators;

geography;

date range;

content type; and

extensible markup language tags.

12. The system of claim 7, further comprising a report user tuner interface to specify report factors comprising at least one of:

output format; and

notification preference;

wherein the processor utilizes the report factors to create the patent search results report comprising at least one of;

infringer targets;

content;

contact information;

accuracy rating;

alternative search suggestions;

search criteria used;

date of information; and

location of information.

13. A computer readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive patent information related to at least one patent, associated patent support data relating to the patent information, and reference materials;

analyze the patent information, the associated patent support data relating to the patent information, and the reference materials;

create a patent search profile based at least in part on analysis of the patent information, the associated patent support data relating to the patent information, and the reference materials, the patent search profile at least including keywords associated with the at least one patent;

analyze claim structure of the at least one patent to determine a dependency relationship among at least two claims of the at least one patent;

based on analysis of the claim structure of the at least one patent, utilize the keywords of the patent search profile determined to be included in the at least two claims having the dependency relationship together when conducting a search for possible patent infringers;

search sources of public information, utilizing the patent search profile, for the possible patent infringers of the at least one patent and providing patent search results identifying the possible patent infringers of the at least one patent; and

generate a patent search results report.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 having further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to analyze the patent search profile, the patent information, the associated patent support data relating to the patent information, and the reference materials, to create a new patent search profile, and wherein the searching utilizes previous patent search results.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the patent information includes all information included in the at least one patent, the patent support data includes information included in a prosecution history of the at least one patent, and the reference materials include other public information.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein creating the patent search profile utilizes factors comprising:

claim type;

parsed keywords;

context analysis;

similar and opposite meaning interpretation of claim language;

dictionary meaning;

analysis of claim modification;

analysis of office actions;

analysis of prior art; and

analysis of other documents cited during patent prosecution;

and wherein the computer readable storage medium has further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to specify patent analysis user tuner interface factors comprising at least one of;

industries;

companies;

standard industrial classification codes;

technology;

time period;

geography;

related articles;

related products;

related services;

domain names;

uniform resource locators; and

extensible markup language tags;

wherein creating the patent search profile utilizes the patent analysis user tuner interface factors.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein searching the sources of public information utilizes at least one of:

a search engine; and

a web crawler;

and wherein the computer readable storage medium has further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to specify search user tuner interface factors comprising at least one of;

duration;

schedule;

cost;

accuracy level;

domain names;

uniform resource locators;

geography;

date range;

content type; and

extensible markup language tags;

wherein searching the sources of public information utilizes the search user tuner interface factors.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 having further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to specify report user input factors comprising:

output format; and

notification preference;

wherein the computer readable storage medium has further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to generate the patent search results report utilizing the report user input factors and create the patent search results report comprising at least one of;

infringer targets;

content;

contact information;

accuracy rating;

alternative search suggestions;

search criteria used;

date of information; and

location of information.