System, method, and computer program product for managing and analyzing intellectual property (IP) related transactions

• US 7,949,728 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Issued: 05/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: DataCloud Technologies, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Rose Blush Software LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Park, Brian, Schnitz, Matthew, Navarrete, Jorge A., Rabb, Charles Jr., Alcabes, Harvey, Goretsky, David, Jackson, Adam, Thornthwaite, Warren, Puglia, David, Muller, Robert J., Smith, David W., Brannon, Donald, Hohmann, Luke, Rappaport, Irving S., Rivette, Kevin G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Quang N.
• Application Number:
  US11/513,360
• Publication Number:
  US 20070208669A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,727 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/217, 709/219, 709/223, 709/230, 709/246
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5846 using extracted text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/80 of semi-structured data, e.g. markup language structured data such as SGML, XML or HTML content-based retrieval of web data G06F16/95
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2216/11 Patent retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/117 Tagging; Marking up details of markup languages G06F40/143; Designating a block; Setting of attributes style sheets, e.g. eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation [XSLT], G06F40/154
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/184 Intellectual property management

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product for processing data are described herein. The system maintains first databases of patents, and second databases of non-patent information of interest to a corporate entity. The system also maintains one or more groups. Each of the groups comprises any number of the patents from the first databases. The system, upon receiving appropriate operator commands, automatically processes the patents in one of the groups in conjunction with non-patent information from the second databases. Accordingly, the system performs patent-centric and group-oriented processing of data. A group can also include any number of non-patent documents. The groups may be product based, person based, corporate entity based, or user-defined. Other types of groups are also covered, such as temporary groups. The processing automatically performed by the system relates to (but is not limited to) patent mapping, document mapping, patent citation (both forward and backward), patent aging, patent bracketing/clustering (both forward and backward), inventor patent count, inventor employment information, patent claim tree analysis, and finance. Other functions and capabilities are also covered, including the ability to utilize hyperbolic trees to visualize data generated by the system, method, and computer program product, and to track, analyze, and report on information related to intellectual property (IP) transactions, including license and related agreements.

Claims

1. A computer based method for managing intellectual property (IP) related transactions, comprising:

facilitating a user to define, using a computing device, a plurality of indexes, to increase searching performance;

accessing, using the computing device, a first database comprising information representative of at least one IP asset having at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes for one or more data fields representing said at least one IP asset within said first database;

accessing, using the computing device, a second database comprising information representative of at least one IP asset package, each package comprising at least one IP asset;

accessing, using the computing device, a third database comprising information representative of at least one license agreement, each agreement associated with at least one IP asset package; and

processing, using the computing device and at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, in a manner specified by a received command, information representative of at least one of;

said at least one IP asset;

said at least one IP asset package;

or

said at least one license agreement.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing, using the computing device, a fourth database comprising information representative of at least one royalty statement, each royalty statement associated with at least one license agreement;

accessing, using the computing device, a fifth database comprising information representative of at least one payment, each payment associated with at least one license agreement; and

enabling processing of, using the computing device and at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, in a manner specified by a received command, information representative of at least one of;

said at least one IP asset;

said at least one IP asset package;

said at least one license agreement;

said at least one royalty statement;

or

said at least one payment.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

accessing, using the computing device, a sixth database comprising information representative of entities and entity roles;

wherein said at least one license agreement specifies one or more of said entities as parties to said at least one license agreement.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said at least one royalty statement comprises information pertaining to one or more royalty statement details, wherein each of said one or more royalty statement details corresponds to a product and comprises information indicative of a number of units of the product sold during a period of said at least one royalty statement, revenue generated by the sales, or royalty due.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein said at least one payment is allocated to one or more terms of said at least one license agreement.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein said at least one payment is allocated to one or more details of one or more royalty statements associated with said at least one license agreement.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

comparing any payment amounts allocated to said at least one license agreement to any expected revenue amounts of said at least one license agreement;

and

generating a payment exception report based on results of the comparing.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating an IP asset report listing any license agreements involving said at least one IP asset package, wherein the IP asset report includes information indicative of any payment amounts allocated to said at least one IP asset package, or any expected revenue of said at least one IP asset package.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating a licensee profile report comprising information indicative of total allocated payments or total expected revenue for each of said at least one license agreement.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating an agreement summary report comprising information indicative of at least contact information or compensation terms of said at least one license agreement.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating a licensee asset package summary report comprising information indicative of any asset packages or any IP assets licensed to each licensee.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating a payment allocation report comprising information indicative of any payments associated with said at least one license agreement, or allocation of said any payments to terms of said at least one license agreement.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating a royalty statement summary report comprising information indicative of any royalty statements, or details of said any royalty statements, associated with said at least one license agreement.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating a historical royalties report listing any license agreements that license an IP asset, and comprising information indicative of royalties earned for said IP asset per license agreement.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating a summary of IP report comprising information indicative of overall licensing revenue of an IP asset.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating an IP license summary report that provides a summary of license agreements for each licensee.

17. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating a royalty expense allocation report that tracks royalty earnings posted in a general ledger but not yet verified.

18. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating a licensee historical earned royalty report comprising information indicative of Guaranteed Minimum, Actual Payment, Expensed payment, or Term Required totals for said at least one license agreement.

19. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises

generating an IP historical earned royalty group comprising information indicative of license agreement total or Expensed total for an IP Asset.

20. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the third database comprises:

generating an Overdue Payment report comprising information indicative of Statement Received dates, Term total by due date, or Payment total by payment date.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one IP asset comprises at least one of:

a patent asset;

a copyright asset;

a trade mark asset;

a trade secret asset;

or

a know how asset.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one IP asset package comprises at least one of:

a standard IP asset package;

a group IP asset package;

or

a descriptive IP asset package.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said standard IP asset package comprises any selected combination of said at least one IP asset.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein said group IP asset package is associated with a group, said group IP asset package comprising any assets in said group.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said group includes one or more patents, and wherein said group IP asset package comprises said one or more patents.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein said descriptive IP asset package is associated with a description, and wherein said descriptive IP asset package comprises assets satisfying said description.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one IP asset package comprises a revenue allocation percentage for each of said at least one IP asset in said at least one IP asset package.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one license agreement comprises one or more specified compensation terms.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein said at least one license agreement further comprises information pertaining to expected revenue of said at least one license agreement.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said expected revenue is automatically calculated for said one or more specified compensation terms.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein said one or more specified compensation terms comprises one or more of an ongoing royalty per unit term, royalty per sales term, minimum guarantee term, advance term, ongoing fee term, or lump sum fee term.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein said one or more specified compensation terms comprises at least one term that includes a recurring payment.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one license agreement comprises one or more terms related to at least one of territorial restrictions or field-of-use restrictions.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the third database comprises generating a report based on said processing, wherein said report comprises at least one hyperbolic tree to visualize data resulting from said processing.

35. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that in response to execution by a computing device causes the computing device to perform operations for managing intellectual property (IP) related transactions, the instructions comprising:

instructions to facilitate a user to define, using the computing device, a plurality of indexes to increase searching performance;

instructions to access, using the computing device, a first database comprising information representative of at least one IP asset having at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes for one or more data fields representing said at least one IP asset within said first database;

instructions to access a second database comprising at least a second one of said plurality of user-defined indexes for one or more data fields associated with information representative of at least one license agreement, wherein each license agreement is associated with at least one IP asset; and

instructions to process, using at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, in a manner specified by a received command, information representative of at least one of said at least one IP asset or said at least one license agreement.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 35, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to access a third database comprising information representative of at least one royalty statement, each royalty statement associated with at least one license agreement;

instructions to access a fourth database comprising information representative of at least one payment, each payment associated with at least one license agreement; and

instructions to process, in a manner specified by a received command, using at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, information representative of at least one of;

said at least one IP asset;

said at least one license agreement;

said at least one royalty statement;

or

at least one payment.

37. A system for managing intellectual property (IP) related transactions, the system comprising:

one or more computers;

means for facilitating a user to define a plurality of indexes to increase searching performance;

means for accessing a first database stored on a computer readable storage medium, said first database comprising information representative of at least one IP asset having at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes for one or more data fields representative of said at least one IP asset within said first database;

means for accessing a second database stored on a computer readable storage medium, said second database comprising information representative of at least one license agreement, each license agreement associated with at least one IP asset; and

means for processing, by said one or more computers, a manner specified by a received command, and by searching at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, information representative of at least one of said at least one IP asset or said at least one license agreement.

38. The system of claim 37, further comprising:

means for accessing a third database stored on a computer readable storage medium, said third database comprising information representative of at least one royalty statement, each statement associated with at least one license agreement;

means for accessing a fourth database stored on a computer readable storage medium, said fourth database comprising information representative of at least one payment, each payment associated with at least one license agreement; and

means for processing by said or more computers, of, in a manner specified by a received command, information representative of at least one of;

said at least one IP asset;

said at least one license agreement;

said at least one royalty statement;

or

at least one payment.

39. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, that in response to execution by a computing device causes the computing device to perform operations for managing intellectual property (IP) related transactions, the instructions comprising:

instructions to define a plurality of indexes to increase searching performance;

instructions to access a first database comprising information representative of at least one IP asset having at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes for one or more data fields representative of said at least one IP asset within said first database;

instructions to access a second database comprising at least a second one of said plurality of user-defined indexes for one or more data fields associated with information representative of at least;

one license agreement; and

one license agreement,

wherein each license agreement is associated at least one IP asset; and

instructions to process, in a manner specified by a received command, and by searching the at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes and the at least second one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, information representative of said at least one IP asset or said at least one license agreement.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 39, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to access a third database comprising information representative of at least one royalty statement, each royalty statement associated with at least one license agreement;

instructions to access a fourth database comprising information representative of at least one payment, each payment associated with at least one license agreement; and

instructions to process, in a manner specified by a received command, information representative of at least one of;

said at least one IP asset;

said at least one license agreement;

said at least one royalty statement;

or

at least one payment.

41. A computer-implemented method of managing intellectual property (IP) related transactions, comprising:

defining, by a computing device, a plurality of indexes to increase searching performance;

receiving, via the computing device, information representative of at least one IP asset having at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes associated with or more data fields representative of said at least one IP asset;

receiving, via the computing device, information representative of at least one license agreement, each license agreement associated with at least one IP asset; and

processing, by the computing device, in a manner specified by a received command, and by searching the at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, information representative of at least one of said at least one IP asset, or said at least one license agreement.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

receiving information representative of at least one royalty statement, each royalty statement associated with at least one license agreement;

receiving information representative of at least one payment, each payment associated with at least one license agreement; and

processing, by the computing device, in a manner specified by a received command, and by searching the at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, information representative of at least one of;

said at least one IP asset;

said at least one license agreement;

said at least one royalty statement;

or

said at least one payment.

43. A system for managing intellectual property (IP) related transactions, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

means for facilitating a user to define a plurality of indexes to increase searching performance;

means for enabling a user to enter information representative of at least one IP asset having at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes associated with or more data fields representative of said at least one IP asset;

means for enabling said user or another user to enter information representative of at least one license agreement, each license agreement associated with at least one IP asset; and

means for processing, by said one or more processors, in a manner specified by a received command, and by searching the at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, information representative of at least one of said at least one IP asset or said at least one license agreement.

44. The system of claim 43, further comprising:

means for enabling a user to enter information representative of at least one royalty statement, each royalty statement associated with one or more of said at least one license agreement;

means for enabling said user or another user to enter information representative of at least one payment, each payment associated with at least one license agreement; and

means for processing, by said one or more processors, in a manner specified by a received command, and by searching the at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, information representative of at least one of;

said at least one IP asset;

said at least one license agreement;

said at least one royalty statement;

or

said at least one payment.

45. A computer program product comprising control logic stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, said control logic comprising:

means for enabling a computing device to facilitate a user to define a plurality of indexes to increase searching performance;

means for enabling said computing device to facilitate said user or another user to enter information representative of at least one IP asset having at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes associated with or more data fields representative of said at least one IP asset;

means for enabling said computing device to facilitate said user or another user to enter information representative of at least one license agreement, each license agreement associated with at least one IP asset; and

means for enabling said computing device to process, in a manner specified by a received command, and by searching the at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, information representative of at least one of said at least one IP asset or said at least one license agreement.

46. The computer program product of claim 45, wherein said control logic further comprises:

means for enabling a computing device to facilitate a user to enter information representative of at least one royalty statement, each royalty statement associated with at least one license agreement;

means for enabling said computing device to facilitate said user or another user to enter information representative of at least one payment, each payment associated with at least one license agreement; and

means for facilitating said computing device to facilitate processing of, in a manner specified by a received command, information representative of at least one of;

said at least one IP asset;

said at least one license agreement,

said at least one royalty statement;

or

said at least one payment.

47. A computer-implemented method of processing data including data related to intellectual property (IP) related transactions, comprising:

facilitating a user to define a plurality of indexes to increase searching performance;

accessing, by a computing device, at least one patent database of information representative of patents having at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes for one or more data fields representative of said at least one patent within said first database;

accessing, by the computing device, one or more groups, each of said one or more groups comprising any of said patents represented in said at least one patent database;

accessing at least one IP asset package comprising assets specified in at least one of said one or more groups;

accessing, by the computing device, a database comprising at least a second one of said plurality of user-defined indexes for one or more data fields associated with information representative of at least one license agreement

wherein each license agreement is associated with at least one IP asset package; and

processing, by the computing device, in a manner specified by a user command, and by searching the at least one of said plurality of user-defined indexes and the at least second one of said plurality of user-defined indexes, information representative of at least one of;

said at least one IP asset package;

said at least one license agreement;

or

said one or more groups.

48. A computer-implemented method of processing data, comprising:

facilitating a user to define an index to increase searching performance;

accessing, by a computing device, at least one first database of information representative of patents having said user-defined index;

accessing, by the computing device, at least one second database of non-patent information;

accessing at least one group formed according to non-patent criteria of interest to a user, said at least one group comprising one or more patents represented in said at least one first database that map to said non-patent criteria; and

automatically processing, by the computing device and by searching said user-defined index, at least one patent in said at least one group with further consideration of at least one of patent information or non-patent information.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein said non-patent information comprises information related to intellectual property (IP) related transactions.

50. A computer-implemented method of processing data, comprising:

facilitating a user to define an index to increase searching performance;

accessing, by a computing device, at least one first database of information representative of patents having said user-defined index;

accessing, by the computing device, at least one second database of non-patent information;

accessing at least one group formed according to one or more of the following criteria;

a product, a group of products, one or more technologies, one or more field of uses, one or more product applications, one or more processes, one or more product-by-processes, one or more prior art references, one or more prior art citations, one or more citing patents, frequency of prior art citations, one or more patent classes, one or more patent subclasses, one or more related patent applications, one or more related issued patents, one or more corresponding foreign patent applications, one or more corresponding foreign issued patents, one or more patent application filing dates, one or more patent issue dates, one or more patent claims, one or more pending patent application claims, one or more issued patent claims, one or more patentees, one or more inventors, one or more authors, one or more patent assignments, one or more patent application assignments, one or more assignors, one or more assignees, one or more licensors, one or more licensees, one or more license agreements, one or more competitors, one or more infringers, one or more litigations, one or more litigation parties, one or more patent annuity payment due dates, one or more patent maintenance payment due dates, one or more bill of materials, sales data, one or more publications, one or more product trademarks, one or more trademark licenses, one or more service marks, one or more service mark licenses, one or more copyrights, one or more copyright licenses, one or more trade secrets, one or more trade secret licenses, know-how, one or more know-how licenses, one or more mergers, one or more acquisitions, one or more transfers of ownership, one or more corporate entities, one or more prosecuting law firms, one or more responsible patent examiners, one or more inventors, one or more persons associated with patents, one or more patent statuses, or one or more transfers of licenses, wherein said at least one group comprises one or patents from said first database that map to said one or more criteria; and

automatically processing, by the computing device and by searching said user-defined index, at least one patent in said at least one group with further consideration of at least one of patent information or non-patent information.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein said non-patent information comprises information related to intellectual property (IP) related transactions.