Method and apparatus for electronic data discovery
First Claim
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1. An electronic discovery apparatus for communicating both electronic discovery collection requests, in which data are collected from one or more data sources, and hold requests, in which one or more data sources are instructed to preserve certain data, in connection with discovery of electronically stored evidence, comprising:
- a plurality of data sources comprising said electronically stored evidence;
a hardware connector comprising an interface and a plurality of services for performing operations on said data sources; and
an electronic discovery management application (EMA) embodied in a hardware module for managing collections and holds, said EMA communicating with said data sources via said connector by calling said connector services, wherein said EMA communicates collection and hold requests to said data sources, and collects said electronically stored evidence from said data sources, said EMA further comprising any of a uni-directorial communications module and a bi-directorial communications module, with which all service calls are initiated by said EMA, and with which said connector only responds to service calls from said EMA, said uni-directorial module further comprising;
a configuration service, wherein when said EMA requests configuration information from said connector, said information comprises at least one in a group consisting of query templates, information on a subset of services supported by said connector, information on versions of services supported by said connector, information on preservation capabilities of a data source or connector, and information of limitations on said connector implementation;
an optional validation service, wherein said EMA sends proposed values of query parameters to said connector, and said connector validates these parameters and replies with error description when said parameter values are invalid;
a collection request service, wherein said EMA instructs said connector to start a collection based upon provided query parameters, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, collection information, or an error message;
an optional collection request readiness service, wherein said EMA checks whether said connector is ready with said electronically stored evidence to download, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, collection information, or an error message;
an optional collection reminder request service, wherein said EMA instructs said connector to update an existing collection with newly arrived electronically stored evidence, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, collection information or an error message;
an optional collection reminder request readiness service, wherein said EMA checks whether said connector is ready with said electronically stored evidence to download, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, collection information, or an error message;
an un-staging service wherein, once said EMA has downloaded collected electronically stored evidence, said EMA calls said un-staging service to indicate that said connector disposes of transient information needed to perform a collection transaction, wherein said transient information only persists for a predetermined time period, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, completion message, or an error message; and
an optional un-staging readiness service, wherein said EMA checks whether said connector has finished an un-staging process, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, completion message, or an error message.
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Abstract
Removing or minimizing human participation in the collection or hold process, pursuant to electronic discovery, in a robust, fast, transparent, and legally defensible manner. A method and apparatus that ensures a robust and defensible way of communicating electronic discovery collection and hold requests from electronic discovery management systems to disparate data sources in a uniform way.
169 Citations
26 Claims
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1. An electronic discovery apparatus for communicating both electronic discovery collection requests, in which data are collected from one or more data sources, and hold requests, in which one or more data sources are instructed to preserve certain data, in connection with discovery of electronically stored evidence, comprising:
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a plurality of data sources comprising said electronically stored evidence; a hardware connector comprising an interface and a plurality of services for performing operations on said data sources; and an electronic discovery management application (EMA) embodied in a hardware module for managing collections and holds, said EMA communicating with said data sources via said connector by calling said connector services, wherein said EMA communicates collection and hold requests to said data sources, and collects said electronically stored evidence from said data sources, said EMA further comprising any of a uni-directorial communications module and a bi-directorial communications module, with which all service calls are initiated by said EMA, and with which said connector only responds to service calls from said EMA, said uni-directorial module further comprising; a configuration service, wherein when said EMA requests configuration information from said connector, said information comprises at least one in a group consisting of query templates, information on a subset of services supported by said connector, information on versions of services supported by said connector, information on preservation capabilities of a data source or connector, and information of limitations on said connector implementation; an optional validation service, wherein said EMA sends proposed values of query parameters to said connector, and said connector validates these parameters and replies with error description when said parameter values are invalid; a collection request service, wherein said EMA instructs said connector to start a collection based upon provided query parameters, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, collection information, or an error message; an optional collection request readiness service, wherein said EMA checks whether said connector is ready with said electronically stored evidence to download, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, collection information, or an error message; an optional collection reminder request service, wherein said EMA instructs said connector to update an existing collection with newly arrived electronically stored evidence, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, collection information or an error message; an optional collection reminder request readiness service, wherein said EMA checks whether said connector is ready with said electronically stored evidence to download, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, collection information, or an error message; an un-staging service wherein, once said EMA has downloaded collected electronically stored evidence, said EMA calls said un-staging service to indicate that said connector disposes of transient information needed to perform a collection transaction, wherein said transient information only persists for a predetermined time period, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, completion message, or an error message; and an optional un-staging readiness service, wherein said EMA checks whether said connector has finished an un-staging process, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, completion message, or an error message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An electronic discovery apparatus for communicating both electronic discovery collection requests, in which data are collected from one or more data sources, and hold requests, in which one or more data sources are instructed to preserve certain data, in connection with discovery of electronically stored evidence, comprising:
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a plurality of data sources comprising said electronically stored evidence; a hardware connector comprising an interface and a plurality of services for performing operations on said data sources; and an electronic discovery management application (EMA) embodied in a hardware module for managing collections and holds, said EMA communicating with said data sources via said connector by calling said connector services, wherein said EMA communicates collection and hold requests to said data sources, and collects said electronically stored evidence from said data sources, said EMA further comprising a uni-directorial communications module, with which all service calls are initiated by said EMA, and with which said connector only responds to service calls from said EMA, said uni-directorial module further comprising; a configuration service, wherein when said EMA requests configuration information from said connector, said information comprises at least one in a group consisting of query templates, information on a subset of services supported by said connector, information on versions of services supported by said connector, information on preservation capabilities of a data source or connector, and information of limitations on said connector implementation; an optional validation service, wherein said EMA sends proposed values of query parameters to said connector, and said connector validates these parameters and replies with error description when said parameter values are invalid; a hold request service, wherein said EMA instructs said connector to start a hold based upon provided query parameters, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, hold information, or an error message; an optional hold request readiness service, wherein said EMA checks whether said connector completed performing a hold, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, hold information, or an error message; an optional hold reminder request service, wherein said EMA instructs said connector to update an existing hold with newly arrived electronically stored evidence matching query criteria, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, hold information, or an error message; an optional hold reminder request readiness service, wherein said EMA checks whether said connector completed executing a hold reminder request, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, hold information, or an error message; a hold release service wherein, when a hold is not needed any more, said EMA calls said hold release service to indicate that said connector releases said electronically stored evidence on hold, and wherein said connector starts a hold release process and responds with acknowledgement, a completion message, or an error message; and an optional hold release readiness service, wherein said EMA checks whether said connector has finished a hold release process, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, a completion message, or an error message.
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25. An electronic discovery apparatus for communicating both electronic discovery collection requests, in which data are collected from one or more data sources, and hold requests, in which one or more data sources are instructed to preserve certain data, in connection with discovery of electronically stored evidence, comprising:
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a plurality of data sources comprising said electronically stored evidence; a hardware connector comprising an interface and a plurality of services for performing operations on said data sources; and an electronic management application (EMA) embodied in a hardware module for managing collections and holds, said EMA communicating with said data sources via said connector by calling said connector services, wherein said EMA communicates collection and hold requests to said data sources, and collects said electronically stored evidence from said data sources, said EMA further comprising a bi-directorial communications module, with which said connector can both initiate service calls to said EMA and respond to service calls from said EMA, said bi-directorial module further comprising; a configuration service, wherein when said EMA requests configuration information from said connector, said information comprises at least one in a group consisting of query templates, information on a subset of services supported by said connector, information on versions of services supported by said connector, information on preservation capabilities of a data source or connector, and information of limitations on said connector implementation; an optional validation service, wherein said EMA sends proposed values of query parameters to said connector, and said connector validates these parameters and replies with error description when said parameter values are invalid; a collection request service, wherein said EMA instructs said connector to start a collection based upon provided query parameters, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, collection information, or an error message; an inbound collection status service, wherein said connector notifies said EMA that collected electronically stored evidence is ready for download, or collection is in progress, or notifies of an error; an optional collection reminder request service, wherein said EMA instructs said connector to update an existing collection with newly arrived electronically stored evidence, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, collection information or an error message; an inbound collection reminder status service, wherein said connector notifies said EMA that collected electronically stored evidence is ready for download, or collection is in progress, or notifies of an error; an optional un-staging service wherein, once said EMA has downloaded collected electronically stored evidence, said EMA calls said un-staging service to indicate that said connector disposes of transient information needed to perform a collection transaction, wherein said transient information only persists for a predetermined time period, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, completion message, or an error message; and an optional un-staging status service, wherein said connector notifies said EMA whether un-staging has been completed, error happened during un-staging, or un-staging is in progress.
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26. An electronic discovery apparatus for communicating both electronic discovery collection requests, in which data are collected from one or more data sources, and hold requests, in which one or more data sources are instructed to preserve certain data, in connection with discovery of electronically stored evidence, comprising:
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a plurality of data sources comprising said electronically stored evidence; a hardware connector comprising an interface and a plurality of services for performing operations on said data sources; and an electronic discovery management application (EMA) embodied in a hardware module for managing collections and holds, said EMA communicating with said data sources via said connector by calling said connector services, wherein said EMA communicates collection and hold requests to said data sources, and collects said electronically stored evidence from said data sources, said EMA further comprising a bi-directorial communications module, with which said connector can both initiate service calls to said EMA and respond to service calls from said EMA, said bi-directorial module further comprising; a configuration service, wherein when said EMA requests configuration information from said connector, said information comprises at least one in a group consisting of query templates, information on a subset of services supported by said connector, information on versions of services supported by said connector, information on preservation capabilities of a data source or connector, and information of limitations on said connector implementation; an optional validation service, wherein said EMA sends proposed values of query parameters to said connector, and said connector validates these parameters and replies with error description when said parameter values are invalid; a hold request service, wherein said EMA instructs said connector to start a hold based upon provided query parameters, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, hold information, or an error message; an inbound hold status service, wherein said connector notifies said EMA that a process of putting electronically stored evidence on hold is completed, or it is in progress, or notifies of an error; an optional hold reminder request service, wherein said EMA instructs said connector to update an existing hold with newly arrived electronically stored evidence matching query criteria, and wherein said connector responds with acknowledgement, hold information, or an error message; an inbound hold reminder status service, wherein said connector notifies said EMA that a process of putting electronically stored evidence on hold is completed, or it is in progress, or notifies of an error; an optional hold release service wherein, when a hold is not needed any more, said EMA calls said hold release service to indicate that said connector releases said electronically stored evidence on hold, and wherein said connector starts a hold release process and responds with acknowledgement, a completion message, or an error message; and an optional hold release status service, wherein said connector notifies said EMA whether a hold release has been completed, an error happened during hold release, or a hold release is in progress.
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Specification