Electronic document retrieval and reporting with review cost and/or time estimation

• US 9,600,479 B2
• Filed: 01/31/2014
• Issued: 03/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Motoyama, Tetsuro, Hong, Jiang, Lin, Candice, Pan, Pingping, Wu, Yuwen
• Primary Examiner(s): DANG, THANH HA T
• Application Number:
  US14/170,508
• Publication Number:
  US 20150220519A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,145 Days
• Field of Search: 707/719
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation

Abstract

An approach is provided for retrieving electronic documents. The approach provides a Web-based graphical user interface that allows users to construct complex queries that include Boolean clauses, proximity clauses and/or keyword phrases, without requiring the users to have a working knowledge of query languages. The Web-based graphical user interface also allows users to specify a semantic meaning for one or more search terms. The approach also allows users to generate various reports for search results. Various filters may be applied to manage the amount of reporting data and semantic meanings may be applied to increase relevancy. A time cost estimator provides an estimated review time for search results. Also included are approaches for using the results of simple searches to perform advanced searches, for estimating the cost and/or time for reviewing search results and for performing tagging analysis and for using logical custodians.

Claims

1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause:

a Web application executing on a network device that is separate from a client device receiving, from the client device, a request to provide an estimate for a plurality of search results that includes a number of electronic documents that a user of the client device has not yet reviewed, wherein the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed is determined based upon one or more user-selected tags that correspond to the plurality of electronic documents;

in response to receiving the request, the Web application retrieving the plurality of search results that includes the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed;

the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or

b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time; and

the Web application generating and causing to be transmitted to the client device, one or more Web pages which, when processed at the client device, cause the display at the client device of one or more of the determined estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed or the determined estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed.

2. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the search results include at least a plurality of different types of electronic documents, and

the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time includes the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed and the plurality of different types of electronic documents included in the plurality of search results, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time.

3. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the number of electronic documents includes a number of pages; and

the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time includes the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per page, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of pages that can be reviewed per unit time.

4. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 3, wherein the number of pages in the electronic documents is determined using optical character recognition.

5. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of:

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time includes the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents based upon a review cost per page and a language of the number of electronic documents, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents based upon a number of pages that can be reviewed per unit time and a language of the number of electronic documents.

6. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 5, further storing additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processes, causes determining the language of the number of electronic documents by one or more of determining a language of a custodian that corresponds to the number of electronic documents, inspecting metadata that corresponds to the number of electronic documents, or by performing optical character recognition on the number of electronic documents.

7. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more processors and storing instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause;

a Web application executing on a network device that is separate from a client device receiving, from the client device, a request to provide an estimate for a plurality of search results that includes a number of electronic documents that a user of the client device has not yet reviewed, wherein the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed is determined based upon one or more user-selected tags that correspond to the plurality of electronic documents;

in response to receiving the request, the Web application retrieving the plurality of search results that includes the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed;

the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or

b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time; and

the Web application generating and causing to be transmitted to the client device, one or more Web pages which, when processed at the client device, cause the display at the client device of one or more of the determined estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed or the determined estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 7, wherein:

the search results include at least a plurality of different types of electronic documents, and

the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time includes the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed and the plurality of different types of electronic documents included in the plurality of search results, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time.

9. The apparatus as recited in claim 7, wherein:

the number of electronic documents includes a number of pages; and

the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time includes the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per page, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of pages that can be reviewed per unit time.

10. The apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein the number of pages in the electronic documents is determined using optical character recognition.

11. The apparatus as recited in claim 7, wherein the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of:

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time includes the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents based upon a review cost per page and a language of the number of electronic documents, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents based upon a number of pages that can be reviewed per unit time and a language of the number of electronic documents.

12. The apparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein the one or more memories store additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processes, causes determining the language of the number of electronic documents by one or more of determining a language of a custodian that corresponds to the number of electronic documents, inspecting metadata that corresponds to the number of electronic documents, or by performing optical character recognition on the number of electronic documents.

13. A computer implemented method comprising:

a Web application executing on a network device that is separate from a client device receiving, from the client device, a request to provide an estimate for a plurality of search results that includes a number of electronic documents that a user of the client device has not yet reviewed, wherein the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed is determined based upon one or more user-selected tags that correspond to the plurality of electronic documents;

in response to receiving the request, the Web application retrieving the plurality of search results that includes the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed;

the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or

b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time; and

the Web application generating and causing to be transmitted to the client device, one or more Web pages which, when processed at the client device, cause the display at the client device of one or more of the determined estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed or the determined estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed.

14. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 13, wherein:

the search results include at least a plurality of different types of electronic documents, and

the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time includes the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed and the plurality of different types of electronic documents included in the plurality of search results, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time.

15. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 13, wherein:

the number of electronic documents includes a number of pages; and

the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time includes the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a review cost per page, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed based upon a number of pages that can be reviewed per unit time.

16. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 13, wherein the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of:

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents based upon a review cost per electronic document, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents based upon a number of electronic documents that can be reviewed per unit time includes the Web application determining, based at least upon the number of electronic documents that the user of the client device has not yet reviewed, one or more of;

a) an estimated cost to review the number of electronic documents based upon a review cost per page and a language of the number of electronic documents, or b) an estimated time to review the number of electronic documents based upon a number of pages that can be reviewed per unit time and a language of the number of electronic documents.

17. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 16, further storing additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processes, causes determining the language of the number of electronic documents by one or more of determining a language of a custodian that corresponds to the number of electronic documents, inspecting metadata that corresponds to the number of electronic documents, or by performing optical character recognition on the number of electronic documents.