Apparatus and method for automated and assisted patent claim mapping and expense planning
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- obtaining, into a computer, text of a first patent;
automatically finding and extracting, using the computer, claim text from the text of the first patent;
identifying, using the computer, text of a first plurality of claims from the claim text of the first patent;
displaying in a first area on a computer monitor the text of the first plurality of claims;
automatically generating, from the first plurality of claims, text of a plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases derived from the first plurality of claims, wherein the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases includes a first preliminary scope-concept phrase and a second preliminary scope-concept phrase;
displaying in a second area on the computer monitor the text of least the first and second preliminary scope-concept phrases from the first plurality of claims;
eliciting and receiving user input to select a first specified one of the displayed preliminary scope-concepts phrases; and
highlighting each occurrence of the first specified one of the displayed preliminary scope-concept phases in a plurality of the first plurality of claims displayed in the first area that contain the first specified one of the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases;
wherein the generating of the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases further includes;
first-processing word-by-word through a first selected claim, and for a first selected word in the first claim identifying a plurality of other claims having that first selected word, thus identifying a first one-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, for a second selected word in the first selected claim identifying a plurality of other claims having that second selected word, thus identifying a second one-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, and repeating this first processing for each of a plurality of words in the first selected claim;
second processing word-by-word through the first selected claim, and for a first selected two-word sequence of words consisting of the first selected word and the second selected word of the first selected claim, identifying a plurality of other claims having that first selected two-word sequence, thus identifying a first two-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, for a second two-word sequence of words consisting of the second selected word and a third selected word of the first selected claim, identifying a plurality of other claims having that second selected two-word sequence, thus identifying a second two-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, and repeating this second processing for a plurality of other two-word sequences of words in the first selected claim;
third processing word-by-word through the first selected claim for selected three-word sequences of words; and
repeating the above processes, starting with a second selected claim, for one-word, two-word, and three-word preliminary scope-concept phrases.
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Abstract
An apparatus and computer implemented method that include obtaining, into a computer, text of a patent, automatically finding and extracting, using the computer, a set of claim text from the patent text, identifying, using the computer, text of independent claims from the set of claim text, displaying in a first row on a computer monitor the text of the independent claims, automatically determining a plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases from the text of the independent claims, displaying in a second row on the computer monitor the text of the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases, eliciting and receiving user input to specify a first one of the plurality of preliminary scope-concepts phrases, and highlighting each occurrence of the specified first one of the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases in a plurality of the independent claims displayed in the first row. A scope concept builder tool is also provided.
231 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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obtaining, into a computer, text of a first patent; automatically finding and extracting, using the computer, claim text from the text of the first patent; identifying, using the computer, text of a first plurality of claims from the claim text of the first patent; displaying in a first area on a computer monitor the text of the first plurality of claims; automatically generating, from the first plurality of claims, text of a plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases derived from the first plurality of claims, wherein the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases includes a first preliminary scope-concept phrase and a second preliminary scope-concept phrase; displaying in a second area on the computer monitor the text of least the first and second preliminary scope-concept phrases from the first plurality of claims; eliciting and receiving user input to select a first specified one of the displayed preliminary scope-concepts phrases; and highlighting each occurrence of the first specified one of the displayed preliminary scope-concept phases in a plurality of the first plurality of claims displayed in the first area that contain the first specified one of the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases; wherein the generating of the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases further includes; first-processing word-by-word through a first selected claim, and for a first selected word in the first claim identifying a plurality of other claims having that first selected word, thus identifying a first one-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, for a second selected word in the first selected claim identifying a plurality of other claims having that second selected word, thus identifying a second one-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, and repeating this first processing for each of a plurality of words in the first selected claim; second processing word-by-word through the first selected claim, and for a first selected two-word sequence of words consisting of the first selected word and the second selected word of the first selected claim, identifying a plurality of other claims having that first selected two-word sequence, thus identifying a first two-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, for a second two-word sequence of words consisting of the second selected word and a third selected word of the first selected claim, identifying a plurality of other claims having that second selected two-word sequence, thus identifying a second two-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, and repeating this second processing for a plurality of other two-word sequences of words in the first selected claim; third processing word-by-word through the first selected claim for selected three-word sequences of words; and repeating the above processes, starting with a second selected claim, for one-word, two-word, and three-word preliminary scope-concept phrases. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus comprising:
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a computer; a storage unit operatively coupled to the computer, wherein the storage unit has text of a first patent; a location-and-extraction unit in the computer that finds and extracts claim text from the text of the first patent, and places the extracted claim text of the first patent into the storage unit; a first-claim-identifier unit in the computer that identifies text of a first plurality of claims from the claim text of the first patent; an automatic preliminary scope-concept-phrase locator in the computer that locates, from the first plurality of claims, a plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases including a first preliminary scope-concept phrase and a second preliminary scope-concept phrase; a user input device operatively coupled to the computer to elicit and receive a specification of a first one of the plurality of preliminary scope-concepts phrases; and a display unit operatively coupled to the computer to display in a first area on a computer monitor the text of the first plurality of claims, and to display in a second area on the computer monitor the text of the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases from the first plurality of claims, and to highlight each occurrence of the specified first one of the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases in a plurality of the first plurality of claims displayed in the first area; wherein the scope-concept-phrase locator further includes; a first word-by-word processor that processes through a first selected claim, and for a first selected word in the first selected claim identifies a plurality of other claims that have that first selected word, thus identifies a first one-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, then for a second selected word in the first selected claim identifies a plurality of other claims that have that second selected word, thus identifies a second one-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, wherein the first word-by-word processor repeats such process for each of a plurality of words in the first selected claim; a second word-by-word processor that processes through the first selected claim, and for a first selected two-word sequence of words that consists of the first selected word and the second selected word of the first selected claim, identifies a plurality of other claims that have that first selected two-word sequence, and thus identifies a first two-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, then for a second two-word sequence of adjacent words that consists of the second selected word and a third selected word of the first claim, identifies a plurality of other claims that have that second two-word sequence, and thus identifies a second two-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, wherein the second word-by-word processor repeats such process for a plurality of two-word sequences of words in the first selected claim; and a third word-by-word processor that processes through the first claim for three-word sequences of words to generate three-word scope concepts; wherein the scope-concept-phrase locator invokes the first word-by-word processor, the second word-by-word processor, and the third word-by-word processor for a second selected claim relative to a plurality of other claims in the patent. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed on a suitably programmed computer cause the computer to perform a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:
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obtaining, into a computer, text of a first patent; automatically finding and extracting, using the computer, claim text from the text of the first patent; identifying, using the computer, text of a first plurality of claims from the claim text of the first patent; displaying in a first area on a computer monitor the text of the first plurality of claims; automatically generating, from the first plurality of claims, text of a plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases derived from the first plurality of claims, wherein the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases includes a first preliminary scope-concept phrase and a second preliminary scope-concept phrase; displaying in a second area on the computer monitor the text of at least the first and second preliminary scope-concept phrases from the first plurality of claims; eliciting and receiving user input to select a first specified one of the displayed preliminary scope-concepts phrases; and highlighting each occurrence of the first specified one of the displayed preliminary scope-concept phrases in a plurality of the first plurality of claims displayed in the first area that contain the first specified one of the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases; wherein the generating of the plurality of preliminary scope-concept phrases further includes; first-processing word-by-word through a first selected claim, and for a first selected word in the first claim identifying a plurality of other claims having that first selected word, thus identifying a first one-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, for a second selected word in the first selected claim identifying a plurality of other claims having that second selected word, thus identifying a second one-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, and repeating this first processing for each of a plurality of words in the first selected claim; second processing word-by-word through the first selected claim, and for a first selected two-word sequence of words consisting of the first selected word and the second selected word of the first selected claim, identifying a plurality of other claims having that first selected two-word sequence, thus identifying a first two-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, for a second two-word sequence of words consisting of the second selected word and a third selected word of the first selected claim, identifying a plurality of other claims having that second selected two-word sequence, thus identifying a second two-word preliminary scope-concept phrase, and repeating this second processing for a plurality of other two-word sequences of words in the first selected claim; third processing word-by-word through the first selected claim for selected three-word sequences of words; and repeating the above processes, starting with a second selected claim, for one-word, two-word, and three-word preliminary scope-concept phrases. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification