Using hyperbolic trees to visualize data generated by patent-centric and group-oriented data processing

• US 20030046307A1
• Filed: 06/22/2002
• Published: 03/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DataCloud Technologies, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Rose Blush Software LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Park, Brian, Hohmann, Luke, Rappaport, Irving S., Rivette, Kevin G., Navarrete, Jorge A., Rabb, Charles Jr., Goretsky, David, Jackson, Adam, Thornthwaite, Warren, Puglia, David, Smith, David W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,523,126 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/104.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/34 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/353 into predefined classes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/382 using citations hypermedia G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/904 Browsing; Visualisation therefor for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2216/11 Patent retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/917 Text
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/924 Patent procedure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/933 Citation analysis
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

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.

Claims

1. A method of processing and presenting data, comprising the steps of:

(1) maintaining at least one first database of patents;

(2) maintaining at least one second database of non-patent information of interest to a corporate entity;

(3) maintaining one or more groups, each of said one or more groups comprising any number of said patents from said at least one first database;

(4) automatically processing said patents in one of said one or more groups in conjunction with non-patent information from said at least one second database; and

(5) presenting data generated by said processing in a hyperbolic tree.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (4) comprises the step of performing a patent citation tree function or a patent claim tree function.

3. A method of processing and presenting data, comprising the steps of:

(1) retrieving patent citation information pertaining to a user-selected patent;

(2) constructing a patent citation hyperbolic tree using said retrieved patent citation information, and

(3) displaying said patent citation hyperbolic tree.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the following steps that are performed before step (1):

receiving a backward patent citation command or a forward patent citation command; and

receiving an indication of a number of levels to cite.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein step (1) comprises the steps of:

retrieving information identifying patents that are cited in said user-selected patent for said number of levels if a backward patent citation command was received; and

retrieving information identifying patents that cite said user-selected patent for said number of levels if a forward patent citation command was received.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein step (2) comprises the step of:

generating a citation analysis graph using said retrieved patent citation information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein step (2) further comprises the step of:

constructing said patent citation hyperbolic tree from said citation analysis graph.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein step (2) further comprises the steps of:

mapping said citation analysis graph to a citation analysis tree; and

constructing said patent citation hyperbolic tree from said citation analysis tree.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein step (3) comprises the step of:

(a) emphasizing nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to user-selected criteria.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein step (a) comprises the step of:

(I) emphasizing nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to assignees of patents corresponding to said nodes.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein step (I) comprises the steps of:

upon receipt of appropriate operator command, toggling between;

(i) emphasizing said nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to original patent assignee information; and

(ii) emphasizing said nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to current patent assignee information.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein step (a) comprises the step of:

emphasizing nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to time-based criteria.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said time-based criteria includes one of filing date, priority date, length of pendency, effective filing date, invention date, critical date, on-sale date, public disclosure date, and public use date.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein step (a) comprises the step of:

emphasizing nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to user-defined criteria.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:

displaying a legend that describes said user-selected criteria.

16. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of:

(4) receiving an operator command to display a patent represented in said patent citation hyperbolic tree; and

(5) displaying said represented patent.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein step (5) comprises the steps of:

displaying bibliographic information of said represented patent if said represented patent is not stored in a local repository; and

displaying any combination of bibliographic information, text, and images of said represented patent if said represented patent is stored in a local repository.

18. A method of processing and presenting data, comprising the steps of:

(1) identifying claim dependencies of claims in a user-selected patent;

(2) constructing a patent claims hyperbolic tree for said user-selected patent using said identified claim dependencies; and

(3) displaying said patent claims hyperbolic tree.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein step (1) comprises the step of:

parsing and analyzing text in said user-selected patent corresponding to said claims to identify said claim dependencies.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein step (2) comprises the step of:

generating a claims dependency graph using said identified claim dependencies.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein step (2) further comprises the step of:

constructing said patent claims hyperbolic tree from said claims dependency graph.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein step (2) further comprises the steps of:

mapping said claims dependency graph to a claims dependency tree; and

constructing said patent claims hyperbolic tree from said claims dependency tree.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein step (3) comprises the step of:

(a) emphasizing nodes of said patent claims hyperbolic tree according to user-selected criteria.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein step (a) comprises the step of:

emphasizing said nodes of said patent claims hyperbolic tree according to any combination of;

(i) whether a node corresponds to a patent or claim; and

(ii) whether a node corresponds to an independent claim or a dependent claim.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein step (a) comprises the step of:

emphasizing said nodes of said patent claims hyperbolic tree according to user-defined criteria.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of:

displaying a legend that describes said user-selected criteria.

27. The method of claim 18, further comprising the steps of:

(4) receiving an operator command to display a claim represented in said patent citation hyperbolic tree; and

(5) displaying said represented claim.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein step (5) comprises the steps of:

displaying text of said represented claim apart from said user-selected patent if so instructed by an operator; and

displaying text of said represented claim in the context of said user-selected patent if so instructed by an operator.

29. A system of processing and presenting data, comprising:

information retrieving means for retrieving patent citation information pertaining to a user-selected patent;

tree constructing means for constructing a patent citation hyperbolic tree using said retrieved patent citation information; and

tree displaying means for displaying said patent citation hyperbolic tree.

30. The system of claim 29, further comprising:

means for receiving a backward patent citation command or a forward patent citation command; and

means for receiving an indication of a number of levels to cite.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein said information retrieving means comprises:

means for retrieving information identifying patents that are cited in said user-selected patent for said number of levels if a backward patent citation command was received; and

means for retrieving information identifying patents that cite said user-selected patent for said number of levels if a forward patent citation command was received.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein said tree constructing means comprises:

means for generating a citation analysis graph using said retrieved patent citation information.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein said tree constructing means comprises:

means for constructing said patent citation hyperbolic tree from said citation analysis graph.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein said tree constructing means comprises:

means for mapping said citation analysis graph to a citation analysis tree; and

means for constructing said patent citation hyperbolic tree from said citation analysis tree.

35. The system of claim 29, wherein said tree displaying means comprises:

emphasizing means for emphasizing nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to user-selected criteria.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein said emphasizing means comprises:

assignee emphasizing means for emphasizing nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to assignees of patents corresponding to said nodes.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein said assignee emphasizing means comprises:

means, upon receipt of appropriate operator command, for toggling between;

(i) emphasizing said nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to original patent assignee information; and

(ii) emphasizing said nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to current patent assignee information.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein said emphasizing means comprises:

means for emphasizing nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to time-based criteria.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein said time-based criteria includes one of filing date, priority date, length of pendency, effective filing date, invention date, critical date, on-sale date, public disclosure date, and public use date.

40. The system of claim 35, wherein said emphasizing means comprises:

means for emphasizing nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to user-defined criteria.

41. The system of claim 35, further comprising:

means for displaying a legend that describes said user-selected criteria.

42. The system of claim 29, further comprising:

means for receiving an operator command to display a patent represented in said patent citation hyperbolic tree; and

patent displaying means for displaying said represented patent.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein said patent displaying means comprises:

means for displaying bibliographic information of said represented patent if said represented patent is not stored in a local repository; and

means for displaying any combination of bibliographic information, text, and images of said represented patent if said represented patent is stored in a local repository.

44. A system of processing and presenting data, comprising:

dependency identifying means for identifying claim dependencies of claims in a user-selected patent;

tree constructing means for constructing a patent claims hyperbolic tree for said user-selected patent said identified claim dependencies; and

tree displaying means for displaying said patent claims hyperbolic tree.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein said dependency identifying means comprises:

means for parsing and analyzing text in said user-selected patent corresponding to said claims to identify said claim dependencies.

46. The system of claim 44, wherein said tree constructing means comprises:

means for generating a claims dependency graph using said identified claim dependencies.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein said tree constructing means further comprises:

means for constructing said patent claims hyperbolic tree from said claims dependency graph.

48. The system of claim 46, wherein said tree constructing means further comprises:

means for mapping said claims dependency graph to a claims dependency tree; and

means for constructing said patent claims hyperbolic tree from said claims dependency tree.

49. The system of claim 44, wherein said tree displaying means comprises:

emphasizing means for emphasizing nodes of said patent claims hyperbolic tree according to user-selected criteria.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein said emphasizing means comprises:

means for emphasizing said nodes of said patent claims hyperbolic tree according to any combination of;

(i) whether a node corresponds to a patent or claim; and

(ii) whether a node corresponds to an independent claim or a dependent claim.

51. The system of claim 49, wherein said emphasizing means comprises:

means for emphasizing said nodes of said patent claims hyperbolic tree according to user-defined criteria.

52. The system of claim 49, further comprising:

means for displaying a legend that describes said user-selected criteria.

53. The system of claim 44, further comprising:

means for receiving an operator command to display a claim represented in said patent citation hyperbolic tree; and

claim displaying means for displaying said represented claim.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein said claim displaying means comprises:

means for displaying text of said represented claim apart from said user-selected patent if so instructed by an operator; and

means for displaying text of said represented claim in the context of said user-selected patent if so instructed by an operator.

55. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic stored therein, wherein said computer program logic comprises:

information retrieving means for enabling a computer to retrieve patent citation information pertaining to a user-selected patent;

tree constructing means for enabling the computer to construct a patent citation hyperbolic tree using said retrieved patent citation information; and

tree displaying means for enabling the computer to display said patent citation hyperbolic tree.

56. The computer program product of claim 55, further comprising:

means for enabling the computer to receive a backward patent citation command or a forward patent citation command; and

means for enabling the computer to receive an indication of a number of levels to cite.

57. The computer program product of claim 56, wherein said information retrieving means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to retrieve information identifying patents that are cited in said user-selected patent for said number of levels if a backward patent citation command was received; and

means for enabling the computer to retrieve information identifying patents that cite said user-selected patent for said number of levels if a forward patent citation command was received.

58. The computer program product of claim 55, wherein said tree constructing means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to generate a citation analysis graph using said retrieved patent citation information.

59. The computer program product of claim 58, wherein said tree constructing means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to construct said patent citation hyperbolic tree from said citation analysis graph.

60. The computer program product of claim 58, wherein said tree constructing means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to map said citation analysis graph to a citation analysis tree; and

means for enabling the computer to construct said patent citation hyperbolic tree from said citation analysis tree.

61. The computer program product of claim 55, wherein said tree displaying means comprises:

emphasizing means for enabling the computer to emphasize nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to user-selected criteria.

62. The computer program product of claim 61, wherein said emphasizing means comprises:

assignee emphasizing means for enabling the computer to emphasize nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to assignees of patents corresponding to said nodes.

63. The computer program product of claim 62, wherein said assignee emphasizing means comprises:

means, upon receipt of appropriate operator command, for enabling the computer to toggle between;

(i) emphasizing said nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to original patent assignee information; and

(ii) emphasizing said nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to current patent assignee information.

64. The computer program product of claim 61, wherein said emphasizing means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to emphasize nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to time-based criteria.

65. The computer program product of claim 64, wherein said time-based criteria includes one of filing date, priority date, length of pendency, effective filing date, invention date, critical date, on-sale date, public disclosure date, and public use date.

66. The computer program product of claim 61, wherein said emphasizing means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to emphasize nodes of said patent citation hyperbolic tree according to user-defined criteria.

67. The computer program product of claim 61, further comprising:

means for enabling the computer to display a legend that describes said user-selected criteria.

68. The computer program product of claim 55, further comprising:

means for enabling the computer to receive an operator command to display a patent represented in said patent citation hyperbolic tree; and

patent displaying means for enabling the computer to display said represented parent.

69. The computer program product of claim 68, wherein said patent displaying means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to display bibliographic information of said represented patent if said represented patent is not stored in a local repository; and

means for enabling the computer to display any combination of bibliographic information, text, and images of said represented patent if said represented patent is stored in a local repository.

70. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic stored therein, wherein said computer program logic comprises:

dependency identifying means for enabling a computer to identify claim dependencies of claims in a user-selected patent;

tree constructing means for enabling the computer to construct a patent claims hyperbolic tree for said user-selected patent using said identified claim dependencies; and

tree displaying means for enabling the computer to display said patent claims hyperbolic tree.

71. The computer program product of claim 70, wherein said dependency identifying means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to parse and analyze text in said user-selected patent corresponding to said claims to identify said claim dependencies.

72. The computer program product of claim 70, wherein said tree constructing means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to generate a claims dependency graph using said identified claim dependencies.

73. The computer program product of claim 72, wherein said tree constructing means further comprises:

means for enabling the computer to construct said patent claims hyperbolic tree from said claims dependency graph.

74. The computer program product of claim 72, wherein said tree constructing means further comprises:

means for enabling the computer to map said claims dependency graph to a claims dependency tree; and

means for enabling the computer to construct said patent claims hyperbolic tree from said claims dependency tree.

75. The computer program product of claim 70, wherein said tree displaying means comprises:

emphasizing means for enabling the computer to emphasize nodes of said patent claims hyperbolic tree according to user-selected criteria.

76. The computer program product of claim 75, wherein said emphasizing means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to emphasize said nodes of said patent claims hyperbolic tree according to any combination of;

(i) whether a node corresponds to a patent or claim; and

(ii) whether a node corresponds to an independent claim or a dependent claim.

77. The computer program product of claim 75, wherein said emphasizing means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to emphasize said nodes of said patent claims hyperbolic tree according to user-defined criteria.

78. The computer program product of claim 75, further comprising:

means for enabling the computer to display a legend that describes said user-selected criteria.

79. The computer program product of claim 70, further comprising:

means for enabling the computer to receive an operator command to display a claim represented in said patent citation hyperbolic tree; and

claim displaying means for enabling the computer to display said represented claim.

80. The computer program product of claim 79, wherein said claim displaying means comprises:

means for enabling the computer to display text of said represented claim apart from said user-selected patent if so instructed by an operator; and

means for enabling the computer to display text of said represented claim in the context of said user-selected patent if so instructed by an operator.