System, method, and computer program product for providing relational patterns between entities

• US 6,073,138 A
• Filed: 02/08/1999
• Issued: 06/06/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Tradeco Asia Limited
• Original Assignee: Boardwalk AG
• Inventors: Fees, Christina M., de l'Etraz, Paris, Fees, James R., Hatcher, Paul, Bruderer, Otto
• Primary Examiner(s): Choules, Jack M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): ALAM, SHAHID AL
• Application Number:
  US09/245,759
• Time in Patent Office: 484 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/2, 707/3, 707/4, 707/5, 707/10, 707/100, 707/103, 707/104, 705/26, 705/27, 709/201, 709/203
• US Class Current: 707/748
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/26 Visual data mining; Browsing structured data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/959 Network
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• 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 contact intelligence data mining tool for storing, processing, displaying, and printing relational patterns between entities (e.g., business and other contacts). The tool allows proprietary individual contact data to be merged with accurate and up-to-date public information in order to explore the full scope (or sphere) of an individual'"'"'s or business concern'"'"'s scope of influence. It intelligently establishes and presents personal, direct contacts as well as contacts of contacts, and so on. The tool further displays, via a graphical user interface, the optimal relationship path (i.e., contact pathway) to reach desired contacts.

Claims

1. A contact intelligence data mining system for allowing a user to determine their sphere of influence, comprising:

a graphical user interface;

a public database containing information on members of a plurality of entities;

a private contact database containing information on personal contacts of the user;

means for accessing, in response to receiving a request from the user via said graphical user interface, said public database and said private database; and

means for processing accessed information located in said public database and said private contact database in order to display a contact pathway;

whereby said contact pathway includes the user'"'"'s personal contacts and the contacts of the user'"'"'s contacts thereby representing the user'"'"'s sphere of influence among said plurality of entities located within said public database.

2. The contact intelligence data mining system of claim 1, wherein the information on the members of said plurality of entities located in said public database is multi-national information on the members of boards of directors of companies.

3. The contact intelligence data mining system of claim 1, wherein at least one entity in said plurality of entities within said public database is one of the following types of entity:

(a) university alumni clubs;

(b) political party organizations;

(c) trade groups;

(d) social clubs;

(e) military branches;

(f) members of a legislature; and

(g) company boards of directors.

4. The contact intelligence data mining system of claim 1, further comprising:

means for displaying an optimal contact pathway, whereby said optimal contact pathway utilizes numerical weights corresponding to the level of familiarity the user has with each of their contacts and the contacts of their contacts.

5. A contact intelligence data mining system for allowing a plurality of users within an enterprise to determine spheres of influence, comprising:

a graphical user interface;

a public database containing information on members of a plurality of entities;

a computer network which allows the plurality of users to access said public database;

a plurality of private contact databases, wherein each of said plurality of private contact databases is accessible by at least one of the plurality of users;

means for accessing, in response to receiving a request from one of the plurality of users via said graphical user interface, said public database and at least one of said plurality of private contact databases; and

means for processing accessed information located in said public database and said at least one of said plurality of private contact databases in order to display a contact pathway;

whereby said contact pathway includes said at least one of the plurality of users personal contacts and the contacts of their contacts thereby representing said at least one of the plurality of users sphere of influence among said plurality of entities located within said public database.

6. The contact intelligence data mining system of claim 5, wherein at least a portion said computer network comprises the Internet.

7. The contact intelligence data mining system of claim 5, wherein at least one entity in said plurality of entities within said public database is one of the following types of entity:

(a) university alumni clubs;

(b) political party organizations;

(c) trade groups;

(d) social clubs;

(e) military branches;

(f) members of a legislature; and

(g) company boards of directors.

8. The contact intelligence data mining system of claim 5, further comprising:

means for displaying an optimal contact pathway, whereby said optimal contact pathway utilizes numerical weights corresponding to the level of familiarity said one of the plurality of users has with each of their contacts and the contacts of their contacts.

9. The contact intelligence data mining system of claim 5, further comprising:

means for allowing one of the plurality of users, who is a manager, to access a subset of said plurality of private contact databases, wherein said subset represents a number of the plurality of private contact databases associated with the plurality of users who work for said manager.

10. The contact intelligence data mining system of claim 5, further comprising:

an enterprise-level private contact database accessible to each of the plurality of users over said computer network;

whereby said contact pathway includes the enterprise'"'"'s contacts and the contacts of the enterprise'"'"'s contacts thereby representing the enterprise'"'"'s sphere of influence among said plurality of entities located within said public database.

11. A method for populating a contact intelligence data mining tool with the private contact information of a user, comprising the steps of:

(1) receiving a private contact name input from the user;

(2) accessing a public database to search for said private contact name to determine if said private contact name is located within said public database;

(3) receiving an input from the user, when said private contact name is located within said public database, indicative of whether said private contact name represents the same contact that appears in said public database;

(4) linking, when said private contact flame represents the same contact that appears as in said public database, said private contact name with said public database; and

(5) receiving, from the user, contact information to be associated with said private contact name;

whereby said private contact name is utilized within the contact intelligence data mining tool to display a contact pathway which includes the user'"'"'s personal contacts and the contacts of their contacts, thereby representing the user'"'"'s sphere of influence among the entities located within said public database.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the user populates the contact intelligence data mining tool via the Internet.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of:

(6) receiving an input from the user indicative of whether other users of the contact intelligence data mining tool may access said contact information associated with said private contact information.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein step (5) comprises the step of:

receiving a numerical weight input from the user indicative of the level of familiarity said the user has with the entity associated with said private contact name.

15. A method for providing a user access to a contact intelligence data mining tool to display the user'"'"'s contact pathway, comprising the steps of:

(1) receiving a contact name input;

(2) searching both a public database and a private database for associations between the user and said contact name; and

(3) causing a report to be displayed that includes the contact pathway for said contact name, wherein the contact pathway includes the user'"'"'s personal contacts and the contacts of their contacts;

whereby said report is used by the user to determine how to reach the contact associated with said contact name input and represents the user'"'"'s sphere of influence among the entities located within said public database.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the user accesses the contact intelligence data mining tool over the Internet.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein said contact name represents one of the following:

(a) a person;

(b) an organization; and

(c) a person at a specific organization.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein step (3) comprises the step of:

utilizing numerical weights corresponding to the level of familiarity the user has with each contact entry in said public database and said private database to display an optimal contact pathway for said contact name.

19. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to populate a contact intelligence data mining tool with a user'"'"'s private contact information, said control logic comprising:

first computer readable program code means for causing the computer to receive a private contact name input from the user;

second computer readable program code means for causing the computer to access a public database to search for said private contact name to determine if said private contact name is located within said public database;

third computer readable program code means for causing the computer to receive an input from the user, when said contact private name is located within said public database, indicative of whether said private contact name represents the same contact that appears in said public database;

fourth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to link, when said private contact name represents the same contact that appears in said public database, said private contact name with said public database; and

fifth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to receive contact information to be associated with said private contact name;

whereby said private contact name is utilized within the contact intelligence data mining tool to display a contact pathway which include the user'"'"'s personal contacts and the contacts of their contacts, thereby representing the user'"'"'s sphere of influence among the entities located within said public database.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising:

sixth computer program product means for causing the computer to receive an input from the user indicative of whether other users of the contact intelligence data mining tool may access said contact information associated with said private contact information.

21. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to display a user'"'"'s contact pathway, said control logic comprising:

first computer readable program code means for causing the computer to receive a contact name input;

second computer readable program code means for causing the computer to search both a public database and a private database for associations between the user and said contact name; and

third computer readable program code means for causing the computer to display a report comprising the contact pathway for said contact name, wherein the contact pathway includes the user'"'"'s personal contacts and the contacts of their contacts;

whereby said report is used by the user to determine how to reach the contact associated with said contact name input and represents the user'"'"'s sphere of influence among the entities located within said public database.