Apparatus for and method of searching and organizing intellectual property information utilizing a classification system

• US 6,694,331 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2001
• Issued: 02/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Eugene M. Lee
• Original Assignee: Knowledge Management Objects LLC
• Inventors: Lee, Eugene M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mizrahi, Diane D.
• Application Number:
  US09/875,954
• Publication Number:
  US 20020138465A1
• Time in Patent Office: 984 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/2, 707/3, 707/4, 707/5, 707/100, 707/104.1, 707/30, 707/14, 709/224, 717/174
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/925 Drafting an application
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/93 intellectual property analysis
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

An apparatus for and a method of searching and organizing intellectual property (IP) is provided. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, an apparatus (and corresponding method) is provided for formulating and facilitating searches for intellectual property, and organizing results of such searches. In an exemplary embodiment, a search and organization server is provided with one or more modules to create and process search queries to be run on local or remote database systems. A class search module, for example, may be provided to provide on-line access to classification information and facilitate searching of intellectual property using select classifications. An IP thesaurus module may be provided for developing a list of elements (e.g., words, textual phrases, concepts, representations, numbers, identifications, pictures, graphics, features, etc.) found in select intellectual property information (e.g., groupings of patents). In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the list of elements may be used as an aid in learning a new technology, as a search tool to refine search queries or criteria, as a drafting tool to assist in the preparation of technical or legal documents (e.g., proposals, licenses, patent applications, etc.), or any other practical use. A field-of-search module may be provided to creation of a field-of-search based on search information identified from select intellectual property information. Additional modules (e.g., search engine, workspace module, alert generator, report generator, etc.) may be provided in the search server to formulate, store, organize and output results achieved through operation of the search server.

Claims

1. A method of searching for intellectual property information utilizing an intellectual property classification system, the method comprising:

(A) defining search criteria by selecting at least one search classification containing intellectual property information to be searched, wherein the documents searched are in a data set including at least one of;

at least a portion of a database of documents, an updated portion of the database, previous search results stored in a local memory, previous search results stored in a remote memory, previous search results stored in a workspace, and previous search results in at least one folder in the workspace;

(B) searching at least a portion of the documents based on the search criteria, wherein the search criteria are obtained from at least one of;

input from the user, imported from the local memory, imported from the remote memory, imported from the workspace, and imported from the at least one folder in the workspace;

(C) providing search results, of the searching, wherein the results include a list of located documents corresponding to the search criteria, and a result item for at least one of the located documents includes a link to the at least one of the located documents and a link to at least one of a government storage of the document, a commercial storage of the document, and a physical address of the located document, and a reference to a subsequent history of the at least one of the located documents, wherein the subsequent history includes information representative of a plurality of;

a pending re-examination, a completed re-examination, a reissue, an opposition, an arbitration, a litigation; and

the result item includes a reference to a document in the subsequent history, including at least one of;

a re-examination certificate, a file history, a complaint, and a notice; and

(D) refining the search criteria, including selecting a different one of the data sets and performing a further search on the different one of the data sets, where the data set includes at least one of;

the database, stored search results from a prior search; and

including performing a further search on the different one of the data sets.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising searching at least a portion of the documents based on the search criteria,

where the search criteria further include at least one of: identification number, serial number, patent number, registration number, keyword, text, graphics;

where the search criteria are searched for in the documents in at least one of;

an entire document, a field of the document, a segment of the document;

where the field is at least one of;

publication number, publication date, title, inventor, assignee, application number, filing date, related data, priority data, international classification, US classification, cross reference classification, field of search, references cited, forward references citing document, examiner, agent, abstract, background, field of invention, summary, brief description of the drawings, detailed description, claims, drawings.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of search criteria obtained from a user selected plurality of:

input from the user, imported from the local memory, imported from the remote memory, imported from the workspace, and imported from the at least one folder in the workspace.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the results for at least one of storage and display.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the results are in an order determined by at least one of:

user-defined preferences, weighted relevancy, and scoring formula.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising displaying a plurality of documents corresponding to at least a portion of the search results for simultaneous viewing on a same display.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the results, and information representative of the located documents.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the workspace is allocated for use by at least one of:

the user or a group of specified users including the user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the results, search criteria, and information representative of the located documents in the workspace are further stored in at least one folder of a plurality of folders in the workspace.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one folder includes user notes and identification data.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an alert, including accessing at least one stored search criteria upon at least one of a lapse of a predetermined time period and occurrence of an event;

and updating the search results.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a report listing information representative of the search results, wherein the report is in the format of a template to be populated by the results, the search criteria, and information representative of the located documents for the search results.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the template further includes specified content from at least one folder, at least one of the located documents and a segment of at least one of the located documents.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the report is generated responsive to at least one of manual initiation, identified search results, a plurality of selected documents, and contents of at least one selected workspace folder.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing a classification search including:

presenting data representative of a classification system, and selecting the search criteria from the data representative of the classification system.

16. The method of claim 15, the data representative of the classification system including at least one of classification numbers, a classification index, classification headings, sub-classifications, classification definitions, and classification titles.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the classification system is at least one of patent classification, trademark classification, and copyright classification.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the data representative of the classification system further includes at least one of cross-reference classification, primary classification, secondary classification, current classification, and prior classification.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising sorting the search results by classification.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an identification of intellectual property information to be used as a source grouping, and the search criteria being derived from the source grouping.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising determining a plurality of elements in the source grouping, and generating a list of the elements as candidate search criteria.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising providing an analysis of the list of elements in the source grouping, the analysis including frequency of occurrence of elements in the documents, and wherein the elements are at least one of:

a word, a phrase, a concept, a number, a picture, a feature, a representation, a graphic, and an identifier.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising storing selected ones of the elements in the list of elements in a master collection of elements.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising linking, responsive to the user, selected ones of the elements in the list of elements and storing information representative of a relationship between the selected ones of the elements.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the relationship is at least one of:

synonym, homonym, antonym, like, analogue, picture, concept, phrase, and meaning.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising selecting at least one element in the list of elements to be included in the search criteria.

27. The method of claim 21, further comprising analyzing the frequency of occurrence of classification information in segments of documents having classification information, and suggesting a field of search by classifications based on the analysis.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising selecting at least one element in the list of elements and associating the selected at least one element with at least one classification that corresponds thereto.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising selecting the search criteria from the suggested field of search.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the documents include text and images of at least one of:

United States, foreign, international, treaty organization, multi-national intellectual property documents.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the intellectual property is selected from at least one of patent, trademark, copyright, mask work, and trade secret.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the documents include at least one of:

issued patent, published patent application, statutory invention registration, abstract, technical publication, sequence listing, file history, government record, and public notice.

42. The system of claim 4, wherein the display includes plurality of documents corresponding to at least a portion of the search results for simultaneous viewing on a same display.

33. The method of 1, further comprising:

(E) generating an alert, including accessing at least one stored search results upon at least one of a lapse of a predetermined time period and occurrence of an event; and

updating the search results; and

(F) generating a report listing information representative of the search results, wherein the report is in the format of a template to be populated by the results, the search criteria, and information representative of the located documents for the updated search results;

wherein the report is generated responsive to at least one of manual initiation, identified search results, a plurality of selected documents, and contents of at least one selected workspace folder.

34. The method of 1, further comprising performing a classification search including:

presenting data representative of a classification system, and selecting the search criteria from the data representative of the classification system, the data representative of the classification system including at least one of classification numbers, a classification index, classification headings, sub-classifications, classification definitions, and classification tides; and

sorting the search results by classification.

35. The method of 1, further comprising performing a thesaurus search including receiving an identification of intellectual property information to be used as a source grouping, and selecting the search criteria derived from the source grouping;

determining a plurality of elements in the source grouping, and generating a list of the elements as candidate search criteria;

providing an analysis of the list of elements in the source grouping, the analysis including frequency of occurrence of elements in the documents, and wherein the elements are at least one of;

a word, a phrase, a concept, a number, a picture, a feature, a representation, a graphic, and an identifier; and

storing selected ones of the elements in a master collection of elements;

wherein the elements are further grouped by semantic relationship.

36. The method of 1, further comprising performing a field-of-search including receiving an identification of intellectual property information to be used as a source grouping, and selecting the search criteria derived from the source grouping;

determining a plurality of elements in the source grouping, and generating a list of the elements as candidate search criteria;

providing an analysis of the list of elements in the source grouping, the analysis including frequency of occurrence of classification information in segments of documents having classification information, and associating at least one of the elements with at least one classification that corresponds thereto; and

suggesting a field of search by classifications based on the analysis.

37. A search system for use with an intellectual property system, the search system comprising:

(A) a module to define search criteria by selecting at least one search classification containing intellectual property information to be searched, wherein the documents searched are in a data set including at least one of;

at least a portion of a database of documents, an updated portion of the database, previous search results stored in a local memory, previous search results stored in a remote memory, previous search results stored in a workspace, and previous search results in at least one folder in the workspace;

(B) a module to provide search results including intellectual property information corresponding to search criteria;

wherein the results include a list of located documents corresponding to the search criteria; and

a result item for at least one of the located documents includes a link to the at least one of the located documents and a link to at least one of a government storage of the document, a commercial storage of the document, and a physical address of the located document, and a reference to a subsequent history of the at least one of the located documents, wherein the subsequent history includes information representative of a plurality of;

a pending re-examination, a completed re-examination, a reissue, an opposition, an arbitration, a litigation; and

the result item includes a reference to a document in the subsequent history, including at least one of;

a re-examination certificate, a file history, a complaint, and a notice;

(C) a module to search at least a portion of the documents based on the search criteria, wherein the search criteria are obtained from at least one of;

input from the user, imported from the local memory, imported from the remote memory, imported from the workspace, and imported from the at least one folder in the workspace; and

(D) a module to refine the search criteria, including selecting a different one of the data sets and performing a further search on the different one of the data sets, where the data set includes at least one of;

the database, stored search results from a prior search; and

including performing a further search on the different one of the data sets.

38. The system of claim 37, further comprising a search module to search at least a portion of the documents based on the search criteria,

where the search criteria further include at least one of: identification number, serial number, patent number, registration number, keyword, text, graphics;

where the search criteria are searched for in the documents in at least one of;

an entire document, a field of the document, a segment of the document;

where the field is at least one of;

publication number, publication date, title, inventor, assignee, application number, filing date, related data, priority data, international classification, US classification, cross reference classification, field of search, references cited, forward references citing document, examiner, agent, abstract, background, field of invention, summary, brief description of the drawings, detailed description, claims, drawings.

39. The system of claim 37, wherein there are a plurality of search criteria obtained from a user selected plurality of:

input from the user, imported from the local memory, imported from the remote memory, imported from the workspace, and imported from the at least one folder in the workspace.

40. The system of claim 37, wherein the search results are provided for at least one of storage and display.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the results are in an order determined by at least one of:

user-defined preferences, weighted relevancy, and scoring formula.

43. The system of claim 37, wherein the search storage area further includes the results, and information representative of the located documents.

44. The system of claim 37, wherein the workspace is allocated for use by at least one of:

the user or a group of specified users including the user.

45. The system of claim 37, wherein the results, search criteria, and information representative of the located documents in the workspace are further stored in at least one folder of a plurality of folders in the workspace.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the at least one folder includes user notes and identification data.

47. The system of claim 37, further comprising a module to generate an alert, including accessing at least one stored search criteria upon at least one of a lapse of a predetermined time period and occurrence of an event;

and updating the search results.

48. The system of claim 37, further comprising a module to generate a report for the search listing information representative of the search results, wherein the report is in the format of a template to be populated by the results, the search criteria, and information representative of the located documents for the search results.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein the template further includes specified content from at least one folder, at least one of the located documents and a segment of at least one of the located documents.

50. The system of claim 48, wherein the report is generated responsive to at least one of manual initiation, identified search results, a plurality of selected documents, and contents of at least one selected workspace folders.

51. The system of claim 48, wherein the search results are sorted by classification.

52. The system of claim 37, further comprising a module to perform a classification search including:

presenting data representative of a classification system, and selecting the search criteria from the data representative of the classification system.

53. The system of claim 52, the data representative of the classification system including at least one of classification numbers, a classification index, classification headings, sub-classifications, classification definitions, and classification titles.

54. The system of claim 52, wherein the classification system is at least one of patent classification, trademark classification, and copyright classification.

55. The system of claim 52, wherein the data representative of the classification system further includes at least one of cross-reference classification, primary classification, secondary classification, current classification, and prior classification.

56. The system of claim 37, further comprising a module to perform a search including receiving an identification of intellectual property information to be used as a source grouping, and selecting the search criteria derived from the source grouping.

57. The system of claim 56, further comprising determining a plurality of elements in the source grouping, and generating a list of the elements as candidate search criteria.

58. The system of claim 57, further comprising an analysis of the list of elements in the source grouping, the analysis including frequency of occurrence of elements in the documents, and wherein the elements are at least one of:

a word, a phrase, a concept, a number, a picture, a feature, a representation, a graphic, and an identifier.

59. The system of claim 57, wherein selected ones of the elements in the list of elements are stored in a master collection of elements.

60. The system of claim 57, further comprising linking, responsive to the user, selected ones of the elements in the list of elements and storing information representative of a relationship between the selected ones of the elements.

61. The system of claim 60, wherein the relationship is at least one of:

synonym, homonym, antonym, like, analogue, picture, concept, phrase, and meaning.

62. The system of claim 57, further comprising at lease least one selected element in the list of elements to be included in the search criteria.

63. The system of claim 57, further comprising an analysis of the frequency of occurrence of classification information in segments of documents having classification information, and suggesting a field of search by classifications based on the analysis.

64. The system of claim 63, wherein at least one selected element in the list of elements is associated with at least one classification that corresponds thereto.

65. The system of claim 64, wherein the search criteria are selected from the suggested field of search.

66. The system of claim 37, wherein the documents include text and images of at least one of:

United States, foreign, international, treaty organization, multi-national intellectual property documents.

67. The system of claim 37, wherein the intellectual property is selected from at least one of patent, trademark, copyright, mask work, and trade secret.

68. The system of claim 37, wherein the documents include at least one of:

issued patent, published patent application, statutory invention registration, abstract, technical publication, sequence listing, file history, government record, and public notice.

69. The system of 67, further including a module to perform a classification search including presenting data representative of a classification system, and selecting the search criteria from the data representative of the classification system, the data representative of the classification system including at least one of classification numbers, a classification index, classification headings, sub-classifications, classification definitions, and classification titles;

and sorting the search results by classification.

70. The system of 37, further comprising a module to perform a thesaurus search including receiving an identification of intellectual property information to be used as a source grouping, and selecting the search criteria derived from the source grouping;

determining a plurality of elements in the source grouping, and generating a list of the elements as candidate search criteria;

providing an analysis of the list of elements in the source grouping, the analysis including frequency of occurrence of elements in the documents, and wherein the elements are at least one of;

a word, a phase, a concept, a number, a picture, a feature, a representation, a graphic, and an identifier; and

storing selected ones of the elements in a master collection of elements;

wherein the elements are further grouped by semantic relationship.

71. The system of 37, further comprising a module to perform a field-of-search including receiving an identification of intellectual property information to be used as a source grouping, and selecting the search criteria derived from the source grouping;

determining a plurality of elements in the source grouping, and generating a list of the elements as candidate search criteria;

providing an analysis of the list of elements in the source grouping, the analysis including frequency of occurrence of classification information in segments of documents having classification information, and associating at least one of the elements with at least one classification that corresponds thereto; and

suggesting a field of search by classifications based on the analysis.