Dynamic legal database providing historical and current versions of bodies of law

• US 7,412,463 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2002
• Issued: 08/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Bloomberg Finance LP (Bloomberg LP), Bloomberg, Inc. (Bloomberg LP), Bloomberg LP, Bureau of National Affairs Incorporated (Bloomberg LP)
• Original Assignee: Bloomberg Finance LP (Bloomberg LP)
• Inventors: Mosca, Peter, Mitchell, Fred C., Snyder, James Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Corrielus; Jean M
• Application Number:
  US10/045,586
• Publication Number:
  US 20030135520A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,405 Days
• Field of Search: 703/3, 703/102, 703/10, 703/203, 715/514, 715/511, 707/203, 707/3, 707/102, 707/10, 707/2, 717/227, 717/229
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/219 Managing data history or versioning querying versioned data G06F16/2474; querying temporal data G06F16/2477
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2329 using versioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2477 Temporal data queries
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/942 Legal/academic
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/952 Malicious software
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99954 Version management

Abstract

Information collections defining a common subject such as a codified or uncodified body of law are stored on a computer readable medium in association with temporal information indicating the state or status with respect to time of parts of the information collection, including different versions of the same part. Parts of an information collection that are different versions of each other have different temporal information associated therewith and can be accessed based on the temporal information. Thus, the temporal information may be used to control access to and display of parts of the subject in a computer system based on time as search or request parameter. In a preferred embodiment, the subject is a statutory body of law such as the United States Code. Sections of the Code are stored in association with temporal information such as date of enactment, effective date and termination date. A researcher can access a version of any part of the Code in effect at any particular time.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium encoded with one or more data structures representing an information collection comprising a body of law, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating computer access from the computer readable medium of information relating to the body of law, the body of law comprising a plurality of topics and a plurality of parts, including parts that are different versions of each other, the one or more data structures comprising:

an association of each part of the body of law, including different versions thereof, and at least one topic, the association comprising a hierarchical arrangement of topics of the body of law and parts of the body of law in which each part of the body of law and any different version thereof and the associated at least one topic are hierarchically associated;

an association of temporal information comprising one or more dates indicating the legal applicability of a respective part and of the legal applicability of any different version thereof and the respective part of the body of law or respective different version thereof; and

an association of information relating to each part and version of the body of law and the at least one topic with which the respective part or version is associated.

2. A computer readable medium according to claim 1, wherein the the one or more data structures enable computer access to a part or version of the body of law based at least on the temporal information associated therewith.

3. A computer readable medium according to claim 1, wherein the temporal information includes a date range, and wherein the one or more data structures enable computer access to a part or version of the body of law based at least on a date encompassed by the date range associated with that part of the body of law.

4. A computer readable medium according to claim 1, wherein the temporal information comprises a date on which that part or version of the body of law was adopted.

5. A computer readable medium according to claim 1, wherein the information relating to each part of the body of law associated with at least one topic comprises the temporal information.

6. A computer readable medium according to claim 1, wherein the association of the information relating to each part of the body of law and at least one topic comprises the at least one topic including such information.

20. A computer readable medium according to claim 1 or 7, wherein the temporal information includes a date range.

22. A computer readable medium according to claim 1 or 7, wherein the temporal information comprises a date range including a date on which the related part of the body of law is effective, and, if that part of the body of law has a date of termination, the date of termination.

24. A computer readable medium according to claim 1 or 7, wherein the body of law includes at least one title of the United States Code.

25. A computer readable medium according to claim 1 or 7, wherein the body of law includes at least one title of the United States Code of Federal Regulations.

26. A computer readable medium according to claim 1 or 7, wherein the body of law includes at least one title of a codified set of laws of at least one state.

7. A computer readable medium encoded with one or more data structures representing an information collection comprising a body of law, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating computer access from the computer readable medium of information relating to the body of law, the one or more data structures comprising:

one or more unique information units, each information unit including at least one part of the body of law, including any different version of the at least one part, and a plurality of topical units, each comprising at least one topic arranged in a scheme for organizing a plurality of interrelated topics;

an association of each topical unit and the at least one information unit, each topical unit including information relating to the at least one information unit associated therewith; and

an association of temporal information comprising one or more dates indicating the legal applicability of each part of the body of law and different version thereof and the respective information unit in which information unit the respective part and any different version thereof are included.

8. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the the one or more data structures enable computer access to an information unit based at least on the temporal information associated therewith.

9. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the the one or more data structures enable computer access to an information unit based at least on the temporal information associated therewith.

10. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the association of each information unit and temporal information comprises each information unit including the associated temporal information.

11. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, comprising at least one link between each information unit and the temporal information associated therewith.

12. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein each information unit comprises a structured document including a part or version of the body of law and the temporal information associated therewith.

13. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the one or more data structures comprises a relational database including records, and each information unit and the temporal information associated therewith are included in a respective record.

14. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the one or more data structures comprises a plurality of files, each file storing at least one information unit and the temporal information associated therewith.

15. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the one or more data structures comprises a plurality of files, each file storing at least one topical unit, each information unit associated therewith, and the respective temporal information associated with each information unit associated therewith.

16. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the one or more data structures comprises a hierarchical arrangement of topical units and associated information units.

17. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the association of the topical unit and the temporal information associated with at least one of the information units associated with the respective topical unit comprises the topical unit including the temporal information.

18. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the one or more data structures comprises a hierarchical organization comprising a topic tree that comprises a plurality of nodes, with each node representing one of the topical units, the tree having leaf nodes representing topical units, each topical unit being an atomic topical unit that is not subdivided, and wherein each information unit associated with a respective topical unit is associated with the leaf node representing that topical unit.

19. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the the one or more data structures comprises at least one table of contents (TOC) associated with the topical units, each TOC including a reference to each information unit associated with the respective topical unit.

21. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the temporal information includes a date range, and wherein the one or more data structures enable computer access to an information unit based at least on a date encompassed by the date range associated with that information unit.

23. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the temporal information comprises a date on which the part or version of body of law included in the respective information unit was adopted.

27. A method of providing the one or more data structures of claim 7 comprising:

associating each information unit with applicable temporal information;

organizing the information units into topical units at least one of which includes the plurality of information units having different versions of the same part of the body of law; and

configuring the one or more data structures to provide access by a computer, in response to at least one request input to the computer identifying a topical unit and a date, to an information unit of the identified topical unit having temporal information associated therewith that encompasses the date.

28. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the information relating to each information unit associated with at least one topical unit comprises the temporal information.

29. A computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the association of the information relating to each information unit and at least one topical unit comprises the at least one topical unit including such information.

30. A computer readable medium encoded with one or more data structures representing an information collection comprising a body of law, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating computer access from the computer readable medium of information relating to the body of law, the one or more data structures comprising:

a plurality of structured documents arranged in a hierarchy of documents comprising documents including a topic or topics of the body of law and documents including a part of the body of law;

an association of each of the documents including a part of the body of law and temporal information comprising one or more dates indicating the legal applicability of the respective part, wherein a plurality of the parts of the body of law comprises different versions of the same part of the body of law; and

each document that includes a part of the body of law including any different version of that part of the body of law and the temporal information associated with the respective part or version.

31. A computer readable medium encoded with one or more data structures representing an information collection comprising a body of law, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating computer access from the computer readable medium of information relating to the body of law, the one or more data structures comprising:

a plurality of lower-level structured documents;

an association of each of a plurality of parts of the body of law and temporal information comprising one or more dates indicating the legal applicability of the respective part, wherein a plurality of the parts of the body of law comprises different versions of the same part of the body of law, the temporal information being different for different versions of the same part of the body of law;

each lower level structured document including a different part or different version of the same part of the body of law and including the associated temporal information; and

at least one higher level structured document, each lower level structured document being in a hierarchical relationship with at least one higher level structured document which higher level structured document includes information relating to the respective lower level structured document.

32. A method of providing the one or more data structures of claim 31, comprising:

associating each part of the body of law with applicable temporal information;

including each part of the body of law and its associated temporal information into a lower level structured document;

associating applicable lower level structured documents with a higher level structured document;

including in each higher level document information relating to each lower level document associated therewith; and

configuring the one or more data structures to provide access by a computer, in response to at least one request input to the computer identifying a part of the body of law and a date, to a structured document including the identified part and temporal information associated therewith that encompasses the date.

34. A computer readable medium according to claim 31 or 33, wherein at least one higher level structured document includes a table of contents (TOC) including a reference to each lower level structured document associated therewith.

35. A computer readable medium according to claim 34, wherein at least one higher level structured document includes a TOC having a reference to at least one other higher level structured document hierarchically related to the at least one higher level structured document in an ancestral/descendant relationship.

36. A computer readable medium according to claim 34, wherein at least one higher level structured document includes a TOC having a reference to at least one other higher level structured document and to each lower level structured document referenced by the at least one other higher level structured document, the at least one higher level structured document being hierarchically related in an ancestral/descendant relationship with the at least one other higher level structured document, and each of the lower level structured documents.

37. A computer readable medium according to claim 31 or 33, wherein at least one structured document indicates differences between different versions of the same part.

33. A computer readable medium encoded with one or more data structures representing an information collection related to a common subject, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating computer access from the computer readable medium of information relating to the common subject, the one or more data structures, comprising:

a plurality of lower level structured documents;

an association of each of a plurality of parts of the common subject and temporal information comprising at least one date indicating a state or status with respect to time of the respective part of the common subject, wherein a plurality of the parts of the common subject comprises different versions of the same part of the common subject, the temporal information being different for different versions of the same part of the common subject;

each lower level structured document including a different part or different version of the same part of the common subject and including the associated temporal information; and

at least one higher level structured document, each lower level structured document being in a hierarchical relationship with at least one higher level structured document which higher level structured document includes information relating to the respective lower level structured document.

38. A computer readable medium encoded with one or more data structures representing an information collection comprising a body of law, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating computer access from the computer readable medium of information relating to the body of law, the one or more data structures, comprising:

a hierarchical arrangement of headings in at least one table of contents (TOC) and parts of the body of law, each heading identifying one or more parts of the body of law;

an association of temporal information comprising one or more dates indicating the legal applicability of a respective part of the body of law and the respective part of the body of law;

an association of a plurality of parts of the body of law that are different versions of each other and have different temporal information associated therewith and at least one heading of a TOC; and

an association of the temporal information relating to each part and version of the body of law and each heading with which the respective part or version is associated.

39. A computer readable medium according to claim 38, wherein the one or more data structures enable computer access to a part of the body of law in response to a request by a computer including at least a date of the one or more dates associated with that part.

40. A computer readable medium according to claim 38, wherein the one or more data structures include a structured document for and including each different part of the body of law.

41. A computer readable medium according to claim 40, wherein each TOC is included in a structured document having a reference to each other structured document including a part of the body of law referenced in a heading of that TOC.

42. An information storage and retrieval system, comprising:

a computer system including a computer display device, a computer input device and a computer-readable medium, the computer system being coupled to access data stored on the computer-readable medium, wherein the medium being encoded with one or more data structures representing an information collection comprising a body of law, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating access by the computer system of information from the medium relating to the body of law, the one or more data structures comprising;

an association of each part of the body of law, including different versions thereof, and at least one topic comprising a hierarchical arrangement of topics of the body of law and parts of the body of law in which each part of the body of law and different version thereof and the associated at least one topic are hierarchically associated; and

an association of temporal information comprising one or more dates indicating the legal applicability of a respective part and the legal applicability of any different version thereof and the respective part of the body of law or respective different version thereof,

wherein the computer system being programmed to access the medium and cause to be displayed on the computer display device, in response to input from the computer input device, information identifying at least two parts of the body of law that are different versions of each other together with temporal information associated therewith, and in response to input from the computer input device selecting one of the identified parts displayed identity to access the medium and cause the one identified part to be displayed on the display device.

43. An information storage and retrieval system, comprising:

a computer system including a computer display device, a computer input device and a computer-readable medium, the computer system being coupled to access data stored on the computer-readable medium;

the medium being encoded with one or more data structures representing an information collection comprising a body of law, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating access by the computer system of information from the medium relating to the body of law, the one or more data structures comprising;

a hierarchical arrangement of headings in at least one table of contents (TOC) and parts of the body of law, each heading identifying one or more parts of the body of law;

an association of temporal information comprising one or more dates indicating the legal applicability of a respective part of the body of law and the respective part of the body of law; and

an association of a plurality of parts of the body of law that are different versions of each other and have different temporal information associated therewith and at least one heading of a TOC;

the computer system being programmed to access the medium and cause to be displayed on the computer display device, in response to input from the computer input device at least one heading, at least one part associated with the at least one heading and temporal information, and the computer system being programmed to cause to be displayed on the computer display device a displayed part selected with the computer input device that has temporal information associated therewith that encompasses the displayed temporal information.

44. A method of accessing an information collection stored on a computer readable medium using a computer coupled to access the information collection, the medium being encoded with one or more data structures representing an information collection comprising a body of law, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating access by the computer system of information from the medium relating to the body of law, the one or more data structures comprising;

an association of each part of the body of law, including different versions thereof, and at least one topic comprising a hierarchical arrangement of topics of the body of law and parts of the body of law in which each part of the body of law and any different version thereof and the associated at least one topic are hierarchically associated; and

an association of temporal information comprising one or more dates indicating the legal applicability of a respective part and the legal applicability of any different version thereof and the respective part of the body of law or respective different version thereof;

the method comprising;

displaying on a computer display device coupled to the computer dates in association with information identifying at least two parts that are different versions of each other; and

displaying on the computer display device that part of the body of law that is selected with a computer input device coupled to the computer.

46. A method according to claim 44, wherein the information collection includes a table of contents (TOC) having headings with which one or more parts of the body of law are associated, each heading being associated with temporal information indicating the applicability of parts associated with the respective heading, the method comprising:

displaying on the computer display device a heading and the temporal information associated therewith;

inputting to the computer using a computer input device a selection of displayed temporal information associated with a heading; and

in response thereto, displaying on the computer display device the part of the body of law in the displayed heading associated with the temporal information that is selected using the computer input device.

45. A method of accessing an information collection stored on a computer readable medium using a computer coupled to access the information collection, the medium being encoded with one or more data structures representing an information collection comprising a body of law, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating access by the computer system of information from the medium relating to the body of law, the one or more data structures comprising:

an association of each part of the body of law, including different versions thereof, and at least one topic comprising a hierarchical arrangement of topics of the body of law and parts of the body of law in which each part of the body of law and any different version thereof and the associated at least one topic are hierarchically associated; and

an association of temporal information comprising one or more dates indicating the legal applicability of a respective part and the legal applicability of any different version thereof and the respective part of the body of law or respective different version thereof;

the method comprising;

inputting to the computer using a computer input device information identifying a part of the body of law and a date; and

in response thereto, the computer causing the computer display device to display the identified part which has temporal information encompassing the inputted date.

47. A method for encoding a computer readable medium with one or more data structures representing an information collection comprising a body of law, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating computer access from the computer readable medium of information relating to the body of law, the body of law comprising a plurality of topics and a plurality of parts, including parts that are different versions of each other, the method comprising creating in the one or more data structures:

an association of each part of the body of law, including different versions thereof, and at least one topic in a hierarchical arrangement of topics of the body of law and parts of the body of law in which each part of the body of law and any different version thereof and the associated at least one topic are hierarchically associated;

an association of temporal information comprising one or more dates indicating the legal applicability of a respective part and the legal applicability of any different version thereof and the respective part of the body of law or respective different version thereof; and

an association of information relating to each part or version of the body of law and the at least one topic with which the respective part or version is associated.

48. A method for encoding a computer readable medium with one or more data structures representing an information collection comprising a body of law, the one or more data structures organizing the information collection and facilitating computer access from the computer readable medium of information relating to the body of law, the method comprising creating in the one or more data structures:

one or more unique information units, each including at least one part of the body of law including any different version of the at least one part, and a plurality of topical units, each comprising at least one topic;

an association of each topical unit and the at least one information unit, each topical unit including information relating to the at least one information unit associated therewith; and

an association of temporal information comprising one or more dates indicating the legal applicability of each part of the body of law and different version thereof and the respective information unit in which the respective part and any different version thereof are included;

the method comprising storing the one or more data structures in the computer readable medium.