JP2002538554A - Intellectual Property Asset Manager (IPAM) to handle the context of data objects - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] In this specification, context data processing will be described. One or more contexts are selected. Each context includes one or more attributes and a plurality of data objects that satisfy the attributes. A list of data objects contained in the selected context is displayed. At least some of the data objects in the selected context are processed. Such processing may include generating claim trees, citation trees, and data object families, which may be displayed using a hyperbolic tree. In one embodiment, the context is a group. In other embodiments, each of the contexts is associated with a data object type. In the latter embodiment, the context includes a data object of its respective data object type.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This application relates to the pending “System, Met, filed on August 21, 1998.
hod, and Computer Program Product for
Managing and Analyzing Intellectual
Property (IP) Related Transactions "
(Serial No. 09 / 138,368), which is incorporated by reference in its pending "Ussing Hyperboat," filed Aug. 29, 1997.
like Trees to Visualize Data Generate
d By Patent-Centric and Group-Orient
ed Data Processing ”(serial number 07 / 921,3
69), which was filed on June 2, 1997, and filed under the title of "System, Method, and Computer Computer Prog."
ram Product for Patent-Centric and G
"Organized Data Processing" (Serial No. 07/867, 392), all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

The present invention relates generally to data processing, and more particularly to data object processing in various contexts, among others.

Related Art Patents are becoming increasingly important in business success, especially in today's global economy. Patents can be viewed as a new kind of distribution in this global economy because they grant the owner the right to prevent others from manufacturing, using or selling the patented technology. In some industries, product turnover has become quite rapid. However, core technologies, product features and markets are changing at a very slow rate. Therefore, even if the industry changes rapidly, patents covering the core technology will, for an extended period,
It is very valuable to protect the company from investing in research and development.

[0004] Patents are also valuable as revenue generators. For example, in 1993, revenue generated from patents by US companies exceeded $ 60 billion.
Fred Warshofsky, The Patent Wars, John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, 1994. These patent revenues are rising each year.

[0005] Patents are even more valuable because they comprehensively represent a vast science and technology database.
Larry Kahaner's book, Competitive Intelli
According to Gence, Simon & Schuster (1996), more than 75% of the information contained in U.S. patents is never transferred elsewhere.

Increasingly, corporations are recognizing the value of patents. The number of patents filed and issued for U.S. companies is increasing each year, especially in fast-changing industries such as the computer software, telecommunications and biotechnology industries. Many international companies also recognize the value of patents. In fact,
Foreign companies are always among the leaders in issued US patents.

[0007] Nevertheless, in one quarter, for all the increased recognition paid for patents, patents remain one of the least used assets of the company's portfolio. Licensing, infringement, implementation, freedom of operation, technology search,
Analyzing patents for purposes such as product development is very difficult, lengthy, time consuming, and expensive, especially when performed on copies of patent documents. In part, this is why patents are the least used asset. Often, easily identifying related patents is a difficult or even impossible task. Accordingly, a detailed related patent analysis is not usually done, or it is done in an ad hoc, unorganized, incomplete, inadequate, and / or ineffective manner.

It would be highly beneficial to have automated tools to assist users in processing and analyzing patent-related and non-patent-related information to make corporate business decisions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, one embodiment of the present invention provides a system for context data processing,
Methods, computer program products, and combinations thereof. This embodiment operates by selecting one or more contexts. Each context includes one or more attributes and a plurality of data objects that satisfy the attributes. A list of data objects included in the selected context is displayed. At least some of the data objects in the selected context are
It is processed. In order to represent relationships between data objects,
It may include creating a hierarchical and / or directional non-ringed graph data structure. These data structures may then be displayed in various well-known techniques, such as, but not limited to, a hyperbolic tree. Examples of such hierarchical or directional non-ringed graph structures include claim trees, citation trees, and data object families, which may be displayed using hyperbolic trees.

[0010] In one embodiment, the context is a group. In other embodiments, the contexts are each associated with a data object type. In the embodiments described below, the context includes a data object of each data object type of the context. The present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

The present invention supports annotation generation. The present invention provides multiple annotation types (eg, document annotation, group annotation, data object type annotation, case (cas
e) annotations and corporate annotations). The present invention also supports type-based annotation.

In one embodiment, the invention relates to intellectual property management (IPAM) and IPA.
A system having a plug-in manager associated with M. The system also includes at least one plug-in coupled to the plug-in manager and at least one external data processing component coupled to the plug-in.
In one embodiment, the external data processing component displays the data using at least a graph. In another embodiment, the external data processing component displays the data using at least a map. The plugin manager
It has a first application programming interface (API) and each external data processing component has a second API. The plug-in converts a message from the plug-in manager to the external data processing component into a format compatible with the second API, and converts a message from the external data processing component to the plug-in manager with the first API. Convert to format.

[0013] The invention also relates to name processing for an assignee. Such processing operates by selecting a normalized delegate name for the entity, identifying the name representation of the entity in the dataset, and renaming the name representation of the standardized delegate. Link to name.

Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as various embodiments of the present invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the text that follows, reference may be made to existing patents. In the figure,
Some refer to or illustrate existing patents. For illustrative purposes, information from and / or about these patents may be modified or created to support the particular embodiment described. Thus, unless verified by comparison with an actual patent copy available from the national patent office,
The information provided herein on these existing patents should be considered fictitious.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Summary of the Invention The present invention relates to systems, methods, computer program products and computer program components for processing data objects, and combinations thereof. Such processing includes acquiring data objects, organizing data objects, storing data objects, visualizing data objects, displaying data objects, manipulating data objects, annotating data objects, and processing data contained in data objects. (But not limited to these). The invention also relates to combinations of the modules and functions described herein. And this is the US patent application "System, Me
, and Computer Program Product fo
r Patent-Centric and Group-Oriented
Data Processing "(Serial No. 08/867, 392)
, “Using Hyperbolic Trees to Visualiz
e Data Generated by Patent-Centric a
nd Group-Oriented Data Processing ”(Serial No. 08 / 921,369),“ System, Method an ”
d Computer Program Product for Manag
ing and Analyzing Intellectual Prope
rty (IP) Related Transactions ”(Serial No. 09 / 138,368), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In embodiments of the present invention, data objects include, but are not limited to, patents and patent-related data objects. More generally, data objects include, but are not limited to, intellectual property related data objects. The data objects also include, but are not limited to, past, present or potentially future data objects for the legal entity. For illustrative purposes, the present invention may be described with respect to these embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. The invention is applicable to data objects of any type and subject. Accordingly, the description of the invention with respect to these embodiments is provided for illustrative purposes only, and is not limiting.

The present invention may be used with immutable data objects (ie, data objects that cannot be modified), but is not limited to, for example, data objects created by government agencies and similar public institutions. For example, issued patents are generally considered immutable data objects because they are preferably unmodified. Fulfilled contracts are another example of a document that may be immutable. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. The invention can operate on mutable data objects and / or data objects created by private entities.

In embodiments of the present invention, the data objects include documents (eg, original documents, image documents, and combinations thereof). For illustrative purposes, the present invention provides:
These embodiments may be described. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. The invention applies to any type and form (video, sound, sensory, multimedia, tactile, computer program,
(Including, but not limited to, links, and combinations thereof). Accordingly, the description of the invention with respect to these embodiments is provided for illustrative purposes only, and is not limiting.

In one embodiment, the present invention is intended to support corporate entities using enterprise-wide planning. Accordingly, the present invention may be referred to as an enterprise system and method (or enterprise server). In certain embodiments, the present invention is intended to assist legal entities in developing strategies, plans and activities relating to business. Accordingly, the present invention is sometimes referred to as a business decision system (BDS). In certain embodiments, the present invention is intended to assist legal entities by managing intellectual property. Accordingly, the present invention is sometimes referred to as intellectual property management (IPAM). In some of these embodiments, the invention may be performed in a single-user mode or a multi-user mode of operation.

(Image Skimming) The present invention supports an image skimming function. Preferably, the image skimming function causes the first image page of each document in the collection of documents to be displayed according to the appropriate user commands sequentially.

The present invention is not limited to this embodiment. In particular, the skimming function of the present invention
Not limited to document images. The skimming function allows browsing of information about the data object in a format that matches the data object, or otherwise allows acquisition of the information. For example, but not by way of limitation, if a group containing a set of videos clips, the skimming frame allows the video clips to be displayed / played directly from that window.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a user interface 102 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The user interface 102 is called a console or a browser.

The group hierarchy is shown in a group frame 104 of the browser 102. A group is a data structure that contains a collection of data objects (eg, documents). The data objects in a group typically follow a common theme or characteristic.
For example, the first group may include patents and other documents that map to products manufactured and sold by the company. The second group may include patents and other documents that map products that are considered for future manufacture and sale by the company. A third group may include patents and other documents relating to research products. A group may include other groups or may be included in one or more groups. Thus, in embodiments of the present invention, groups are organized hierarchically. The group further concluded with the US patent application “System, Method, and
Computer Program Product for Patent-
Centric and Group-Oriented Data Proc
essing "(Serial No. 08/867, 392), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

As described above, the group hierarchy is the group frame 10 of the browser 102.
4. In the example of FIG. 1, the group “771 docs” has been selected and is shown as 105. The list of data objects included in the selected group 105 is displayed in the content frame 106. In the embodiment of FIG.
The document “EP 0815816 A1” is selected and is shown as 107. Information belonging to the selected data object 107 is displayed in the data object frame 110. For example, such information may be stored in the selected data object 107.
(See summary tab 114 in data object frame 110), text of selected data object 107, and / or summary of image data for selected data object 107 (see image tab 112 in data object frame 110) And / or may include bibliographic information. Other information belonging to the selected data object 107 is also accessible via the data object pane 110, as described further below.

The content frame 106 is an operation button (navigation) that is preferably operated in relation to the selected data object 107 in the content frame 106.
al button) 116, 118. When selected, button 116 (displayed as a downward arrow) preferably displays information corresponding to at least the first image page of the next data object in the list of data objects in content pane 106. It can be searched and displayed in the image tab 112 of the data object frame 110. Button 118 (preferably,
(Displayed as an upward arrow) is preferably selected when the content frame 1
The data belonging to at least the first image page of the previous data object in the list of data objects in 06 can be searched for and displayed in the image tab 112 of the data object frame 110.

With the image skimming function of the present invention, the first image page of a continuous document listed in the content frame 106 is displayed by repeatedly clicking the operation buttons 116 and 118. Specifically, the down arrow button 116 is pressed by the user to move down the list of data objects displayed in the content pane 106. Up arrow 118 is repeatedly pressed by the user to move up the list of data objects listed in content pane 106.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the data objects listed in the content pane 106 are a patent or a document related to a patent (however, after publication (post-issue).
ances) (not limited to documents). In this embodiment, the image skimming feature of the present invention is similar to a manual patent search in shoes in a patent search room, and the collection of documents to be searched is similar to one or more electronic patent shoes. For example, a collection can be one or more groups. During such manual searches, so-called "patent shoe search" performers often use their thumbs quickly through patents in patent shoes by looking at the first page of the patent. The image skimming feature of the present invention allows the operator to quickly and electronically scan over the first image page of the patent listed in the content pane 106, and thus manually by the shoes in the patent office search room. Emulate search.

However, the present invention represents a significant improvement over manual patent shoe searches. In general, these advantages belong to perspectives and scope. In particular, the present invention provides both a global view of the searched subject and a detailed view of the searched subject. A global perspective is content tier 1
06 is displayed with a list of patents and related patent data objects listed in the table. In particular, the content pane 106 provides the user with an overview of the data objects that are the subject of the analysis.

The detailed viewpoint is displayed by a data object frame 110, which provides the user with detailed information on the currently selected patent from the content frame 106.

A global perspective (ie, content pane 106) and a detailed perspective (ie, data object pane 110) are displayed simultaneously for viewing by a user. Thus, the user can simultaneously electronically view the list of patents being searched and the first page currently selected. Also, the user can immediately modify the focus of the search by selecting any of the listed patents in the content pane 106. Such "random access" is not possible with a manual patent shoe search.

The group pane 104 also provides an even higher level perspective of the subject being searched.

In addition, while performing a search, a user can easily and effectively create electronic annotations,
Thereby, a user's analysis may be captured. The annotation function of the present invention is described further below.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart 202 illustrating the operation of the present invention when performing the image skimming function.

At step 206, the user selects a collection of data objects.
The collection of data objects may be selected using any of the features and functions of the invention described herein. For example, a user may perform a search, and the data objects identified by the search represent the collection of step 206. Alternatively, the user may select one or more groups, and the data objects contained within the selected groups correspond to the collection of step 206. Additionally or alternatively, the user may select one or more document types, where all data objects of the selected document type correspond to the collection of data objects of step 206. Document collections / groups can be selected through any combination of searches, attributes, document types, etc., all of which work together (eg, “expiration dates of 1/1/1999 and 12/31/1999). Create a group consisting only of license agreements (document types) that include the text "digital video" (keyword search) between (document attributes) ").

In step 208, the data objects of the selected collection are displayed in the content pane 106.

At step 210, one of the data objects listed in the content pane 106 is selected. Such a selection can be made manually by the user. Alternatively, by default, one of the documents (eg, the first document in the list or the last document in the list) may be pre-selected. This default behavior may be user controllable / user adjustable.

In step 212, information belonging to the selected data object is retrieved. Referring to FIG. 76, an attempt to retrieve such information is initially created in the local database 7612. If the image information of the selected document is not included in the local database 7612, the network client 7608
Interacts with the corporate server 7604 and retrieves image data from a remote database 7614. Further details pertaining to the enterprise server 7604 and network client 7608, and other components shown in FIG.
U.S. Patent Application "System, Method, and Computer Pr
program Product for Patent-centric and
Group-oriented Data Processing "(Serial No. 08/867, 392), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

At step 214, information belonging to the selected document is displayed in data object frame 110. Preferably, information corresponding to at least the first image page of the selected document is displayed on the image tab 112 of the data object frame 110.

In step 216, the user inputs an operation command. Specifically, the user presses either the down arrow button 116 or the up arrow button 118.

If the user presses the up arrow button 118, steps 218, 220 and 2
As indicated by 22, information belonging to at least the first image page of the previous document listed in the content pane 106 is retrieved and displayed.
Alternatively, if the user selects the down arrow button 116, the content frame 1
Information belonging to at least the first image page of the next data object listed in 06 is retrieved and displayed. This corresponds to steps 224, 226
And 228. Up Arrow Button 118, Down Arrow Button 1
If none of the 16 has been pressed by the user, the system processes the appropriately issued command, as shown in step 230.

Image skimming is described in US patent application “System, Method, and
Computer Program Product for Patent
-Centric and Group-oriented Data Pro
sessing "(Serial No. 08/867, 392), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(Context Processing) The present invention supports context processing. A context is a data structure that includes one or more attributes. Context fills, obeys, attributes of the context,
Also includes data objects that are related and / or have. The context is described further below.

(Group-Centered Processing) The present invention supports various contexts. For example, a group is a context.

As mentioned above, groups are data objects (eg, documents)
Is a data structure containing a collection of Typically (but not exclusively)
, Documents within a group follow a common theme or feature. Typically (but not exclusively) the group depends on the subject. The data objects within a group are associated (or mapped) to the subject associated with the group. For example,
The first group may include patent documents and other documents that map to products manufactured and sold by the company. The second group may include patent documents and other documents that map to products that are considered to be manufactured and sold by the company in the future. A third group may include patent documents and other documents related to research products.

Thus, groups are the context for organizing, visualizing, analyzing, and other processing.

The group has filed a US patent application entitled “System, Method, and Comp”
uter Program Product for Patent-cent
ric and Group-oriented Data Processes
ng "(Serial No. 08/867, 392), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Non-Group Central Processing The present invention supports non-group contexts. Context processing that does not include a group, performed by the present invention, is referred to herein as non-group-centric processing.

The present invention supports various non-group central contexts. For example, contexts are created as a result of processing performed by the system. The context can be created from the document identified by the forward citation tree operation. Similarly, contexts can be created from backward citation tree operations. Another context may be created by searching the system for all groups and / or data object types. Every group and / or data object type contains a given document or has some attributes.
In that example, the context includes all hits from this search.

A particular context supported by the present invention is a data object type context. This context is described below.

Data Object Type Processing In accordance with the present invention, each data object has one or more data object types. The type of data object indicates the classification of the data object.
For example, data object types include licensing agreements, non-disclosure agreements, patents, tax forms, personal evaluations, software programs, user manuals, technical manuals, copyright registration forms, audio clips, movies, multimedia clips, data Includes object links, annotations, and any other data objects or classifications of documents that are of interest to the user.

The types of data objects include: editing, visualization,
Represents a context for analysis and other processing. For example, it may be useful to analyze all license agreements in which the business entity is a party. In this example, the user selects the data object type "License Agreement." All license agreements involving a business entity can be selected and analyzed by the user. All other information, possibly related to the business entity but not representing a license agreement, is removed from the analysis. Thus, the present invention facilitates editing, visualization, analysis, and other processing of information of interest to a user.

Illustratively, the differences between groups and data object types are described. A group is defined by its attributes, and documents and other data objects in the group share or follow such attributes. In contrast, the data object type represents the classification of the data object. Data objects that are related to the type of data object may not be common to each other other than being the same type of data object.

A given data object, such as a patent, may exist in more than one group. This is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, a given patent is included in a bill of materials group, a user defined group, an inventor group, a corporate group, and the like. Similarly, a data object may exist in more than one context. This is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, by way of example, a given data object is included in a group context, an author context, a publisher context, and a topic context.

(Corporate Document Browser) FIG. 6 shows a corporate document window or a corporate document browser 602 as an example. Corporate documents are listed in the corporate documents window 602. Preferably, corporate documents are defined as non-patent documents. However, in another embodiment, corporate documents may include both patent and non-patent documents.

Each corporate document includes a document ID, a name, a data object type, and a safety class. This information is stored in columns 604, 6 of the corporate documents window 602, respectively.
06, 608, and 610.

The present invention preferably includes various filters that allow the user to restrict the documents listed in the corporate documents window 602. The example corporate document window 602 shown in FIG. 6 includes a security class filter 614 and a data object filter 61.
6 inclusive. As shown in FIG. 7, a user may select one or more data object types for viewing. For example, if the user selects “contract” in the data object type filter 616, only documents having a data object type of “contract” are listed in the corporate document window 602.

The safety class filter 614 allows a user to select one or more safety classes. Only documents of the selected security class are listed in the corporate documents window 602. As shown in FIG. 8, for example, if the user selects the class “Class 5” in the security class filter 614, only documents of the security class “Class 5” are listed in the corporate document window 602.

Preferably, access to the document is controlled / managed / maintained by security information.
The user can access / browse those documents that match the user's security information (br
owse).

The browser of the present invention supports the reverse function. The inverse function is to perform an operation that is the inverse of another operation. For example, browsing a group displays all of the group's documents. Conversely, browsing the entire group containing the documents. Many of the browser functions described herein include inverse functions. The inverse functionality available for any given browser varies and is implementation dependent.

(Type of Data Object) As described above, the type of data object is a classification of a document. For example, preferably, all license agreements have a "license agreement" data object type. All non-disclosure agreements preferably have a "non-disclosure agreement" data object type. All patents preferably have a "patent" data object type. The level of granularity of a data object type is implementation and application dependent. For example, there can be data object types for "US patents", "Japanese patents", "Canadian patents", and the like.

A data object may have more than one type of data object.
For example, a license agreement may have a "license agreement" and a "contract" data object type.

Generally, the types of data objects supported by the system change over time. Also, different systems generally have different data object types. Usually, the types of data objects defined and supported by the system correspond to the needs of the users of the system. For example, the types of data objects associated with the patent department may include patents, patent applications, licensing agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and patentability opinions. The types of data objects relevant to the accounting department are pay slips, invoices, accounting receivables,
It may include licensing agreements and budgets.

Typically, data object types can be created for any criterion or attribute of past, present, and future interests. The type of the data object can be arbitrarily created.

FIG. 9 shows a new corporate data object type window 902. A new corporate data object type window 902 allows the user to select to create a new data object type. Preferably, the user enters a name of the data object type, a description of the data object type, and an owner of the data object type. New data object types such as name, description, and owner information are created by pressing the OK button 904.

(Safety Class) Preferably, each data object has a safety class. Many data objects can have the same security class.

The security class specifies the rights that the user has. In other words, the security class specifies user access rights. When a security class is assigned to a document, access to the document is controlled by user permissions specified in the security class. Access to the document can be changed by changing the access rights associated with the security class or by assigning a new security class to the document. For example, assume that security class A grants user 1 read and write privileges. If document X is assigned to security class A, user 1 has read and write privileges on document X.

FIG. 10 shows a new safety class window 1002. A new safety class window 1002 is displayed if the user wants to create a new safety class.
Preferably, a safety class tab 1004 in a new safety class window 1002
As indicated by, the safety class has a name, description, and owner.
Referring to FIG. 11, as shown on the permissions tab 1006, the security class specifies the user's access privileges. A new safety class is created when the name, description, owner, and user access information are entered and the OK button 1008 is pressed.

(Corporate Document) In one embodiment of the present invention, a corporate document is a data object in the system. Note that the following description may apply to any type of data object (document or another).

FIG. 12 shows a new corporate document window 1202 used to create a new corporate document. New corporate document window 1202 includes a file path field. The path to the electronic information, which means a document or other data object that has been added to the system as a corporate document, is specified in the file path field. This path may be specified via well-known browsing techniques initiated by pressing the browse button 1206. This is just one mechanism used to identify the location of a document. The present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Other mechanisms may be used, but are not limited to the use of URLs (Universal Resource Locators) as examples.

The new corporate document window 1202 also includes a document ID field in which the document ID of the new corporate document is displayed. Preferably, the document ID is unique among all corporate documents and data objects and is entered manually. Alternatively, the document ID is automatically generated by the system.

The new corporate document window 1202 also includes a name field for the user to enter a name for the new corporate document. The data object type and security class for the new corporate document may be entered in fields 1212 and 1214.
When the user wishes to create a new data object type, the user may press a new button 1216. In that case, a new corporate data object type window 902 (FIG. 9) is displayed. When the user wants to create a new safety class, the user presses a new button 1218. In that case, a new safety class window 1002 (FIGS. 10 and 11) is displayed. The user may also enter additional bibliographic information belonging to the corporate document (eg, author, source, disclosure data, and publishing data). These fields are available on the additional inventory fields tab 12
22 (see FIG. 14).

FIGS. 13 and 14 show an example where a new corporate document entitled “License Agreement between ABC and EFG” has been created. FIG. 15 shows a corporate document window 1302 that displays corporate documents in the system. Note that a new corporate document entitled "License Agreement between ABC and EFG" is listed at 1502.

Data Object Database As described above, exemplary database tables useful for implementing data object types are considered in this section.

FIG. 17 shows a type table 1702. Type 1702 stores information about data object types supported by the system. Type table 170
2 contains a record for each data object type defined and supported by the system. Each record in the type table 1702 corresponds to a unique identifier for the data object type, a name attribute that includes the name of the data object type, a description attribute that includes a description of the data object type, and an owner attribute that identifies the owner of the data object type. Contains type_ID attribute.

FIG. 18 shows a type document × ref table 1802. Type documents x ref table 180
2 stores information identifying the data objects supported by the system in each data object type. The type document xref table 1802 contains a record for each data object supported by the system in each data object type. Each record in the type document × ref table 1802 includes a type_ID attribute that identifies the data object type, and a document_ID attribute that identifies the data object present in the data object type.

Examples of the type table 1702 and the type document × ref table 1802 are shown in FIGS. 19 and 20. FIG. 19 shows an example type table 1902. Type table 1902
Contains a data object type called "automation" with a type_ID of T1. The type table 1902 also contains information belonging to a data object type called "license agreement" with a type_ID of T2. FIG. 20 shows a type document xref table 2002 as an example. This example type document x (cros
s) The ref table 2002 shows that contract 1 and contract 3 are of the data object type "automation" and contract 1 and contract 2 are of the data object type "license agreement".

Context Browser FIG. 16 shows an example context browser 1602 similar to the group browser 102 shown in FIG. The context browser 1602 displays the type frame (p
ane) 1604. A type box 1604 lists the types of data objects supported by the system. In some embodiments, data object types are edited hierarchically. For example, license agreement types and non-disclosure agreement types may be children of contract types. US patent types and Australian patent types may be children of patent types. Hierarchical editing of data object types is shown in type box 1604.

The content frame 1606 lists data objects included in the type of the data object selected in the type frame 1604. Annotation is in annotation frame 1608
(Notes are further described below). Information belonging to the data object selected in the content frame 1606 is stored in the data object frame 16.
10 is displayed. Such information includes any information belonging to the selected data object. Examples of arbitrary information belonging to the selected data object include summary or catalog information in the summary tab 1612, text information belonging to the selected document in the text tab 1614, and image information belonging to the selected data object in the image tab 1616. , Audio information associated with the selected document in audio tab 1618, and video information associated with the selected document in video tab 1620. Other information belonging to the selected data object, if any, further tab data (not shown in FIG. 16)
Is accessible via a data object frame 1610 via the.

FIG. 75 illustrates another example context browser 7502. The context browser 7502 includes a type frame 7504, a content frame 7506, and a data object frame 7508. These boxes are similar to those shown in FIG.

(Context Processing Operation) The context processing according to the embodiment of the present invention is shown in a flowchart 770 in FIG.
Indicated by 2. At step 7704, one or more contexts are selected. For example, one or more groups and / or one or more data object types are selected. Each selected context includes any number of data objects.

At step 7706, the data objects in the selected context are processed. Such processing may include any combination of the features described herein and / or “System, Method, and Computer Pr”
program Product for Patent-centric and
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08 / 867,392 entitled "Group-oriented Data Processing,"
ic Trees to Visualize Data Generated
by Patent-centric and Group-oriente
No. 08/92, entitled "d Data Processing."
No. 1,369, and / or "System, Method, and Com.
puter Program Product for Managing a
nd Analyzing Intellectual Property (I
P) Related Transactions, including the features described in US patent application Ser. No. 09 / 138,368. All of which are incorporated herein by reference. Such processing can be automatic, manual, or a combination thereof.

(Data Object Preview) FIG. 76 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. An enterprise server 7604, also known as an Intellectual Property Asset Manager (IPAM) and Business Intention System (BDS), performs operations on data objects as described herein. Information on such data objects is stored in the IPAM database 7614.
Is stored in Such information includes catalog information, text information, image information, video information, audio information, and other information related to the data object.

Preferably, the user interacts with the enterprise server 7604 and the IPAM database 7614 via a network client 7608 and a web client 7606. Network client 7608 interacts directly with enterprise server 7604 (although there may be a network between network client 7608 and enterprise server 7604). Web client 7606 interacts with corporate server 7604 via web server 7610.

Preferably, network client 7608 has local database 7612
including. Web client 7606 may also include a local database. Local database 7612 stores information on data objects. Preferably, the information contained in local database 7612 is a subset of the information contained in IPAM database 7614. For example, local database 7
612 may include only information on a limited number of data objects. Also,
For any given data object, local database 7612 may include only some information pertaining to the data object. For example, database 7612 may include only inventory or summary information belonging to data objects. Data object 7612 may not store more detailed information belonging to the data object (eg, text information, image information, video information, audio information, etc.).

Further, a corporate server 7604, a network client 7608, a web client 7606, a web server 7610, and databases 7614 and 76
12 belong to “System,
Method, and Computer Program Product
for Patent-centric and Group-oriente
U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08/86, entitled "d Data Processing."
7,392.

FIG. 21 shows a browser 2102 that may be a group browser or a context browser (or called a console). As described above, content pane 2108 lists documents included in the group or type selected in group / type pane 2106.

The data object frame 2104 indicates information belonging to the document selected in the information of the content frame 2108. Preferably, data object pane 2104 displays summary or inventory information belonging to the document selected in content pane 2108. This is the case of the example of FIG.

The user clicks another tab (for example, FIG. 21) in the data object frame 2104.
May select to display other information belonging to the selected document by selecting the image tab 2110). However, such additional information belonging to the selected document may not be present in local database 7612. The present invention supports a document preview function or data object preview function for addressing such instances.

In particular, information belonging to the requested document or other data object selected in content pane 2108 is stored in local database 7612
, The present invention displays a preview button 2106. When the user presses preview button 2106, network client 7608 or web client 7606 interacts with enterprise server 7604 and retrieves at least a portion of the additional information belonging to the selected data object. Preferably, the text of the selected document is transferred from IPAM database 7614 to network client 7608 or web client 7606. This text is then displayed in preview window 2202 for review by the user (see FIG. 22).

In another embodiment, additional information is transferred from IPAM database 7614 to network client 7608 or web client 7606. Such information can be image information, audio information, video information, or IPAM
Any other information pertaining to the selected data object stored in database 7614 may be included. As shown in FIG. 22, such information may be displayed by selecting the appropriate tab in preview window 2202.

[0093] In some embodiments, the information requested on the selected document is I
If not present in the PAM database 7614, the enterprise server 7604 operates and
Get information from external sources. For example, the corporate server is Lexis-Nexis
May interact with a third-party information provider, or with some other source, such as a human operator, a company database (such as a personal database, a financial database, etc.).

The user reviews the information in the preview window 2202. Preferably, this information is only available on a temporary basis (basis) and is not stored in local database 7612. If the user wishes to store information in the local database 7612, the user presses an order button 2206 or issues a similar command. In response to selecting the order button 2206, the enterprise server 7604 retrieves any information belonging to the selected document from the IPAM database 7614 or from some other source and stores such information in the network client 7608 or the web Client 760
Transfer to 6. This information and the information previously provided are stored in the local database 7
612.

FIG. 3 shows a process belonging to the data object preview function of the present invention.
In particular, FIG. 3 illustrates the interaction between the network client 7608 and the enterprise server 7604 when performing the data object preview function 318. Network client 7608 sends a preview request message to enterprise server 7604. The preview request message is sent to the network client 76 when the user presses the preview button 2106.
08 is sent to the enterprise server 7604. The preview request message includes information identifying the data object selected in content frame 2108. The preview request message also indicates the type of data requested. For example, in some embodiments, only text data belonging to the selected data object is requested. In other embodiments,
Other data (eg, image data, audio data, video data, or any other data or all data belonging to a selected data object)
Is requested. In other embodiments, for a given data type (
For example, text data) is always requested and provided. In that case, the preview request message does not include an indication of the type of data requested.

Optionally, network client 7608 and enterprise server 7604 perform a financial exchange, whereby funds are transferred from network client 7608 to enterprise server 7604. The financial exchange is performed when the preview function is available only as a royalty payment service. In a financial exchange, funds are transferred electronically or in another form from network client 7608 to enterprise server 7604. The invention is also not limited to unlimited service plans that allow a user to download any number of documents at a given cost and hybrid plans that allow a user to download a given number of documents at a fixed cost. Including other economic models. Once this limit is exceeded, the user pays at a rate per document.

Enterprise server 7604 retrieves the requested data belonging to the selected data object from IPAM database 7614 and forwards this data to network client 7608. In one embodiment, IPAM database 7614 obtains such data from data source 304. The data is then processed (as indicated by ellipse 306), if necessary, and then I
Stored in the PAM database 7614. For example, data source 304 may be a patent office, a department of a business entity, a third-party information provider (discussed above), etc., and / or data processing performed by automated means, manual means, combinations thereof. From.

Upon receiving the preview data by the network client 7608, the network client 7608 displays the preview data in the preview window 2202 as described above.

The operations performed by the present invention are also displayed in FIG. 3 as a data object retrieval function 320 when a user requests retrieval of a data object. According to such processing, the network client 7
608 forwards the document request to enterprise server 7604. Document request
The user presses the order button 22 in the preview window 2202 (FIG. 22).
If you press 06, it was generated by the network client 7608. The document request includes information identifying the selected data object in content pane 2108 and also identifying the type of data requested (ie, text, image, audio, video, etc.). If the data object request functionality is provided only as a usage payment service, the network client 7
608 and enterprise server 7604 perform financial exchange operations in which funds are transferred electronically or otherwise from network client 7608 to enterprise server 7604. Enterprise server 7604 retrieves requested information from IPAM database 7614 or other sources and forwards such information to network 7608. Then, preferably, the network client 760
8 stores this information in the local database 7612 (FIG. 76) for the user's newer access.

Annotations The present invention supports various annotation types. The annotation type is defined by the following two attributes. The first attribute is whether annotations of the annotation type are attached or linked to the data object or part of the data object. The second attribute is the annotation range of the annotation type. The extent defines the extent to which the annotation is visible or accessible. FIG. 23 is a table 2302 outlining the annotation type attributes of the present invention.

Annotations are further made to US Pat. No. 5,623,681; US Pat. No. 5,623,6
79; and US Pat. No. 5,806,079. All of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Document Annotations Document annotations are attached or linked to selected portions of the data objects included in the group. The scope of the document annotation is the group that contains the linked data object and was activated or selected at the time the document annotation was created. Document annotations are only accessible when each group is active.

A document annotation can be linked to multiple data objects. Also, document annotations cannot be linked from any or all linked data objects. If a document annotation is not linked from all linked data objects, the annotation is referred to as floating, free, or unlinked annotation (as opposed to linked annotation). Unlinked annotations retain their original scope, and behave just like linked annotations, unless the annotation has no link following the data object. Unlinked annotations can be linked to the data object part by appropriate user commands. Note that this description pertaining to document annotations is also applicable to the other linkable annotation types described herein.

For example, assume that a document annotation is linked to document D1. Document D1 is included in group G1 and group G2. However, at the time the document annotation was created, group G1 was active. That is, at the time when the annotation was created, the group G1 was selected in the group frame 104 of the group browser 102 (see FIG. 1). In this case, the document annotation is linked to document D1 and has the scope of group G1. Document annotations are only accessible when G1 is active. Document annotations are not accessible when group G2 is active, even when document D1 is at G2.

Patent Annotations The present invention supports various types of document annotations. For example, the present invention supports patent annotations. Consider FIG. 24 which displays a gist of US Pat. No. 5,668,742 in a data object frame 2406 of a browser 2402. In response to appropriate user commands, the text of US Pat. No. 5,668,742 is displayed in a text window 2502 shown in FIG. In accordance with the present invention, a patent annotation, exemplified by selected portion 2504 shown in FIG. 25, is created by selecting a patent portion. Such an operation results in a note window 2508
Will be created. A user comment linked to selected portion 2504 of US Pat. No. 5,668,742 may be entered in subnote 2509. In one embodiment,
The location information 2511 is stored and displayed near the subnote 2509 (this is applicable to all annotation types described herein). Such location information 2511 is a data object, ie, US Pat. No. 5,668,74.
The position of the part 2504 selected in No. 2 is shown.

Note that it is listed in annotation box 2510. For example, in the current example, the newly created note is listed in annotation box 2510 as entry 2512.

Corporate Document Annotation The present invention also supports corporate document annotation where any type of document can be annotated.
For example, in FIG. 28, the gist information belonging to the corporate document selected in the content frame 2404 is displayed in the data object frame 2406. The image information belonging to the selected document is displayed in the image window 2902 by executing an appropriate user command as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 30, the image window 290
2 are selected. By this operation, subnote 3
006 is created in the note window 3004. Subnote 3006 is linked to selected portion 3002. The user may enter information or comments pertaining to the selected portion 3002 into the subnote 3006 (ie, the user may annotate the selected corporate document).

Image Annotation The present invention supports image annotation where images can be annotated. For example, in FIG. 26, image information belonging to US Pat. No. 5,668,742 is displayed in a data object frame 2406 of the browser 2402. In response to appropriate user commands, such image information is displayed in a larger form in an image window 2702 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 27, the user selects an image part. This selected portion is shown as 2704. Depending on such selection, subnote 27
08 is created in the note window 2706. This subnote 2708 is linked to the portion 2704 to be selected. The user may enter comments belonging to selected portion 2704 into subnote 2708 (ie, the user may annotate selected portion 2704).

Group Annotations Group annotations are not attached to data objects or parts of data objects. The scope of a group annotation is the group that was selected or active at the time it was created, and the group annotation is linked to the group. Group annotations are only visible when an associated group is selected or active. Preferably, any user accessing a group will access the group annotations associated with that group.

Data Object Type Annotations Data object type annotations are similar to group annotations. Data object type annotations are not added to data objects. Instead, the data object type annotation is linked to the identified associated data object type. When the annotation is generated, the scope of the data object type annotation is the specified associated data object type. Data object type annotations are accessible only if their associated data object type is selected or active. Like group annotations, access to data object type annotations is generally open to any user who has access to related data object types.

(Case Annotation) A case is a data structure including a plurality of data objects. Such data objects may include one or more groups, one or more data object types,
And / or may belong to one or more other cases. Cases may span multiple groups, data object types, other cases, and so on. That is, a case may be set to include a given set of groups, data object types, cases, etc. Cases are a type of context.

The case annotation is added to some of the data objects contained in the case,
Or linked. When a case annotation was generated, the scope of the case annotation was the active or selected case. Case annotations are only visible if the relevant case is selected or active. Preferably, access to case annotations is under the control of the case owner. In embodiments, the annotated document is automatically added to the active case.

(Corporate Annotations) Corporate annotations are added to and linked to data objects. The scope of the enterprise application is the linked data object. Thus, the corporate annotation is accessible wherever the data object is accessible. Thus, in any case where a data object is included in the active context, the corporate annotation linked to such data object is accessible. In embodiments, access to corporate annotations is restricted to authorized individuals, such as administrators or designated administrators, given the wide range of corporate annotations.

In an embodiment, the system administrator gives the user the ability to create company annotations. The administrator specifies the types of data objects (eg, NDAs, patents, license agreements, etc.) that the user can annotate.

In an embodiment, a company annotation is only given if the creator of the company annotation exports his annotations to a given user and the given user signs the creator's company annotation. Visible for the user. For example, if User 1 creates a corporate annotation 1 linked to data object 1, user 2 sees data object 1 and user 1 exports his corporate annotation to user 2 and user 2
Have access to company annotation 1 only if they sign user 1's company annotation. This export / subscription feature of the present invention includes a security feature (which allows the creator to restrict access to only the person to whom the corporate annotation was exported), and a creator-generated It only works as a filtering tool (displays only company annotations signed by the user).

(User Interface and Note Processing) As described above, the annotation box included in the browser or console window lists the current active annotation. If the context of the annotation is active, the annotation is active. For example, if a document annotation is linked to a data object included in the active group (ie, the group selected in the group pane of the browser), the document annotation is active. If the relevant case of the case annotation is active (ie, the relevant case of the case annotation is selected), the case annotation is active. If the relevant group of the group annotation is active (ie, the relevant group of the group annotation is selected in the group pane of the browser), the group annotation is active. If the association type of the type annotation is active (ie, the association type of the type annotation is selected in the type pane of the context browser), the type annotation is active. If the linked data object is included in the active context (ie, the data object is included in an active group or active data object type), then the company annotation is active.

Embodiments of the present invention support various formats for annotation frames. Such a format is shown in the figure. For example, an annotation frame 3102 having tabs for each annotation type is shown in FIG. In particular, tab 3106 for document annotation, tab 3108 for case annotation, 3110 for group annotation, tab 3 for type annotation
112 and a tab 3114 for company annotations. To view any given type of active annotation, the user selects the tab associated with the type. For example, to view the currently active company annotation, the user selects the company tab 3114.

In an embodiment of the present invention, different types of attributes represent different types of annotations. For example, different annotations may be displayed using different display attributes such as font, color, size, underline, icons, and the like.

It should be noted that the annotation types supported by the present invention represent additional types of context. For example, company annotations represent a type of context that includes any of the active company annotations and / or data objects linked to the active company annotations.

A flowchart 3202 illustrating the operation of the present invention when generating an annotation linked to a data object (ie, generating a document, case, or company annotation) is shown in FIG.

At step 3206, the user selects an annotation mode. For example, this is performed by selecting the annotation frame 3001 (for example, see the frame 3001 in FIG. 30). Note that boxes can be assigned to different types of annotation types, so that the type of annotation to be generated depends on the box selected. Alternatively, this can be done by a suitable menu command, such as a drop-down menu or a menu that appears when the right mouse button is inserted.

At step 3208, the user selects a portion of the data object using the selected annotations, if any.

At step 3210, the user selects an annotation type (ie, document, case, or company annotation). Step 3210 is performed only if the user has not pre-selected the annotation type. For example, as described above, when the user selects the annotation frame 3001, the user may select an annotation type in advance.

At step 3212, the system creates a new annotation of the type selected at step 3210 and links the annotation to the portion of the data object selected at 3208. Further, in step 3212, the user enters a comment or note to annotate the selected data object portion.

At step 3214, information belonging to the new annotation, including user input comments, link information, etc., is stored in the annotation database.

A flowchart 3302 representing the operation of the present invention when generating a group or data object type annotation (ie, generating an annotation that is not linked to a data object) is shown in FIG.

In step 3306, the user selects a group or data object. The selected group or data object type becomes the active group or data object type.

In step 3308, the user selects a group or type annotation mode. For example, this is done by selecting the appropriate menu command or by selecting the appropriate annotation box 3001.

In step 3310, the system creates a new annotation of the selected type. The new annotation is linked to the active or selected group or data object type. Also at step 3310, the user enters notes or comments, thereby annotating the active group or data object type.

At step 3312, information pertaining to the annotation, such as user comments, link information, etc., is stored in an annotation database.

Form Type Annotations As described elsewhere, the present invention supports data objects. For example, an exemplary window 7802 showing a data object 7803 is shown in FIG. 78A. The invention enables annotation of any part of the data object 7803.

The window 7802 includes a plurality of annotation frames 7804. The user can select the comment box 78
Putting the system in annotation mode by selecting one of the 04 (the invention encompasses other ways of putting the system into annotation mode, such as selecting the appropriate command from a menu or dialog). The user uses the selected annotation frame,
A part of the data object 7803 is selected. For example, the selection unit 7806 of the data object 7803 selected using the selected annotation frame is
Shown in Upon selecting selector 7806, the system automatically generates a new annotation, shown as note segment 7810 of note 7808. Annotation segment 7810 is automatically linked to selector 7806.

[0133] Preferably, the cursor is automatically positioned in the annotation field 7814 of the annotation segment 7810, and the user can record his or her remarks. When finished, the user inserts save button 7850. When the save button 7850 is inserted, the annotation window 7
Information pertaining to the annotation, such as the user's comment, link information, location information, annotation name, whether the annotation includes privileged information, etc. 814, is stored in an appropriate data format. Preferably, in a single-user system, such annotation information is stored on a local computer. In a multi-user system, the annotation information is preferably stored in a database in such a way that the information can be securely shared with other users.

In the described embodiment, the system does not provide guidelines or limit the scope and content of comments. Thus, a comment entered by a user may be of no value to the user or a non-user.
In a similar case, given the situation for seeking a comment, the user's comment may be inappropriate.

The user's comment includes free form text that is entered in the annotation field 7814. In the described embodiment, the comments are in an unstructured data format suitable for storing free text (eg, a flat file database or binary large object (a relational database)).
BLOB), but not limited to these. This data format is not constructed in any way and is therefore not suitable for storage in a standard relational database format.

According to an embodiment, the present invention supports form-based annotation. Form-based annotations extend the operation of the annotation system described above, providing specialized users with
Allows you to generate specific forms that are related to or restricted by the information you want to provide to the user. In this specification, for reference purposes, the person creating the form is referred to as the form creator, and the person using the form in the process of creating the annotation is referred to as the annotation creator. Preferably, the form-based annotation system operates on a secure, multi-user, client / server system.

An exemplary annotation form, called Screening Form 7902, is shown in FIG. In accordance with the present invention, the annotation form may be a radio button (select one from a number of items), a checkbox (eg, representing yes / no or true / false), a text entry field (which may include an edit check), etc. And any well-known input device. For example, the annotation form 7902 includes a radio button fields 7906, 7908, 7912, a structured data field 7910, and a name field 7904 that includes an edit check 7914 to ensure proper data entry.

In accordance with the present invention, data entered in one or more fields of the annotation form may include:
Stored in a relational database field. The number of annotation form fields stored in the relational database fields will vary throughout the form, depending on the particular implementation of the form author.

In the example of the annotation form field 7902 in FIG. 79, the information entered in the name annotation form field 7904 is stored in the relational database table 792.
2 in the name field 7926. Radio button field 7906
, 7908, and 7912 are stored in relational database tables 79
22 fields 7928, 7930, and 7936, respectively.
Date information entered in the hour annotation form field 7910 is stored in the date base field 7932 of the relational database table 7922.

Another example annotation form, called a comment form 8002, is shown in FIG. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 80, the information entered in comment form 8002 is stored in either structured table 8016 or free form table 8018. The structured table 8016 and the free form table 8018 collectively include the comment form database 8014. In particular, the name information entered in name annotation field 8004 is stored in name field 8022 of structured table 8016. The information forms from radio button fields 8006 and 8008 are the result 1 field 8024 and result 2 field 802 of structured table 8016.
6 respectively. Free text information entered in the comment on the claim 1 field 8010 and the comment on the claim 2 field 8012 is stored in a row of the free form table 8018.

The implementation of the specific database tables of the screening form 7902 and the comment form 8002 shown in FIGS. 79 and 80 is provided for illustrative purposes only,
It should be understood that the invention is not so limited. Other database and table examples will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the teachings contained herein.
The specific settings and arrangements of the screening form 7902 and the comment form 8002 are also provided for illustrative purposes only and are not limiting. Other forms will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the teachings provided herein.

A flowchart 8202 illustrating the operation of a form-based annotation system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, is illustrated in FIG.

At step 8204, the form creator selects the screening form 7902
Alternatively, a form such as a comment form 8002 is generated. A form creator is any user designated as a person who can create and edit forms.

In step 8206, one or more relational database tables are created for the form, if necessary. At step 8204, the information entered into the generated form is stored in these database tables. These database tables may be created by a form creator or some other user (eg, but not limited to, a system administrator).

At step 8208, the form creator selects one or more relational database tables to store the information to be entered into the form. For example,
The selected database may include one or more tables generated in step 8206 and / or other database tables generated at other dates and times.

In step 8210, the form creator assigns one or more fields from the selected relational database table to each of the form's fields. The data entered into the form fields is stored in the selected database table field.

At step 8212, the form creator identifies and defines any additional features of the form. For example, a form author may specify a process associated with any of the fields of the form. For example, considering FIG.
904 includes a process 7914 that checks the name information for the corporate directory and determines that the name information has been correctly entered into the name field 7904. Screening form 7902 also includes an operation 7916 associated with hour field 7910 that includes determining that the date entered in hour field 7910 is a valid date. The hour field 7910 is the hour field 7910
Further processing 79 relating to the step of comparing the data entered into the file with the submitted IDS (Information Disclosure Statement) filing date 7918
20 and identify issues relating to filing a reference with the US Patent Office. For example, if the submitted IDS (Information Disclosure Statement) filing date 7918 exceeds three months after the date entered in hour field 7910, a flag is set in database field 7934. This flag indicates whether there may be a problem with whether the reference can be cited by the United States Patent Office in meeting the disclosure requirements of a pending US patent application. Step 82
Other form features that may be identified in 12 are described further below.

After step 8212 is completed, the design of the form is completed. Steps 8214, 82
16 and 8218 include how the annotation creator uses the form.

In step 8214, the annotation creator selects a form. The form is a specific frame (or some other annotation calling mechanism, such as an option on a menu)
Combine with The annotation creator selects a frame for the form, thereby informing the system of information such as which form to call and how to collect / store data.

At step 8216, the selected form is displayed. The annotation creator enters information into the form as specified by the form fields.

At step 8218, the information entered into the fields of the form is
Stored in an association database field, defined by 10.

The operation of the form-based annotation system of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS.
This will be further described with reference to a flowchart 8302 shown in FIG. Steps 8304, 8306, and 8308 of flowchart 8302 generally correspond to steps 8204, 8206, 8208, 8210, and 82 of flowchart 8202 of FIG.
12 corresponds. Step 8310 of flowchart 8302 generally corresponds to steps 8214, 8216 and 8218 of flowchart 8202 of FIG.

In step 8304, preferably, the system administrator authenticates a given user (form creator) and generates a form. In other words, the ability to create, modify, edit, and otherwise perform other operations using forms is preferably a secure operation. This is because the generation of a form that stores the data obtained about the use of the form in the relational database (s) for back-end statistical processing and other processing includes providing appropriate provision.

At step 8306, the form creator logs into the system and generates a form that captures the desired data.

The present invention supports all known input devices, including radio buttons, text input feeds, check boxes, and the like. The form author explicitly or implicitly associates the input device with the backend database table. In addition, tabular meta-content may be stored using forms that allow the use of advanced data retrieval applications for forms and data. It is also possible to associate a program operation with a form. Examples of such operations include editing checks on input fields, processing based on data entered in fields, calling other applications based on information entered in fields, and the like.

At step 8308, the form author associates the form with a frame (such as one of the annotation boxes 7804 shown in FIG. 78A) or another annotation mechanism (such as a pull-down menu). This is part of the publishing process. Here the form creator specifies the characteristics of the form (such as the name of the form) and the location of the data to be captured by the form (ie, the relational database table field where the data entered into the form is stored). The step of identifying is shown.

The publishing process also allows the form creator to identify which user or group of users should be allowed access to the form. Preferably, the user has a login I.D. D. (Identification number) or a role that identifies the role that the user is considering with respect to the operation of the system. D. Is identified by either of In this manner, a form creator may customize the operation and presentation of a given form based on the role of the user. For example, for a particular form, some fields may be shown to marketers, while other fields may be shown to technical personnel. Some fields
It can be shown to both marketing and technical personnel. Further, some processing may be performed if the user has a marketing role, and other processing may be performed if the user has an engineering role. Some processing may be shown to both marketing and technical personnel.

In an embodiment, the role-based process described above allows a human to perform multiple roles simultaneously. Thus, the marketing / engineering role foresees both marketing and engineering forms.

It is possible for a form author to associate multiple forms with a single annotation mechanism. The form author may further determine whether multiple forms require the system to route the form to a particular user, and if so, determine a routing method.

After step 8308, the form design ends. In step 8310,
The annotation creator uses the form to generate the annotation. In particular, the annotation creator will probably use the frame as described above and create a new annotation. The system invokes the form associated with the frame and presents it to the user. If multiple forms are associated with a single annotation mechanism, the system indicates the selection of the form to the user for selection (eg, via a pull-down menu or picklist). Alternatively, the system orders via a form associated with the annotation mechanism. The user enters the information called by the form, and the system stores this information in the appropriate relational database location (and possible other non-relational database locations), as specified when the form was designed. I do.

Next, the form-based annotation system is further described by considering a number of examples.

Medical Examples As noted above, form-type annotations may be used, and certain desired information may be
Make sure it is collected from users. Suppose a physician asks a colleague to look at an x-ray to determine if a particular medical condition is indicated. The co-worker cannot fully understand the request, and if the co-worker is using the text field of the annotation, such as using the “free text” annotation system of FIGS. 78A and 78B, the co-worker cannot fully understand the request, Inappropriate information can be input as knowledge. However,
The doctor may generate a form asking for a particular medical problem. In this case, when a colleague makes an annotation, the user is prompted to input a desired medical input.

Legal Example A lawyer may want to have an engineer comment on one or more claims of a patent, but wants to control the specific annotations that an engineer can enter. Using free text annotations, engineers may inadvertently enter inappropriate information. With form-based annotations, lawyers can limit the amount of information that engineers can enter, as well as certain types of information.

For example, consider the scenario shown in FIG. The novice user 8108 fills out the screening form 8106 (see FIG. 79). Next, the screening form 8106 is stored in the screening form database 7922. The completed screening form 8106 also includes IP (Intellectual Property Rights)
(This operation is automatically routed to the screening form). When completing the screening form 8106,
If user 8108 checked the "Do you think this patent should be further investigated?" Field, the comment form (FIG. 80) would be displayed for the novice user 8
108 and to the advanced user 8120 for their comments (this operation is programmed into the screening form).

The comment form is terminated by both novice user 8108 and advanced user 8120. These completed comment forms 8118 and 8124 are stored in the comment form database 8014. Also, the completed comment form 8118 for the novice user is routed to the advanced user 8120 for review (this is programmed into the comment form). The advanced user 8120 may modify the completed comment form 8118 of the novice user. The modified comment form is shown as 8122. The modified comment form 8122 is stored in the comment form database 8014.

Similarly, the completed comment forms 8118 and 8124 are based on the IP agent 8
Routed to 110. The IP agent 8110 has its own comment 8112
Can be entered, and the comment 8112 is entered in the comment form database 8
014 (this is programmed into the comment form).

(Example of Product Development) A user who is an advanced person in a certain field sometimes desires a specific opinion from one or more users belonging to different related fields but related fields. In such a case, the first
Advanced users can annotate specific parts of data objects. When another expert accesses this annotation, the system prompts them using a form-based annotation about the expert's opinion of the annotated data object. The system provides a wide range of mechanisms to get feedback from advanced users and other selected users. These feedbacks include routing and multiple routing slips, as well as time-based expiration.

Consider the example of product development where a product marketing manager wants an engineer to estimate the cost of manufacturing a patented product to assist in determining a long-term product strategy. . In this case, the marketing manager associates the appropriate editing checks on the form input device and ensures that the engineer inputs as affordable numerical information. As decisions are urgently needed, the marketing manager routes the numerical information through the company's email system to the entire "engineering" specifying that the deadline is seven days. If the engineer does not respond within seven days, the system will automatically remove the request from the "work queue".

As an engineer annotates a patent multiple times, thereby providing multiple expense estimates, each estimate is annotated on a portion of the patent, which indicates that the component of the product in the opinion of the engineer Or be part of. In this case, the system operates in a manner similar to free text annotations (very similar to generating sub-notes in the context of a note), which automatically generates sub-forms contained within a larger "form". . Form authors must determine the operation of these forms during the generation process (eg,
The form author allows or denies the use of multiple subforms in a form).

Additional Product Development Examples Form-based annotations collect and store the observations of users who create annotations in such a way that the observations can be used for reliable reporting and other statistical data retrieval operating systems. enable.

Consider the product development example described above. Seven days later, the product marketing manager can run a report that creates a weighted average cost estimate from the engineer. The system may execute this report by querying a particular database column and retrieving data from a particular database column. For example, the system
A search can be performed on a department column of a relational database to identify entire rows of the database corresponding to annotations made by members of a given engineering department. The system then proceeds to identify the "expense estimate" in the identified row.
Data can be retrieved from columns.

Accordingly, the form-based annotation system of the present invention facilitates data retrieval, statistical processing, and other processing of annotation data.

Alternatively, if the free text format is used, it is necessary to parse the free text and retrieve the desired information.

Note that the present invention is not limited to storing information only in formal structured fields in a relational database. In fact, the form
It may include structured fields (eg, data, numbers, or booleans) and unstructured text fields as described above.

Medical Education Example For example, using free text annotations, the user selects a portion of a data object and then explains why the selected portion is relevant. This may be the opposite of the desired order. In particular, sometimes an advanced user wants different (and possibly more novice) users to annotate the part of the data object that corresponds to the one created by the advanced user.

For example, a teacher may generate the content of an annotation and ask a student to “find a spot where the annotation is true”. For example, a teacher may prepare a series of x-rays that are difficult to diagnose a fracture. The challenge can be "identify the location of the hair-like fracture". The student then annotates the data object where the fracture is believed to have occurred using a form-based annotation, possibly with a comment on their choice, using the new (
Or to the original) annotation window. The teacher can then compare the student's assignment to known criteria.

Search The present invention supports various types of data objects. For example, the present invention
Supports patent-related data objects, corporate documents (which, in some embodiments, comprise non-patent-related data objects), and the like. Such data objects are suitably stored in a system database (eg, IPAM database 7614 and / or local database 7612 (see FIG. 76)). The present invention also supports data objects that are not stored in the system database. For example, the invention supports data objects available from third parties. Such third parties are available from LEXIS-NEXIS, Dialog.
, Westlaw, Derwent, etc., but not limited thereto. Third parties are SEC, FCC, FDA, D
apartment of Motor Vehicles, Social S
including but not limited to public or government databases. With respect to such third party providers, the present invention assists in establishing links to third parties and enabling users of the present invention to interact with third parties via the links. Such third party providers include well-known interfaces or APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). In embodiments, the present invention interacts with such third parties via respective interfaces or APIs.

The present invention includes a feature that allows a user to perform complex searches via supporting data objects. The present invention provides a detailed graphical user interface (GUI) and allows a user to make a search decision. An exemplary search GUI 3402 is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 34, the search GUI 340
2 includes various tabs associated with the data object types supported by the present invention.

For example, the present invention includes a patent document tab 3404 to specify a search for patents stored in the system database. The search GUI 3402 includes a corporate document tab 340 that specifies a search for corporate documents stored in the system.
6 (see FIG. 35). The search GUI 3402 includes an All Documents tab 3408 to specify a search for all data objects stored or supported in the system (see FIG. 36).

The search GUI 3402 further includes tabs for third party information providers supported by the system. For example, LEXIS-NEX of search GUI3402
IS tab 3410 is selected to determine, but is not limited to, a search performed by the LEXIS-NEXIS system. In embodiments, in providing such search criteria, a link with a third party information provider is established and the third party is instructed to perform a particular search. The search results are then displayed on the system (ie, corporate server 7604, network client 760).
8 and / or web client 7606). Such information is then processed as any other system information.

Further details regarding the search capabilities of the present invention can be found in “System, Method,
and Computer Program Product for Pat
ent-Centric and Group-Oriented Data
No. 08 / 867,392, entitled "Processing," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Data Display and Data Processing Using Visualization Techniques Like Hyperbolic Trees The present invention supports the use of various visualization techniques, thereby displaying information to a user. An example of such a technique is a hyperbolic tree (but
But not limited to this). Other techniques useful for displaying data to a user are discussed in the following sections.

[0183] Hyperbolic trees or hyperbolic browsers are well-known "focus plus context" techniques for visualizing and manipulating data hierarchies (eg, trees). The hyperbolic browser allocates a portion of the tree for display and embeds the entire tree context in that portion. The essence of this scheme is to lay out the tree in a uniform manner on a hyperboloid, and to display areas such as (but not limited to) circular display areas (other display geometries are possible). Is to map this surface. Thus, the hyperbolic tree supports a smooth hybrid between focus and context and continuous redirection of focus.

As an example, FIG. 37 shows a hyperbolic tree 3702. Hyperbolic tree 370
2 includes a root node 3704 and a plurality of additional nodes connected directly or indirectly to the root node 3704. Additional portions of the hyperbolic tree 3702 may be magnified and displayed in the window 3712 by traversing to desired portions in the hyperbolic tree 3702 (ie, focus may be redirected to these portions) . The operator traverses the hyperbolic tree 3702 using a pointing device (eg, a mouse).

According to the present invention, the hierarchical information represented by a hyperbolic tree comes from an arbitrary source. Examples of this source include (but are not limited to) patent offices, corporate entities, official documents, individual users, and the like. In one embodiment, the hierarchy information is a related patent, but the invention is not limited to this embodiment.

The present invention provides various functions, which allow a user to customize the display of a hyperbolic tree. For example, embodiments of the present invention store state information at each node of the hyperbolic tree.

FIG. 42B shows an example of the node status information 4202. This node state information is stored in each node of the hyperbolic tree. Node state information 4202 includes a label displayed on the associated node. For example, the node label 3706 in FIG. 37 is “Claim 271”.

[0188] The node status information 4202 also includes display attribute information. The display attribute information indicates how the node is displayed in window 3712. Such display attributes include any attributes for displaying information on a computer screen. This attribute includes font, color, bold, italic, underline, visible / invisible,
Etc. are included. Display attributes also include user-defined and custom attributes entered by the user. User-defined attributes allow a user to specify the display of a node to apply to a particular use of the user.

[0189] In some embodiments, the display attributes of a node are set automatically based on information corresponding to the node. For example, if a patent claim tree is displayed using a hyperbolic tree, the display attributes of the nodes may be patents or claims, independent or dependent claims, abandoned claims, valid claims, invalid claims, infringed claims, infringed claims, It may differ depending on whether the node corresponds to an unclaimed claim, a claim that has been annotated, and the like.

In some embodiments, display attributes may be set according to information entered in a user-defined field. For example, if the user enters that a given claim is invalid, the font and color display attributes may be set to pre-selected values corresponding to the invalid claim. Accordingly, the user-defined field (s) and display attributes portion of node status information 4202 may include the actual display attributes (eg, shading) or status information used by the system to automatically set the display attributes. Can be identified.

[0191] The node status information 4202 also includes link information. This link information establishes a link between the node and relevant information in the system database (ie, IPAM database 7614 and / or local database 7612 shown in FIG. 76). In the case of claim tree 3702 in FIG. 37, the link information establishes a link between the node and the text of the node-related claim.
Alternatively, such claim text may be stored on the node itself as part of node state information 4202. In another embodiment, a portion of the claim text (
For example, the premise part or some premise part) is stored in the node as a part of the node state information 4202, and the link information of the node state information 4202 indicates that all of the claim text or the rest of the claim text is included. Establish a link to

The present invention supports the ability to edit the appearance of a hyperbolic tree. For example, the present invention allows the user to truncate the tree by removing nodes or branches. In embodiments of the present invention, such truncation is achieved by removing identified nodes and / or branches from the tree. In another embodiment of the present invention, such truncation is achieved by appropriately setting the display attributes of the selected nodes and / or branches. In particular, nodes corresponding to portions of the tree selected by the user for deletion are set to be invisible or transparent.

A specific embodiment of a hyperbolic tree supported by the present invention is described below. It is noted that these embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes only, but are not limiting. Additional uses for the hyperbolic tree will be apparent to those skilled in the art (s) based on the teachings contained herein.

Patent Claim Tree As described above, the present invention includes a patent claim tree module that supports a patent claim tree.

The patent claim tree module generates a graphically displayed claim tree from a collection of claims. The patent claim tree module functions both as a stand-alone product and as an add-on to IPAM.

The patent claims tree module includes the ability to retrieve help from a user if they do not fully understand the claims that perform their functions. Whenever the patent claims module experiences ambiguity or failure in the processing of a claim, the patent claims tree module provides the text of the claim, the characteristics of the claim inferred by the patent claims tree module, and any modifications made by the user. Generate a log entry containing

The patent claims tree module preferably visually conveys the characteristics of the independent claims by using a graphical representation of the tree. Examples of these properties include (but are not limited to):

* Root / Independent / Dependent * Claim Type (Methods, Compounds, Machines, ...) Other properties are described herein.

In some embodiments, the style of claims supported by the patent claim tree module is limited to the styles prevalent in standard utility patents. As a result, the patent claim tree module may be used to generate any document (eg, reissue (
Reissues), the claims section included in the statutory invention). Alternative embodiments support different and different claim styles (eg, design patents, plant patents).

FIG. 87 shows an example of the Patent Claim Tree Module 8706. This patent claim tree module is also referred to herein as a claims processor.
The patent claim tree module 8706 includes a preprocessor, an aggregate instrument (Aggr
EGator), and a claim parser.

The responsibilities of the preprocessor include:

* Remove any leading or trailing text.

* Divide the text into a set of claims.

* Convert the input character stream to a token stream that contains only words that can be used for later processing.

The aggregator also converts the set of tokens following a pattern into a single token.

The claims parser uses the token string corresponding to each claim to set the characteristics of that claim and the claim dependency relationship to other claims. The final product is preferably an oriented acyclic graph showing the claims of the set, the characteristics of the claims and the dependencies of the claims.

As an example, a claim tree 3702 is shown in FIG. Claim Tree 3
At 702, root node 3704 represents a patent or patent application. In the example of FIG. 37, the claim tree 3702 is represented by the agent case number 1531_00100.
No. 06 corresponds to the patent application.

Nodes directly connected to root node 3704 (eg, claims 181, 211)
08, 235, 271, 272, 273 and 274) represent independent claims of a patent or patent application. The nodes connected to these independent claims represent the dependent claims of each independent claim. Patent Claim Tree 3
Links at 702 represent dependencies between claims.

The present invention supports a number of features, which facilitates the display and analysis of claims. For example, when the cursor is placed near or over a claim node, a portion of the claim is displayed (in other embodiments, the entire claim is displayed). In FIG. 37, for example, the cursor 3708 is moved to the claim 271
Is displayed on the node 3706 corresponding to. According to this embodiment of the invention, a portion of claim 271 is extracted and displayed in window 3710. Portions of this claim, if available, may be extracted from node state information 4202 or may be accessed by accessing the link information in node state information 4202 (eg, IPAM database 7614 and / or local Database 7612).

The present invention also supports the “display claim branch” function. As is well known, dependent claims are to be interpreted to include the basic independent claim and any intervening claims. When the user positions the cursor on a dependent claim and selects the "display claim branch" command, the system extracts the text of the selected claim, its underlying independent claim, and any intervening claims. Such extraction may be accomplished, for example, by following a link in the claim tree 3702 from the selected claim to its associated independent claim. next,
The present invention displays the wording of a claim extracted according to the order of dependency. In one embodiment, the extracted claim text is concatenated according to the order of the independent base claims, intervening claims and finally the selected dependent claims.

[0211] For example, assume that the user has selected to perform a "display claim divergence" function on claim 270 that is dependent on claim 235, as shown in FIG. The text of claim 270 is displayed in window 4002 of FIG. The text of claim 235 is displayed in window 3902 of FIG.
When the "claim branch display" command for claim 270 is issued, the present invention extracts the text of claims 270 and 235. Subsequently, the present invention may concatenate the extracted texts according to the order of dependency. Subsequently, the linked text is displayed in a window (for example, window 4102 in FIG. 41). It should be noted that the information displayed in window 4102 has a portion 4104 corresponding to claim 235 and a portion 4106 corresponding to claim 270.

Other display formats for representing and displaying the extracted claim text will be apparent to those of skill in the art based on the discussion contained herein.

[0213] Claim trees are useful for many applications, including:
But not limited to these).

• Automatically calculate claim fees to add independent and dependent claims to a pending application, or when the matter is granted.

Separation of “method” claims and “process” claims from premise search criteria.

• Identify “system” claims from the premise search criteria.

• Identify the “compound” claim and the “chemical structure” claim from the premise search criteria.

• Identify "Jepson" claims by searching for the appropriate premise language.

• The "first amendment", "second amendment" and similar features of the submitted claim are indicated by adding these items to the search criteria immediately following the claim number.

• Graphically show claim dependencies to simplify analysis.

• Graphically show claim dependencies to determine claim scope and scope.

Generate a claim chart for presentation.

The functionality of the claim tree of the present invention supports the performance of these tasks.

FIG. 38 includes a flowchart 3802 illustrating the operation of the present invention in generating and processing a claim.

At step 3806, the claims to be processed are selected. As noted above, the claims may be from a patent or patent application as long as the patent or patent application is stored in a system database.

At step 3808, the invention determines whether the selected claim is an independent or dependent claim. This determination is made by parsing the claim text to search for keywords that indicate whether the claim is an independent claim or a dependent claim. For example, the claim text may be parsed for the premise word "claims". This word indicates that the selected claim is a dependent claim.

If the claim is determined to be a dependent claim, at step 3810 the claim text is parsed to identify the claim (s) on which the claim depends.

Thus, steps 3808 and 3810 correspond to parsing the claim language to identify claim characteristics and information used to generate the claim tree. Embodiments of the present invention operate to recognize claim keywords, key phrases and / or key patterns to identify such claim characteristics and information. The invention is adaptable in this regard.

The adaptability required in this field is that despite the wording and structure of the claims being constrained, the claims are still expressed in natural language and show considerable variation in terms and patterns of wording used Motivated by the fact that This requires an easily extensible patent claim tree module to recognize new word and word patterns that exhibit the properties supported by the patent claim tree module.

Accordingly, embodiments of the patent claim tree module include a configuration file. This configuration file contains the following information:

* Enable specification of words and phrases that are identified and supported by the patent claim tree module. (For example, one of these items is a process type claim, which is indicated, for example, by either the word "method" or the word "process.") * Patent claim tree Enable specification of words and phrases that the module must identify to accurately segment text into individual claims and sections into sections. Such two phrases are, for example, "
Claimed "," According to Claim "or"Claim's", which introduces one or more claims on which the claim depends.

The configuration file can be modified.

In particular, the present invention allows for the addition of new text patterns.

[0234] Also, in some cases, the user is required to specify a pattern of text that the patent claim tree module can help to address a given situation in the future.

Steps 3806, 3808 and 3810 are performed for each patent and / or application claim, as indicated by control flow line 3811. Processing step 3
Based on the information obtained from 806, 3808 and 3810, a graph of claim dependencies is generated in step 3812.

In step 3814, the graph of claim dependencies is mapped to a hyperbolic tree or other representation tool.

In step 3816, a hyperbolic tree is displayed. The display of the hyperbolic tree is
The attribute stored in the node status information 4202 of each node is used. As described above, such attributes may have been automatically established and processed based on information stored in the system or which may be user-defined. The user may enter user-defined attribute information by selecting an appropriate menu command as shown in menu 4202 of FIG. 42A.

In step 3818, if the mouse is over or near a node, at least a portion of the text of the claim corresponding to that node is retrieved and displayed. This capability of the present invention is further described above.

In step 3820, if the user selects an independent claim and selects the “display claim branch” command (see menu 4202 in FIG. 42A), the “display claim branch” function is activated for the selected claim. Be executed. The "display claim branch" function has been described above.

The user can choose to display all text and / or images for any claim in the tree. This places the cursor on or near the node corresponding to the claim and then invokes the "Show Claim" command on menu 4
This is done by selecting from 202.

The present invention supports other processing of patent claims. For example, the invention supports an automated process for comparing claims to any textual description.

[0242] Such processing may be used to analyze the claims for infringement purposes. In this application, the claims are compared to a description of the device or process accused of infringing the claims. A high likelihood between the claim and the device / process description indicates a possible infringement.

[0243] Such a treatment can also be used to analyze claims for patentability / validity purposes. In this application, the claims are compared to a description of one or more publications and / or events that may render the claims non-patentable.
A high similarity between the claim and the description of the publication and / or event indicates a non-patentable / invalid possibility.

[0244] Such processing may also be used to analyze the claims to determine if sufficient support for the claims is included in the patent specification.
In this application, the claims are compared to the description. A high similarity between the claim and the specification indicates that there is likely to be support for the claim.

In one embodiment, the automatic claim comparison process of the present invention is performed by normalizing the claim language of the claim by implementation-dependent language processing. Then, the statements against which the claims are compared correspond (sometimes,
(Same or similar) processing. The normalized text is then compared to identify similarities and differences. A conclusion is then drawn based on the context of the analysis (ie, whether the analysis is for purposes of infringement, patentability, validity, support, etc.).

An example of such a process is described in US Pat. No. 5,754,840,
The entirety is incorporated herein by reference.

As described above, the patent claim tree module can operate in a stand-alone mode. In this mode, an exemplary usage scenario is as follows.

[0248] 1. A user invokes the patent claim tree module.

[0249] 2. The patent claim tree module launches. The patent claim tree module has a main input / output window.

[0250] 3. A user pastes a set of claims into the main input window of the patent claim tree module.

[0251] 4. The user configures the patent claim tree module by adjusting any available options.

[0252] 5. The user presses a tree generation button.

[0253] 6. A patent claim tree module generates a graphical representation of the claim tree in a special purpose window. Errors and warnings are output to the log window.

The patent claim tree module can also work with IPAM. In this mode, an exemplary usage scenario is as follows.

[0255] 1. A user selects a document in IPAM.

[0256] 2. The user applies a "View Claim Tree" command to the document (eg, available in a right-click popup).

[0257] 3. A command routine (in IPAM) opens the document, extracts the claim portion, and calls the patent claim tree module. The claim portion is passed to the launched patent claim tree module and pasted into its input / output window.

[0258] 4. The user configures the patent claim tree module by adjusting any available options.

[0259] 5. The user presses a tree generation button.

[0260] 6. A patent claim tree module generates a graphical representation of the claim tree in a special purpose window. Errors and warnings are output to the log window.

[0261] These use scenarios are provided for illustrative purposes only. The invention is not limited to these use scenarios. Other use scenarios will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the teachings herein.

Patent Citation Tree (Patent and Non-Patent Citations) The present invention supports patent citation trees. An example of the citation tree 4302 is shown in FIG.
It is shown in FIG. In the patent citation tree 4302, each node represents a patent, and each link represents a citation. When performing the forward citation function, the link from the root node to the child node or leaf is "parent node is quoted in child node".
Represents a direct relationship of being quoted. When performing the backward quote function, a link from the root node to a child node or leaf represents a direct association of "quote", such as "parent node quotes child node".

The present invention supports various displays of the labels of the nodes of the tree. The labels can be any information related to the data objects they represent. For example, if the data object is a patent, the label may be any bibliographic information of that patent. Bibliographic information may include, for example, patent numbers, inventors, assignees, wording (or abstracts) of claims, specifications (or abstracts), drawing information such as graphic images, classes / subclasses, patent examiners, patent offices Location, but is not limited to this.
The displayed label can be selected by the user.

[0264] Both patent and non-patent documents and data objects may be cited in any given patent. In accordance with the present invention, both patent and non-patent document / data objects are represented in patent citation tree 4302. For example, assume that patent citation tree 4302 is a backward patent citation. According to this example, patents B and C represented by nodes 4306 and 4308, respectively.
Is cited in Patent A represented by node 4304. Non-patent documents or data objects C and D represented by nodes 4310 and 4312 are also cited in Patent A.

According to the present invention, information relating to the data objects of the nodes of the hyperbolic tree, whether in the patent citation tree or otherwise, can be retrieved and displayed by selecting the node. Such functionality may include, for example, node status information 4202
This can be achieved by referring to the link information in or the appropriate database table.

The display attributes of nodes can be set according to the information related to the data object they represent. For example, if the data object is a patent, the display attributes of the node may be set according to any bibliographic information of the patent. Bibliographic information may include, for example, patent numbers, inventors, assignees, wording (or abstracts) of claims, specifications (or abstracts), drawing information such as graphic images, classes / subclasses, patent examiners, patent offices Location, but is not limited to this. For example, the user may indicate that a patent assigned to Company X is color coded blue while a patent assigned to Company Y is color coded red. In response to this input, the system automatically color-codes the node based on the node's assignee information.

Alternatively, the user may manually set the display attributes of the node.

It should be noted that this aspect of the invention has been described in the context of a patent citation tree. However, the present invention refers to other data objects,
Or it can be applied to any type of data object cited by other data objects. Thus, more generally, the present invention supports citation trees for data objects.

According to embodiments of the present invention, citations in the citation tree are not limited to references to data objects that appear at any particular location in the data object (s) in question. For example, a back citation tree for a US patent is not limited to citations that appear on the front page of a US patent. In addition, the citation tree for a technical article is not limited to citations included in the bibliographic information of the article. Rather, the citation tree may include citations of the data object that may be referenced anywhere in the data object (s) in question.

Preferably, in the case of patents, the invention excludes citation references to patent and non-patent documents included in the specification but not listed in the bibliographic section on the first page. Includes data / text processing techniques for identification. Parsing techniques for identifying data in data objects are well known, and any parsing technique may be used to implement this aspect of the invention. Such references may be included in the patent citation tree (they may be displayed using different display attributes to indicate that they are present in the body of the specification, or may be displayed in a different tree ).

(Exemplary Database) A database for realizing the patent citation function of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 44 and 45.
Is shown in FIG. 44 shows a patent reference table 4402. The patent reference table 4402 stores information on patents cited in the prosecution process of a given patent. Patent reference table 44
02 contains a record for each patent cited in the prosecution process of a given patent application. Each record of the patent reference table 4402 is a docu that identifies a basic patent.
ment_ID and the reference patent (ie, the patent cited in the base patent)
And refpatentno for identifying

FIG. 45 shows the non-patent reference table 4404. The non-patent reference table 4404 stores information on non-patent data objects cited in the examination process of a given patent.
Non-patent lookup table 4404 includes a record for each non-patent data object cited in the prosecution process of a given patent application. Each record of the non-patent reference table 4404 includes a document_ID for identifying a basic patent and a RefNo for identifying a non-patent data object cited in the basic patent.

Information relating to other databases used by the present invention can be found in “System
m, Method, and Computer Program Program
t for Patent-Centric and Group-Orien
U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 867,392 entitled "ted Data Processing" and "System, Method and Co."
mputer Program Product for Managing
and Analyzing Intellectual Property (
No. 09 / 138,368, entitled "IP) Related Transactions," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The operations of the patent reference table 4402 and the non-patent reference table 4404 are described in FIGS.
It is shown in FIG. FIG. 46 illustrates an exemplary patent lookup table 4602 corresponding to the patent citation tree 4302 shown in FIG. Patent Lookup Table 4602 indicates that Patents B and C are cited in Patent A and Patent D is cited in Patent B.

FIG. 47 shows an exemplary non-patent lookup table 4702 corresponding to the patent citation tree 4302, also shown in FIG. Non-patent lookup table 4702 indicates that non-patent data objects C and D are cited in patent A, non-patent data object A is cited in patent B, and non-patent data object D is cited in patent C.

Further details regarding the patent citation tree according to the present invention can be found in “System, Me
, and Computer Program Product fo
r Patent-Centric and Group-Oriented
U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08 /, entitled "Data Processing"
No. 867,392 and "Ussing Hyperbolic Trees.
o Visualize Data Generated by Patent
-Centric and Group-Oriented Data Pro
No. 08 / 921,369, entitled "Sessing", which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

(Data Object Family Tree) The present invention supports data object families. A data object family includes a set of data objects that are partially related and information related to the association between the data objects in the family.

There are many types of families and their relationships. For example, the patent citation tree described above indicates that a family-based patent is cited in the basic patent,
Or an example data object family including patent and non-patent data objects cited by its underlying patent.

According to the present invention, a data object family is the context of organization, visualization, analysis, and other processing as described above.

The present invention supports creation, creation, visualization, manipulation, and other processing of data object families. The data object family may be system defined or user defined.

The data object families are further described in the following sections.

Examples of Data Object Families Some of the data object families supported by the present invention are described below. The invention is not limited to these examples. Additional families of data objects will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art based on the discussion contained herein.

FIG. 51 shows exemplary patent family time series information 5102. The patent family time-series information 5102 is a type of data object family. Patent family chronological information 5102 includes patents, applications and associated data objects derived from the base patent application. In the example of FIG. 51, the patent family time-series information 5102 is derived from the application 1. Application 1 represents a basic patent application. Application 1 is a continuation application (
Continuation 1), which resulted in a continuation application (CIP1). Trademark (
Trademark 1) relates to continuation 1, and copyright (copyright 1) relates to CIP1. Application 1 was developed from Love Note (Love Note 1) kept by the inventor. Application 1 also resulted in a Patent Cooperation Treaty application (PCT1), which was domestically transferred to Japan (Japan 1) and Canada (Canada 1).

FIG. 53 illustrates an exemplary assignee technology patent family 5302. Assignee technology patent family 5302 is another type of data object family. The assignee technology patent family includes technically related patents that have been assigned to the same legal entity. The association between patents may, for example, reflect an improvement in the technology.

In the example of FIG. 53, assignee technology patent family 5302 includes patent 1 for a bicycle, patent 2 for a bicycle, and patent 3 for a bicycle. Bicycle Patent 1 is the assignee's first, basic patent for bicycles. Bicycle Patent 2 is an improvement over Bicycle Patent 1, and Bicycle Patent 3 is an improvement over Bicycle Patent 2.

According to the present invention, the data object family is displayed using any well-known visualization techniques. Such visualization techniques include, but are not limited to, hyperbolic trees. Techniques for generating hyperbolic trees from hierarchically organized data (such as data object families) are described in "Using Hyperbol."
ic Trees to Visualize Data Generated
by Patent-Centric and Group-Oriente
US Patent Application Serial No. 0 entitled "d Data Processing"
No. 8 / 921,369, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Examples of the data object families described above and further data object families supported by the present invention are further described below.

Patent-Related Families The present invention supports multiple patent-specific families. Examples of such families are described below.

(Time Series Information of Assignee's Patent Family (Chronology)) (APFC
This family shows the relationship between related issued patents and the same assignee's pending application (and possibly related data objects). This family includes, but is not limited to, US applications and corresponding foreign applications. This family includes original applications, divisional applications, continuation applications, CIP, reissue and reexamination, and patent extensions. Information for generating these families can be found, for example, in the assignee's internal patent docket system.

This family is used to understand the particular family of patents and any company associated with the application that are derived from the same original application. Such a family presents in a tree-type format, for example, the relationships between all patents and applications within a family of one corporate entity. This presentation format is useful for the user when confirming the circumstances in which the company gathered the improved patents around the newly developed technology. This presentation format can be useful to executives and legal personnel responsible for commercialization planning, product development, and managing the company's portfolio.

Assignee's Technology Patent Family (ATPF) This family shows the relationship between the same assignee's patents and applications in the same technical field, but is not necessarily limited to the chronological information of the assignee's patent family. Not done. This family is a broader grouping that links one assignee's patents and applications across the technology. Information for generating these families can be found, for example, in the assignee's internal patent docket system and keyword searches for assignee patents and applications.

(Technical Patent Family (TPF)) This family shows the relationship between patents in the same technical field. This family is not limited by the assignee. The information to create these families is
For example, it can be found by a combination of patent bibliography and patent text search.
This family is somewhat similar to the forward citation tree, but is more limited based on the culling and grouping criteria used by the family creator.

(Claim Trees) These families focus on inter-claim relationships in terms of dependencies between claims and superior-subordinate (dominance-subservice).

Patent Claim Tree (PCT) and Application Claim Tree (ACT) These trees show the relationship between the claims in one issued patent or pending application. The tree is preferably created by searching at least the first line of all claims for indications of dependency and / or content and scope in a given patent or application. This tree is useful in patent procedure, licensing and litigation scenarios to illustrate the dependencies between a given patent or pending claims. The patent claim tree is further described below.

(Assignee Patent Family Time Series Information Claim Tree (APFCCT)) This tree shows the relationship between the claims in the assignee patent family time series information.
This tree shows the independent and dependent claim relationships within a given patent or application,
Shows the superior and subordinate claims or refined claims in the assignee's patent family chronological information. Information for creating these trees includes, for example, the assignee's internal patent docketing system, keyword search for the assignee's set of patent and application claims, and the selection and elimination criteria and groupings used by the tree creator. Found in standards and.

Assignee Technology Patent Family Claim Tree (ATPFCT) This family shows the relationships between the claims in the assignee technology patent family. This family is similar to the assignee's patent family timeline claim tree, but is not limited to a given patent family timeline. This family covers the entire assignee's relevant technology base. This family indicates the dependency relationship and the upper / lower claim relationship of the claims in the assignee's technology patent family time-series information. The information to create these trees includes the assignee's internal patent docket system,
It can be found in the keyword search of the assignee's set of patent and application claims and in the selection and grouping criteria used by the tree builder.

(Technical Patent Family Claim Tree (TPFCT)) This family shows the relationship between the claims in all patents in one technical patent family. This family is similar to the assignee's technology patent family chronology claim tree, but is not limited to a given patent family chronology, but covers the entire relevant technology base of all assignees. Information for creating these families can be found, for example, in combination with patent bibliography and patent text search and the selection and grouping criteria used by tree creators.

Patent-Trademark Relationship Trees These families are trees that contain both patent claims and trademarks used for patented products that are covered by a particular patent claim. These families are created in a manner similar to patent families, and the tree is created by expanding the family corresponding to the patent covering the products sold under the trademark and the trademarks included in the tree. You.

Exemplary Database This section describes a database that is useful in implementing functions associated with a family of data objects.

FIG. 48 illustrates a data object family table 48 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
02 is shown. The relationship between a plurality of data object pairs is shown in the data object family table 4802. More specifically, the data object family table 480
2 contains a record for each data object pair of interest. Each record of the data object family table 4802 includes a “related source” field for identifying the first data object, a “related destination” field for identifying the second data object, and these two data objects. A relationship type field for storing information indicating a relationship between the two.

FIGS. 50A and 50B show an exemplary relationship type table 5002 that specifies the relationship types supported by the present invention. The relationship types shown in FIGS. 50A and 50B are provided for illustrative purposes and are not limiting. Relationship type table 5002 generally stores all relationships in which a user is involved. Further relationships,
It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant field (s).

Each row of the relationship type table 5002 includes a relationship type name, a uniquely determined identifier of the relationship, and a grouping ID. This grouping ID is used to aggregate relation types for a given data object family. For example, grouping G1 generally corresponds to patent family time-series information. Grouping G3 generally corresponds to the assignee technology patent family.

[0303] The relationship type table 5002 includes predefined (ie, system defined) relationships and user defined relationships. Accordingly, the present invention provides for a user to define and / or modify relationships (mo) based on the needs of his particular application.
diffy). Further, the groupings included in relationship type table 5002 include predefined groupings and user-defined groupings. Thus, users can create and / or modify groupings based on their specific needs.

FIG. 49 shows an example data object family table 4902 corresponding to the patent citation tree 4302 shown in FIG. Data object family table 4902 shows another implementation of patent citation tree 4302. Row 4904
-4916 all correspond to a backward citation relationship as shown in the Relationship Type column. Specifically, rows 4904, 4906, and 4904 of data object family table 4902
Reference numerals 908 and 4910 indicate that patent A refers to patent B, patent C, non-patent object C, and non-patent object D. Rows 4912 and 4914 of the data object family table indicate that patent B references patent D and non-patent data object A. Row 4916 of data object family table 4902 indicates that patent C references non-patent data object D.

The rows 4918-4930 of the data object family table 4902 correspond to forward quotation relationships as shown in the relationship type column. Specifically, row 49
18 indicates that patent B is cited by patent A. Row 4920 is
Indicates that Patent D is cited by Patent B. Row 4922 indicates that non-patent object A is cited by patent B. Row 4924 indicates that Patent C is cited by Patent A. Row 4926 indicates that non-patent data object D is cited by patent C. Row 4928 indicates that non-patent data object C is cited by patent A. Row 4930 indicates that non-patent data object D is cited by patent A.

The use of the data object family table will be further described with reference to FIGS. 51 and 52. As described above, FIG. 51 illustrates exemplary patent family time-series information 5.
102 is shown. FIG. 52 shows an exemplary data object family table 5202 corresponding to patent family time series information 5102. Data Object Family Table 5
Row 5204 of 202 indicates that Experimental Notebook 1 shows the invention disclosure material used to create Application 1. Row 5206 indicates that continuation 1 is a continuation of application 1. Row 5208 indicates that CIP1 is a partial continuation of continuation 1. Row 5210 indicates that copyright 1 is a copyright related to CIP1. Row 5212 indicates that trademark 1 is a trademark associated with continuation 1. Row 5214 indicates that PCT1 is a PCT application from Application 1. Row 5216 indicates that Japan 1 is a foreign application from PCT1 to Japan. Row 5218 indicates that Canada 1 is a foreign application to Canada from PCT1.

In one embodiment, the patent family time series information 5102 of FIG. 51 is preferably generated by selecting the grouping G1 from the relationship type table 5002. Next, a data object family including the relationships in the grouping G1 is generated. For further details on generating data object families,
This will be described below.

Another embodiment of the usage of the data object family table is shown in FIGS. As noted above, FIG. 53 illustrates an exemplary assignee technology patent family 5302. FIG. 54 shows a data object family table 5402 corresponding to assignee technology patent family 5302.

Row 5404 of data object family table 5402 indicates that bike patent 2 is an improvement over bike patent 1. Row 5408 indicates that Bike Patent 3 is an improvement over Bike Patent 2. Additional information is included in data object family table 5402. For example, row 5406 shows that bike patent 1 is bike patent 2
Indicates that it is technically related and is a basic patent. Row 5410 indicates that motorcycle patent 2 claims are subordinate to motorcycle patent 1 claims.
Row 5412 shows that motorcycle 2 claims are an improvement over motorcycle 1 claims. Row 5414 indicates that motorcycle patent 1 claims are superior to motorcycle patent 2 claims. Rows 5410-5414 are useful in generating the assignee patent family chronological information claim tree described above.

(Details of Operation) FIG. 55 shows a flowchart 5502 illustrating the operation of the present invention when generating the data object family table. Depending on the particular engagement relationship, the source of the relationship data, the scope of the engagement family and other application dependents, the data object family table may be generated manually, automatically, or a combination thereof.

In step 5506, relevant information is obtained. The relationship information is preferably obtained in a paired manner. In other words, a plurality of data object pairs having some relationship are identified first. Next, the relationship between the data object pairs is determined. Alternatively, after obtaining the related information, the information is converted into a mode combined with the pair.

[0312] There are various sources of related information. FIG. 56 shows one of these sources applicable to the present invention. Note that the invention is not limited to the source shown in FIG. Relationship information is also available and available from other sources, such as, but not limited to, data sources identified and / or provided by a user.

[0313] One source of relational information is referential integrity (ref) as shown as 5604.
This is data having resident integrity. Instruction completeness is
Refers to information that directly indicates the relationship between data objects. For example, the information in the patent lookup table 4402 of FIG. 44 has indication completeness. This is because the information in the table directly establishes citations between patents. Similarly, the non-patent reference table 4404 in FIG. 45 also has pointing completeness. This is because the information in the table directly establishes the citation relationship between patents and non-patent data objects.

Referring to FIG. 56, relation information is also available from relation database table 5606. Relational databases, by definition, associate data objects with one another. Thus, it is possible to generate relational tables and data object family tables using the relations represented in the relational database.

[0315] The relation information can also be obtained by using a search database table as shown by 5608 in FIG. Such an operation is, for example, the name "Aurig
Searching the "Corporate Entity" column of the database table for all occurrences of "in", thereby identifying all data objects associated with the company Aurigin. As a result, all patents assigned to Aurigin can be identified. This information is useful, for example, when generating patent family time-series information.

[0316] Relationship information can also be obtained by performing a text search between data objects. Such operations may include, for example, searching a text document for the word "microprocessor", thereby identifying data objects potentially related to the microprocessor field.
This information is useful, for example, when generating a technology patent family. The search may include complex Boolean analysis, proximity analysis, natural language analysis and any kind of linguistic analysis.

Further relevant information can be obtained by performing manual acquisition and analysis of data as shown at 5612 in FIG. Such operations are:
For example, it may include the step of a human reviewing the claims of a set of patents to determine technically related claims, claims in superordinate and subordinate relations, claims in basic relations, claims in improvement relations, and the like.

Further relevant information may be obtained by a combination of the techniques shown in FIG.

At the end of step 5506, data object pairs having any relationship are identified, and the relationship between such data object pairs is determined. Step 55
At 08, the data object family table is populated using the relationship information obtained in step 5506. For example, in the process of performing Step 5506,
Assume that it is determined that a specific Japanese application (called Japan 1) was filed from a specific PCT application (called PCT1). In this case, a row in the data object family table corresponding to such a pair relationship is created in step 5506. Such a row is illustrated as, for example, 5216 in FIG.

At the end of step 5508, one or more data object family tables have been created.

FIG. 57A shows a flowchart 5702 of a process for analyzing relational information according to an embodiment of the present invention. For illustrative purposes, the flowchart 5702 is described with reference to, without limitation, the exemplary patent family time series information 5102 shown in FIG. 51 and the corresponding data object family table 5202 shown in FIG.

At step 5706, the user selects one or more data objects. The selected data object indicates a base data object that is the basis for performing the analysis. In the example of FIG. 51, the user has selected application 1. Application 1 is a basic patent application of the patent family time series information 5102.

At step 5708, the user selects one or more relationship types on which to base the analysis. In one embodiment, the user manually selects the relationship type involved. In another embodiment, the user selects one or more groupings that include the involved relationship types. In the example of FIG. 51, the user has grouped G1 including all the relation types involved in the patent family time-series information.
Select (see FIGS. 50A and 50B) (note that the grouping G1 can be modified as desired by the user, so that the patent family time series information analysis can be performed individually).

At step 5710, the user indicates whether either a complete or partial closure is needed. If the user selects full closure, then in step 5706 all derivations from the selected data object are identified. If the user selects a partial closure, only some of the derived relationships from the selected data object are identified (e.g., perhaps only those relationships that move forward or backward from the selected data object are identified). . Also at step 5710, if the user selects partial closure,
The user may be required to provide information regarding the desired analysis range.

At step 5712, a closure is calculated based on the selected data object, the selected relationship type, and the closure range. In other words, all relationships from the data object family table that satisfy the information and commands provided in steps 5706, 5708 and 5710 are identified.

Step 5712 is preferably performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 57B.

At step 5718, a row in the data object family table that matches the selected data object and the selected relationship type is identified. If either the "from" or "to" field in the row contains the selected data object, the row matches the selected data object. If the row's relationship type field contains one of the selected relationship types, the row matches the selected relationship type.

Step 5720 is optional, depending on the closure level specified in step 5710. At step 5720, further rows of the data object family table that match the data object specified in the row identified at step 5718 and that also match one or more of the selected relationship types are further identified. Is done. For example, in the data object table 5202 of FIG. 52, the row 5206 is identified at step 5718. This is because Application 1 (ie, the data object selected in step 5706) is included in the "from" field. Note that continuation 1 is included in the "to" field. At step 5720, a row that matches continuation 1 of the rows in the data object family table and that also matches one or more of the selected relationship types is identified. Thus, continuation 1 from row 5206 is included in the “from” field and
1 is also included in the relationship type field, so that row 52
12 are identified.

As shown by control flow line 5721, steps 5718 and 5720 are replaced by step 5
Repeat until the closure level specified during 710 is satisfied.

Upon completion of steps 5718 and 5720, the data object pairs that have a relationship are identified. Also, the relationships between such data object pairs are identified. At step 5722, a tree of data object pairs is generated. Preferably, the tree is created by selecting a data object pair, adding the selected data object pair and its associated relationship to the tree, and then selecting a new data object pair. This process continues until each data object pair has been added to the tree.

For example, in FIG. 52, in steps 5718 and 5720, row 520
Assume that 4 to 5218 have been identified. At step 5722, row 520
From 4 to 5218, a tree or graph is generated. For example, when row 5204 is processed, the result is that nodes 5106 and 5106 appear in the tree (see FIG. 51).
108 and a link 5104 are created. Processing row 5206 results in the addition of nodes 5110 and links 5112 to the tree (FIG. 51). The remaining rows to be identified 5208-5218 are processed in a manner similar to step 5722.

Referring again to FIG. 57A, in step 5714, the data object family is displayed. According to the present invention, the tree generated in step 5722 (FIG. 57B) may be displayed using any visualization technique (eg, a hyperbolic tree). For a technique for generating a hyperbolic tree, see US Patent Application "Ussing Hyp."
erbolic Trees to Visualize Data Gene
rated by Patent-Centric and Group-Or
Intent Data Processing "(Serial No. 08/9
21,369). The application is incorporated herein by reference.

Plug-in Architecture In accordance with the present invention, the enterprise server 7604 (FIG. 76) can interface with third-party tools, thereby enhancing and extending its capabilities. "
The term "third-party tool" as used herein refers to any hardware, software, or combination thereof (e.g., web-based) outside the enterprise server 7604 or any component or associated module of the enterprise server 7604. Server 7610, databases 7612 and 76
14. Network client 7608 and Web client 7606
). These third party tools are selected based on their ability to perform the desired functions that are not available internally (ie, not performed by the enterprise server 7604 or any of the components of the enterprise server 7604 or related modules). Or integrated with the enterprise server 7604. Such functionality may relate to data acquisition or data storage, visualization, display, processing and / or any other data processing.

FIG. 59 shows a flowchart 5902 illustrating exemplary operations when the enterprise server 7604 interacts with a third party component.

In step 5906, the user starts parsing the set of data objects. These data objects may be, for example, from one or more groups and / or one or more data object types. Alternatively, these data objects may be derived from the processing performed by the enterprise server 7604 (
(Eg, from performing a database search) at least partially.

In step 5908, the user analyzes the data object using the functions provided by the enterprise server 7604. Such functions have been described above. For further features, see U.S. Patent Application "System, Method,
and Computer Program Product for Pat
ent-Centric and Group-Oriented Data
Processing ”(Serial No. 08 / 867,392) and“ Usi
ng Hyperbolic Trees to Visualize Dat
a Generated by Patent-Centric and Gr
up-Oriented Data Processing ”(Serial No. 08 / 921,369), and“ System, Method and C ”.
Output Program for Managing
and Analyzing Intellectual Property
(IP) Related Transactions ”(Serial No. 09 /
No. 138,368). The application is incorporated herein by reference.

At step 5910, the user wishes to run one or more reports based on the analysis performed at step 5908. Some of these reports may be generated using functions provided by the enterprise server 7604. Such a reporting function of the enterprise server 7604 is described herein, the details of which are described in the above-mentioned patent application. Other reports may be generated using third party components that interface with the enterprise server 7604.

At step 5912, the user wishes to further parse the data object using functionality provided by a third party component that interfaces with the enterprise server 7604. Information related to the data object
Sent to the third-party component, along with commands, options, and other information needed to enable the third-party component to perform the analysis requested by the user. These third-party components perform the requested functions using information received from the enterprise server 7604.

At step 5914, the user commands the third party components to return processing results of each third party component to the enterprise server 7604. Such results can be stored and utilized, for example, as a new group or data object type in the enterprise server. Such results may be processed alone or with other data and / or may be stored as fields in data records and / or as data in reports.

FIG. 64 is a flowchart 6402 further illustrating operations when the enterprise server 7604 interacts with a third-party component, according to one exemplary embodiment. FIG. 63 is an exemplary data flow diagram used to describe the operation of flowchart 6402 in FIG.

At step 6406, the user wishes to parse a group 6304 containing 1000 documents or other data objects. These documents include both patent and non-patent documents. These documents relate to computer programming languages.

In step 6406, the user selects a third-party component to organize and visualize the content of the document. The display generated by the selected third party component is shown in FIG.
As shown. In display 6306, documents with similar content are represented as peaks in the landscape. The size of the peak indicates the relative size of the corresponding number of documents, which is directed to the object associated with the peak. Preferably,
The operation of the third party component is dynamic, so the landscape context is also dynamic. For example, the display 6 shown in the example of FIG.
306 is based on the content or topic of the documents in group 6304. Preferably, the user can access menu 6308. Menu 6308
Allows the user to change the display context from one topic to another attribute (eg, author)
To be changed to When the user changes context to author, the peaks in display 6306 correspond to authors, and the relative size of the peaks indicates the number of documents by each author.

At step 6408, the user selects a portion of the 1,000 documents through use of a third party component. In the example of FIG. 63, the user selects peaks corresponding to PASCAL and COBAL from the display 6306. This selection is shown as 6307.

At step 6410, the user commands the third party component to return the analysis results to the enterprise server 7604. In the example of FIG. 63, the third party component returns a display of selection 6307. For example, the third party component may list the documents corresponding to selection 6307 (ie, PA
(A list of books directed to SCAL and COBAL).

At step 6412, the enterprise server 7604 creates a new group from the information received from the third party component. In this case, the new group
Includes documents corresponding to selection 6307 related to PASCAL and COBAL.

At step 6414, the enterprise server generates and stores a search query corresponding to the analysis performed by the user using the third party component. In the example of FIG. 63, the search query generated and stored by the enterprise server 7604 is P
Includes retrieval of documents related to ASCAL and COBAL. The search query is generated and stored so that the user can later view and use the search query.

The new group 6310 can then be used at the enterprise server 7604, like any other group. Specifically, the processing can be performed on the documents in the new group 6310 as described above, and “System, Me”
thing and Computer Program Product fo
r Patent-Centric and Group-Oriented
Data Processing "(Serial No. 08/867, 392)
"Using Hyperbolic Trees to Visual
ze Data Generated by Patent-Centric
and Group-Oriented Data Processing "(
Serial No. 08 / 921,369), “System, Method a
nd Computer Program Product for Mana
ging and Analyzing Intellectual Prop
erty (IP) Related Transactions "(Serial No. 09 / 138,368). This patent is incorporated herein by reference.

The above example illustrates the reciprocating function of the present invention. Specifically, the present invention allows information to be transferred from enterprise server 7604 to a third party component. The present invention also provides information from a third party component to a corporate server 760.
4 can also be transferred. In certain situations, only one-way interaction may be involved, depending on the desired functionality and the third party components utilized. For example, in the case of operation with a report generator, data often flows only in the direction from the enterprise server 7604 to the report generator.
Such data is sent to a report generator, which allows the report generator to generate the desired report. For some report generators, data is sent from the report generator to the enterprise server 76.
No. 04 (although for some report generators, the data may be returned to the enterprise server 7604; for example, the report generator may return an electronic copy of the report to the enterprise server 7604).

(Plug-in Architecture) FIG. 58 shows that the enterprise server 7604 has the third party component / tool 58
FIG. 5802 is a block diagram 5802 illustrating a state of interacting with 08. As shown in FIG. 58, enterprise server 7604 interacts with third party components / tools 5808 via interface 5806.

FIG. 60 shows that the corporate server 7604 has the third party component / tool 58
FIG. 8 shows a block diagram showing in more detail how it is interacting with 08.

The enterprise server 7604 includes an enterprise server API (application programming interface) 6004. The company server API 6004 is generally a company server 7
Contains the set of commands that 604 understands. These commands are sent to the corporate server 76
04 is instructed to perform a particular function. Entities external to the enterprise server 7604 interact with the enterprise server 7604 by sending commands that are compatible with the enterprise server API 6004 to the enterprise server 7604. Corporate server API6
004 is described in more detail below. For the corporate server API 6004, see US Patent Application “System, Method, and Computer”.
Program Product for Patent-Centric
and Group-Oriented Data Processing "(
Serial numbers 08/867, 392). The application is incorporated herein by reference.

The interface 5806 is preferably represented by a plug-in manager 6006. The plug-in manager 6006 is a plug-in manager API6
008. The plug-in manager API is a plug-in manager 6006
Contains commands that are understood by These commands are plug-in manager 600
6 to perform a particular function. An entity external to the plug-in manager 6006 sends commands to the plug-in manager 6006 that conform to the plug-in manager API
Interacts with 006.

A third party component / tool 5808 is represented by a plug-in 6012 and a third party component / tool 6024. Third party component / tool 6024 represents any hardware, software, or combination of hardware and software that performs a desired function. Third party components / tools 6024 each include an API.
Devices external to the third party component / tool 6024 may have their own A
Interact with the third party components / tools 6024 via each of the PIs.

[0354] The plug-in 6012 preferably includes a third-party component / tool 6
024. Alternatively, one or more third-party components / tools 6024 may share a shared plug-in 6012.

[0355] Plug-in 6012 generally represents a translation module. The message sent from the plug-in manager 6006 to the third party component / tool 6024 is from the plug-in manager 6006 native format,
Translated into a format recognized by the API of the third party component / tool 6024. Similarly, third party components / tools 6
The messages sent from 024 to the plug-in manager 6006 are translated by the plug-in 6012 from the native language of the third party component / tool 6024 into commands and / or messages that are compatible with the plug-in manager API 6008.

As shown in FIG. 60, the company server 7604 and the plug-in manager 6006
, Plug-ins 6012 and third-party components / tools 6024 include a database 6010 (which may include, for example, an IPAM database 7614).
Interacts with.

The process of translating between the Plug-in Manager API 6008 and any given third-party component / tool 6024 APIs is described in the context of the Plug-in Manager API 6008 and the third-party component / tool 6024 described herein. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art with knowledge of the well-known API of tool 6024. In addition, third party components / tools 602
The interaction of the four via their own API is also apparent to one skilled in the relevant art.

The plug-in architecture described herein is applicable to both servers and clients. In an embodiment of the present invention, the client plug-in architecture works in a manner substantially similar to the server plug-in architecture, with the difference between the two being the type of API supported / required by the client and the client It is a mode of detecting the presence. Server plug-in architecture and client plug-in architecture implementations will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art (s) based on the description provided herein.

Plug-In Operation FIGS. 62A and 62B together show a flowchart 6202 illustrating operations when a plug-in manager 6006 interacts with a third-party component 6024, according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 61 shows an example of an event tracking diagram corresponding to the flowcharts of FIGS. 62A and 62B.

In step 6206, the enterprise server 7604 checks the plug-in manager 600
6 is created. This is shown as 6120 in FIG.

At step 6208, the plug-in manager determines which plug-ins 6012 are available, if any. This is shown as 6122 in FIG. As described above, each plug-in preferably corresponds to a third-party component 6024 and a corresponding third-party component 624.
Understand 024 APIs, information requirements, options, etc. (ie, how they interact with third party components).

At step 6210, the enterprise server receives a list of available plug-ins 6012 from the plug-in manager 6006. This is shown in FIG.
As shown. This list indicates that the third party component 6024 is available for use by the user.

At step 6212, the user pops up a plug-in menu 6104. Menu 6104 is based on the list obtained in step 6210,
List all available plug-ins 6012. Further, in step 6212, the user selects a plug-in from plug-in menu 6104.

At step 6214, the enterprise server 7604 checks the plug-in manager 600
Instruct 6 to execute the selected plug-in. This is shown in FIG.
Shown as 24.

At step 6218, the plug-in manager 6006 commands execution of the selected plug-in 6012. This is shown as 6128 in FIG.

At step 6220, the plug-in 6012 displays an options dialog or a series of dialogs to the user, possibly with the assistance of the plug-in manager 6006. These dialogs specify functions that can be performed by the corresponding third-party component 6024. Preferably, at least all of the functions accessible through the API of the third party component are listed in the dialog. In other words, the interaction between the enterprise server 7604 and the third party component 6024 includes at least the functions and capabilities represented by the API of the third party component 6024. The user selects a desired option via a displayed option dialog. This interaction is shown as 6130 in FIG.

In step 6222, the plug-in 6012 uses the plug-in manager 600
6. Create a request for data from 6. This is shown as 6138 in FIG. In response to such a request, the plug-in manager 6006 calls the enterprise server 7604 (represented as 6134 in FIG. 61) or directly accesses the database 6010 (represented as 6136 in FIG. 61).
I can do it.

In step 6224, the plug-in 6012 creates an instance of the associated third-party component 6024. This instance is the software representation of the third-party component. For example, if the third-party component is a report generator, at step 6224, the plug-in calls the report generator. This is shown as 6140 in FIG.

In step 6226, the plug-in transfers the data to the third party component 6024. The plug-in performs any necessary data conversion. Further, plug-in 6012 may send commands and options (from step 6220) to third party component 6024, or alternatively, step 622.
Third party components 6 based on commands and options from 0
024. Preferably, the plug-in 6012 implements the third party component 602 in a manner that uses the API of the third party component 6024.
Interacts with 4. This operation of step 6226 is illustrated in FIG.
As shown.

Also, at step 6226, the user performs any real-time interaction with the third-party component 6024 via the plug-in manager 6006 and plug-in 6012. For an example of such an interaction, see
This has been described above with reference to FIGS.

At step 6228, the user commands the third party component 6024 to export the results of any processing performed by the third party component 6024. This is shown as 6144 in FIG.

In step 6230, in response to the export command, the third party component 6024 installs the plug-in 6012 and the plug-in manager 60
The data is transmitted to the company server 7604 via the server 06. Plug-in 6012 and / or plug-in manager 6006 perform any necessary data conversion. The company server 7604 receives and processes information as described above.

Consider the interaction with third party components in more detail below.

Embodiments of the present invention support multiple methods for integrating third-party components. Two such integration methods are called "sparse integration" and "tight integration", which are described below.

(Sparse Integration) In the case of loose integration, the interaction is performed via an intermediary (for example, a file). When exporting data from application 1 (eg, IPAM) to application 2 (eg, a third-party tool), application 1 or an entity acting on behalf of application 1 converts the data into a file format (preferably understood by application 2). Format, otherwise data translation can be performed). The file is then read by application 2 or an entity operating on behalf of application 2.

When importing data into Application 1, Application 2 or the entity acting on behalf of Application 2 saves the data in a file format. This file is then
Read by Application 1 or a specific entity operating on behalf of Application 1 (may require some data translation). In embodiments of the present invention, these write and read operations are initiated manually.
That is, the user must manually start exporting and importing data.

In general, when sparse integration is used, it is possible to use a ready-made third-party component.

Tight Integration In the case of tight integration, IPAM and third party components interact with each other via the plug-in architecture described herein. Data is sent from the IPAM to the third party component (and vice versa) via a plug-in mechanism.

In one embodiment, IPAM sends a list of pointers (via a plug-in mechanism) to a third party component. These pointers point to the data (ie, data objects). In this way, IPAM sends data to third party components. It also uses the same process to send data (via a plug-in mechanism) from a third-party component to IPAM. Alternatively, IPAM may send data to a third-party component by storing the data in a file format and then sending the message (via a plug-in mechanism) with the file name to the third-party component. This process can also be used to send data from a third party component to IPAM. Alternatively, IPAM may send data to a third-party component by sending a message (including data) to the third-party component via a plug-in mechanism. This process can also be used to send data from a third party component to IPAM.

[0380] Tight integration is a more automated process. The user may not explicitly store the data in a file format or manually initiate a read and / or write operation. Instead, the user need only issue an import or export command. FIG. 90 shows an example of how the user issues an export command, for example. In the example of FIG. 90, the user exports the data objects in the group “adewolf” to Microsoft Excel (registered trademark). FIG.
Menu 9002 also shows other commands 9004 for importing and exporting.

In order to perform tight integration, it is necessary that the API of the third-party component include sufficient functions to support the above-mentioned interaction. Alternatively, tight integration can be achieved with a version of a third-party component modified to support the interaction described above.

(Query Creation and Retention) According to the present invention, upon receiving information from the third party component, the enterprise server 7604 retrieves the search corresponding to the analysis / processing performed by the user using the third party component. Create a query. In one embodiment, the enterprise server 7604 generates a query by comparing information sent to the third-party component with information received from the third-party component.

Consider the embodiment of FIG. In FIG. 63, 1000 documents related to a computer programming language are sent to a third party component,
A portion of these documents related to Pascal and Cobol is
604. According to one embodiment, the enterprise server 7604 compares the transmitted content with the received content to generate a search query limited to Pascal and Cobol.

In another embodiment, the third party component is an enterprise server 760
4 returns status information used when generating a search query. In another embodiment, the third-party component returns a search query.

The query is saved for later reference and use by the user.

Plug-in Manager Application Program Interface (AP1) The plug-in manager preferably supports the addition of “plug-ins” (or preferably active X components) that support interaction with third-party components. Active X component. As described above, using a plug-in, a third-party visualization component (eg, Microsoft
t Excel, Cartia ThemeScape and SpotFire
. (But not limited to these) and export data to these visualization components.

The plug-in manager defines a number of APIs described below that are used by various parts of the plug-in facility. The plug-in manager also provides a local database that provides "linked tables" (proxies) to tables in the IPAM SQL server database.

When IPAM starts, IPAM queries the plug-in manager for available plug-ins and preferably creates a menu that is pulled right listing the names of the available plug-ins. (If no plug-in is available, no menu is created and access to the plug-in is disabled in IPAM). In one embodiment, the user selects an IPAM group and then causes the plug-in manager to invoke a specific plug-in using a plug-in menu. The preferred protocol used when this is done is described below.

For further APIs applicable to the present invention, see “System, Method
, And Computer Program Product for Pa
tent-Centric and Group-Oriented Data
Processing "(Serial No. 07 / 867,392, 1997)
(Filed on June 2, 2008). The application is incorporated herein by reference.
Implementations of the APIs and commands described below will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art (s) in view of the teachings contained herein.

The following APIs and commands are provided for illustrative purposes only,
It should be understood that this is not limiting. As will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art (s) in view of the teachings herein, any other API or command that accomplishes the functions and requirements described herein is also available. It is.

(API: IPAM to Plug-in Manager) The plug-in manager exposes the API to IPAM. This API is called IPA
Allow M to get the number and name of available plug-ins and invoke these plug-ins, but preferably block IPAM from plug-in specific details.

In an exemplary embodiment, the plug-in is installed under Windows under the following key:
Indicate its availability via the (registered trademark) registry subkey.

[0393]

(Equation 1)

The name of the subkey is the OLE class name of the plug-in (for example, Aurigin.
ExcelPlug-in).

If the default value of the subkey is “0”, the plug-in is considered to be unavailable. Any other value indicates that the plug-in is available. In other embodiments, the plug-in manager may automatically mark a plug-in as unavailable under certain circumstances (e.g., the plug-in may be continuously running for a certain set of times). Failed).

The “name” value of the subkey, which appears in the IPAM menu, holds the name of the plug-in.

The “description” value of the subkey holds a string that provides further information about the plug-in (eg, used as a tooltip).

Various examples of commands / functions are described below.

[0399]

(Equation 2)

[0400] The number of available plug-ins is returned.

The plug-in manager queries the registry to identify available plug-ins as described above.

[0402]

(Equation 3)

The name of the index-th plug-in is returned. Here, 0 <= index <
Plug-inCount ().

[0404]

(Equation 4)

[0405] The description of the index-th plug-in is returned. Here, 0 <= index <
Plug-inCount ().

[0406]

(Equation 5)

[0407] The name of the group and the database id as the data source for the plug-in are set.

[0408] As a side effect, the list of subgroups and the document list are cleared.

[0409]

(Equation 6)

[0410] The name and id of the document are added to the list of documents in the group. IPAM is S
After calling etGroup (), IPAM must call AddDocument () for each document in the group.

[0411]

(Equation 7)

The dictionary entry of “name” is set or reset to be “value”. This dictionary can be queried by the plug-in using the protocol described further below. This IPAM is required to set the following attributes.

User Id: ID of logged-in user IPAM Server: Name and port number of IPAM server (for example, “Ro”
SQL server: Name of the server on which the SQL server is running

[0414]

(Equation 8)

[0415] The index-th plug-in is executed. Here, 0 <= index <Plu
g-inCount ().

The plug-in manager creates an instance of the active X component for the plug-in and invokes this instance using the “plug-in manager to plug-in” API described below.

If a plug-in “fails” (if the conditions that constitute failure are specified by a particular plug-in), the plug-in raises an OLE exception (raise).
. If no exception is raised, the plug-in is considered successful.

[0418]

(Equation 9)

Each plug-in preferably implements this API through which the plug-in manager calls (executes) the plug-in.

[0420] Various embodiments of commands / functions are described below.

[0421]

(Equation 10)

Execute the plug-in. The "manager" object is the basis for the instance of the ActiveX component of the plug-in manager. The plugin is
Using the "plug-in to plug-in manager" API described below,
Communicate with plugin manager.

At run time, the plug-in preferably does one or more of the following. * Show the user a dialog listing plugin specific options. * Query the plugin manager for the selected group and its documents. * Instruct the plug-in manager to track the citations of the document * Query the local database for more information about the document * Call third-party APIs to access third-party applications or components (eg, Microsoft Excel®, Cartia)
ThemePublisher, SpotFire. Inxight Type
rbolic Tree). * Insert new data into local database. * Call the IPAM "Plug-in to IPAM" API to create a new document group. * Present the status of one or more information dialogs to the user.

When a plug-in encounters an error, it generates an OLE exception and sends details back to the plug-in manager by sending a description of the error in the exception.

[0425]

[Equation 11]

The plug-in manager implements this API used by plug-ins.

[0427] Various embodiments of the commands / functions are described below.

[0428]

(Equation 12)

[0429] The value of the attribute set by SetAttribute () is obtained. The plug-in uses this function as needed to obtain the id of the logged-in user, the name of the server name, the port number of the IPAM server, and the like.

If the name is not known, generate an exception.

[0431]

(Equation 13)

[0432] The IPAM groups form a hierarchy. The UnrollGroup uses the traces of the group hierarchy from the source group to store the bds in the local database.
Populate the group table at a given depth. (A depth of 0 means only the source group, 1 means that it contains the source group and one level of subgroups, and so on).

The plug-in may then gain access through the GetDB () function described below and issue a join SQL query against the bds_group table.

[0434]

[Equation 14]

[0435] The number of source groups is returned. In one embodiment, this always returns 1.

[0436]

(Equation 15)

Get the name and group id.

The plug-in is responsible for sizing the name and id array to accommodate the GroupCount () group.

[0439]

(Equation 16)

The number of documents is returned to the source group (s).

[0441]

[Equation 17]

In the source group (s), the long display (long displ)
ay)) Obtain the name and document id.

The plug-in is responsible for sizing the name and id array to contain the DocumentCount () document.

[0444]

(Equation 18)

The plug-in manager is instructed to track citations for the source document and write the results to the “bds_citations” table in the local database. The quote is
Tracked to a given depth, either forward or backward.

The plug-in then gains access to the local database via GetDB (), as described below, and links to the bds_quote table (
join) SQL query may be issued.

[0447]

[Equation 19]

Returns an ActiveX object that provides access to the local database. "Database" is an OLE object type provided by Microsoft. "Database" provides an API that interacts with the JET database. Database objects have APIs that support SQL queries.

Through the local database, the plug-in gains access to tables in the IPAM database and, optionally, access to third party or customer specific tables, thereby allowing the merging of display information.

[0450]

(Equation 20)

IPAM exposes API to create new groups.

Various examples of commands / functions are described below.

[0453]

(Equation 21)

Create a new group with the given name and description, and populate the new group with the document.

Preferably, use of this API requires the following: The user is logged into IPAM. 2. 2. Select a group in a group pane. The user has permission to create a new subgroup within the selected group.

If the guide () array contains unrecognized ids, those ids are written to the log file.

Example Third-Party Components The enterprise server 7604 may interact with any third-party components that have the functions and capabilities of interest. As described above, the corporate server 760
4 interacts with a given third party component 6024 via the third party component 6024 API. Alternatively, the company server 760
4 interacts with the third-party component 6024 via a custom interface to the third-party component 6024.

For purposes of illustration and not limitation, an example of a third party component 6024 is described below. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to working with these third party components. The following description is merely illustrative of the operation of the enterprise server 7604 with the third party component 6024, and is not limiting.

(Visualization Tool Using Graph) FIG. 67 shows an exemplary display in which data is displayed as a graph. Although the embodiment of FIG. 67 illustrates a two-dimensional graph, graphs larger than two dimensions are within the scope and intent of the present invention.

In the exemplary display 6702 of FIG. 67, each icon in the graph 6708 is 1
Represents one or more patents. In one embodiment, information about a patent (eg, bibliographic information, text information, image information, etc.) may be searched and displayed by selecting an icon associated with the patent.

The X-axis of the graph represents the date of issue, and the Y-axis of the graph represents the date of filing. Patent icons are placed on the graph 6708 according to their particular filing date and issuance date. The display can be dynamically adjusted by selecting other criteria for the X-axis via drop-down menu 6710. Similarly, this graphical display can also be obtained by selecting other criteria for the Y axis via drop down menu 6712.
It can be adjusted dynamically.

The data shown in graph 6708 may be filtered by selecting an attribute from attributes 6706. In the embodiment of FIG. 67, for example, graph 6
The patent shown in 708 is limited to field units 111-358, and
He remains pending over 961 weeks.

A variety of graph-based visualization tools operable with the present invention are widely available. For example, without limitation, SPOTIRE PRO may be available from Boston, Ma.
It is a product commercially available from SPOTFIRE of Sachusetts. S
POTFIRE PRO enables a graphical display of data as shown in FIG.

FIG. 65 shows an exemplary display 6502, in which data is shown as a landscape or map. The peaks in the landscape correspond to aggregated data objects according to criteria selected by the user. In the example of FIG. 65, these peaks correspond to claims from one or more patents directed to similar subjects. For example, reference number 6508 identifies a peak that indicates the total number of claims from one or more patents that are directed to or associated with a “policy”.
The relative height / size of the peak indicates the number of claims corresponding to each subject of the peak.

The display can be dynamically adjusted by selecting an attribute from menu 6510. For example, if the "assignee" attribute is selected, the landscape is adjusted so that the peak represents the number of patents assigned to the legal entity.

The information being displayed can be limited by using a filter from the filter menu 6512. For example, when the “assignee” attribute is selected, “Aurigi”
"n" is entered in the pop-up dialog, then the landscape
It is adjusted to display only patents assigned to "urigin".

According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 65, when the cursor 6504 is positioned near or above a peak, the text of the claim corresponding to the peak is displayed partially or completely. This is shown in window 6506.

FIG. 66 shows a similar display 6604 showing patent related data using a landscape approach.

FIG. 63 above is directed to another display 6306, wherein the information is visualized using a landscape approach.

As described above, and as further shown in FIG. 88, information from IPAM 8806 may be exported to landscape tool 8808. this,
Shown as data flow line 8802. The exported information is stored in map 881
Shown as 0. The user manipulates the map to select a group of data objects, which can be imported into IPAM 8806. This is shown as data flow line 8804. The imported data can be used to form a new group, as shown in FIG.

As an example of a product that visualizes data using a landscape approach, C
ARTIA, INC. From Bellevue, Bellevue, Washington
There is meSCAPE. FIG. 68 illustrates a corporate server 7604, a corporate client 7606 or 7612, and a third party Th according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 shows an event diagram 6802 illustrating interaction with the emeSCAPE product 6807. The present invention is not limited to this exemplary implementation.

The interaction with Cartia ThemeScape will be further described with reference to the exemplary scenarios shown in FIGS. This further demonstrates the reciprocating ability of the present invention.

[0473] First, an IPAM group is selected, and this is referred to as Cartia ThemeSc.
Send to ape. See FIG. 91.

Second, select available options in the Cartia plug-in dialog (see FIG. 92). This dialog allows you to change the map name (the name of the IPAM group is the default map name). This dialog also allows you to specify which parts of the patent documents in the group will be used as components of the map. Dialogs vary by third-party tool.

Third, provide a notification that Cartia has begun processing the map.
See FIG. 93.

Fourth, the progress is shown in the MapPublisher dialog in ThemePublisher. See FIG. 94. When map construction is complete, the status line indicates "processing complete" or indicates why the map could not be constructed.

Fifth, a map is displayed. See FIG. 95. The user can use Theme
Using the Publisher tool, select a portion of the map.

Sixth, the ThemePublisher document viewer appears with a portion of the selected map. See FIG. 96. The user clicks the export button to export the data object corresponding to the selected map portion to IPAM.

Seventh, an export dialog is presented. See FIG. 96. FIG.
In the sixth embodiment, the "AuriginIPAM group" option is selected, and then the user clicks OK. In some embodiments, C
artia ThemePublisher displays a dialog asking "What is the name of the Aurigin IPAM group?" with a field for the user to enter a name. This dialog contains default values such as the map name.

Eighth, a new group is created as a child of any selected group.

This example is provided for illustrative, but not limiting, purposes. This embodiment is also applicable to other third party tools. Therefore,
One skilled in the relevant art (s) can incorporate IPAM into other third party tools given the teachings herein. The present invention is also directed to such other combinations.

Data Object Search Tool The present invention may work with third party tools that identify collections of data objects. Such data objects can be imported into IPAM for processing. For example, one or more new groups may be formed from imported data objects.

For example, FIG. 89 shows a chemical substance search engine 8904 (the chemical substance search engine 8904 described herein is for illustrative purposes only. The invention is not limited to this embodiment. Is not.) The user operates the chemical substance search engine 8904.
The chemical substance structure 8905 is defined therein. Next, the chemical substance search engine 8904
Searches for chemical substances related to the chemical substance structure 8905. CAS SciFi
Various chemical search engines, such as nder, are widely available and are operable with the present invention.

The search result is stored via a save dialog 8906. In the embodiment of FIG. 89, the search result is stored in a file “test.csv”. The search results include one or more chemicals found during the search. Each chemical generally represents a data object.

In IPAM 8902, the user imports the file “test.csv”, as shown in row 8908. The “test.csv” content (ie, chemicals found during the search) is stored in group 8910.

An example usage scenario is shown below.

A user working in IPAM 8902 is exploring a group that includes multiple chemical compounds, each of which can be represented, for example, by corporate documents.
Users want to identify chemical compounds in this group that have a particular substructure.

The user calls the chemical substance search engine 8904 and instructs the IPAM 8902 to export the group to the chemical substance search engine 8904. Therefore, the plug-in manager interacts with the plug-in about the chemical substance search engine 8904, (1) calls the chemical substance search engine 8904, and (2)
) Export the group to Chemical Search Engine 8904. The plug-in uses the API of the chemical substance search engine 8904, and uses the chemical substance search engine 8904.
Interacts with 04. The plugin performs any data / format translation needed to export the group to the chemical search engine 8904.

The user interacts with the chemical search engine 8904 and, as described above,
A search is performed for compounds related to a particular structure 8905. This search is limited to compounds in the group exported to the chemical search engine 8904.

After the search is completed, the plug-in associated with the chemical search engine 8904 accesses the search results (perhaps from the file “test.csv”) and imports the search results into the IPAM 8902 via the plug-in manager. . In doing so, the plug-in performs any necessary data / format translation that is consistent with the API of the plug-in manager.

Upon receiving the search result, IPAM 8902 creates a new subgroup of the original group, and stores the search result in the new subgroup. Other processing by IPAM 8902 is possible, as will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant field (s) in view of the teachings contained herein.

(Others) As further third party components applicable to cooperation with the enterprise server 7604, CRYSTAL REPORTS, MICR from SEAGATE
EXCEL® from OSOFT, TABLE from INXIGHT
LENS, and PERSPECTA, INC. (But not limited to) from PERSPECTA.

(Hybrid Model) The present invention supports various configurations as its own component. In addition, the present invention provides for the configuration and distribution (d
support the IST.

For example, FIG. 69 shows a configuration where all major components and functions are located in one location 6904.

FIG. 70 shows a configuration in which components and functions are distributed between a first location 7002 and a second location 7004. Corporate server 7604, clients 7606 and 7608, and IPAM database 7
614 and the functions performed by these components are located in a first location 7002. The search engine and index 6902 and the functions performed by the search engine and index 6902 are
Is located at the location 7004. In performing a search specified by a user, the enterprise server 7604 accesses a remote search engine and index 6902 at a second location 7004. Such a search engine and index 6902 may be a third party component as described above (eg, LEXIS-NEXIS, Westlaw, Dialog, Derw).
ent).

FIG. 71 illustrates a configuration in which components and functions are distributed among a first location 7102, a second location 7104, and a third location 7106.

FIG. 72 illustrates a configuration in which components and functions are distributed among a first location 7202, a second location 7204, a third location 7206, and a fourth location 7208.

As shown in the exemplary configurations shown in FIGS.
Includes various configurations and distributions of its components and functions. The embodiments of FIGS. 69-72 are shown for illustrative purposes only, and are not limiting. In view of the description provided herein, other components and configurations of functionality will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts.

For example, a given component and / or function may be distributed to multiple locations. This is shown in FIG. In FIG. 73, an enterprise server 7604 is connected to a first location 7302 and a second location 73.
04. Further, the database 7206 is stored in the location 730.
6 and 7308. Search engine and index 6
902 are distributed among locations 7310 and 7312. Third party components / tools (described above) can also be localized or distributed.

The locations shown in FIGS. 69-73 may be owned and / or controlled by a single legal entity, or may be owned and / or controlled by multiple legal entities. Please note. FIG. 69
The locations shown in 73 may be close to each other, far apart from each other, or may combine near and remote.

[0501] The present invention supports multiple economic models using this system. For example, the system supports a fee payment service. In this service, the usage amount of the system is measured, and a fee is charged according to the usage amount. The present invention also provides other economic models (e.g., unlimited service plans (for a given fee, users can download as many documents as they like and have unlimited use of the system) and (given For a fee, a user can download a given number of documents and use the system for a given length of time or a given amount of transactions (or other specific metrics) Plan, etc., but not limited to these). If the usage fee exceeds these limits, the user pays according to the usage amount.

The present invention can also distribute the metadata version (v1) to the client at the time (t1), and thereafter distribute the updated version of the metadata (v2) at the time (t2). Also supports possible models. This is extremely valuable because certain aspects of the metadata associated with a patent are mutable (eg, assignee and US classification). By providing these version numbers to the database, the host system can automatically provide updated metadata to the remote system. Fees for these updates may be included within the user's existing economic model (as described above) or may be included via a separate economic model.

The present invention also supports electronic ordering of data objects (eg, patents) and automatic download and installation of such data objects.
In this embodiment, a user can place an order for a data object electronically, for example, but not limited to via a modem or the Internet. For example, an automated process receives an order, performs any necessary financial accounting and billing, retrieves the requested data item from the database, and retrieves the retrieved data item / object via the Internet to the requester's request. Download to At the user computer, the retrieved data object is automatically decrypted (if needed), unpacked (if needed), and unzip (if needed).
nzip), installed in an appropriate directory, recorded in a computer registry, and / or other tasks are performed to automatically install the received data objects for use by users on site.

(Process of Assignee) The present invention supports a process related to a legal entity. For example, the present invention
Includes the ability to identify and process patents assigned to a particular legal entity.

In order to effectively perform the processing related to a legal entity, it is important that the reference to a given legal entity in one data set is consistent in the data set. For example, if the user decides that Aurigin, Inc. , Wants to identify all patents assigned to Aurigin in the database
It is important that the references to use the same name (eg, “Aurigin, Inc.”). If different indications were used to represent a given legal entity (eg, "Origin" and "Aurigin. Incorporated" were used to represent Aurigin), the processing performed by the present invention would be effective. Reduce.

As described above, the present invention preferably receives patent data from a national patent office (this is referred to herein as "raw data"). Such patent data often includes different representations for one given legal entity. Therefore, when processing a corporate entity via such data, the effect is reduced overall.

The present invention solves this problem by processing the assignee data included in the raw patent data. Such processing is called assignee name processing and is shown in the flowchart 7402 of FIG.

At step 7406, a normalized assignee name is selected for one entity. For example, the name "Aurigin" is changed to "Aurigin, I
nc. "Can be selected as the normalized assignee name of the legal entity.

In step 7408, the raw patent data is analyzed to identify all name designations for the legal entity being considered. For example, when investigating a dataset, Aur
igin, Inc. The following indications can be identified:

Aurigin Origin Aurigin, Inc Aurigin, Incorporated Origin, Inc. Origin. Incorporated step 7408 may be performed manually, automatically, or in a combination of manual and automatic. Various factors are considered to determine whether two indications (e.g., but not limited to, a company name, company location, etc.) refer to the same company or two independent unrelated companies. .

At step 7410, the normalized assignee name selected at step 7406 is linked with the name designation identified at step 7408.

[0512] Preferably, step 7410 is performed by replacing the instance of the name designation that appears in the database table with the normalized assignee name. Preferably,
The raw patent data will not be modified.

The processing shown in FIG. 74 is not limited to assignee name processing, but can be applied wherever the representation of a given object needs to be consistent in one dataset. For example, with respect to patents, for example, the process of FIG. 74 is applicable to inventor names, law firms, patent examiners, classes and subclasses (which change over time), any other bibliographic data, etc. .

Entering Data Objects of Any Possible Potential The present invention allows data objects of any format and / or content to be automatically or semi-automatically entered into the system. Such data objects are stored in a system database. The present invention
Enables display and annotation of data objects. It is also possible to search for data objects. The present invention is directed to other data object processing as described herein, or to "System, Method, and Compu".
ter Program Product for Managing and
Analyzing Intellectual Property (IP)
Related Transactions "(Serial No. 09/138
No. 368, filed on August 21, 1998) and "Using Hyperbo."
like Trees to Visualize Data Generate
ed By Patent-Centric and Group-Orien
ted Data Processing ”(Serial No. 08 / 921,3
No. 69, filed on Aug. 29, 1997) and "System, Method, a
nd Computer Program Product for Pat
nt-Centric and Group-Oriented Data P
processing ”(Serial No. 08 / 867,392, June 1997)
And other data object processing as described in US Pat. In this specification, the entire content of the application is incorporated by reference.

In an embodiment of the present invention, information is extracted from a data object. The extracted information is also stored. Preferably, the extracted information is stored in a relational database, a data mining database or other type of database. this is,
Storing bibliographic and other information from patents in a relational database as described above, or US Patent Application "System, Method and Compu"
ter Program Product for Patent-Centr
ic and Group-Oriented Data Processin
g "(Serial No. 08 / 867,392, filed Jun. 2, 1997). In this specification, the entire content of the application is incorporated by reference. Extracted data stored in a relational database or other database can be used for advanced data mining and other processing related to the underlined data objects as described above.

Preferably, the format of the data objects input to the system is at least partially regular and consistent. This means that for a given data object type, a given piece of information (eg, a document title) is located at substantially the same location in a data object of that data object type. The invention extracts data from a data object using a regular and consistent configuration of the data in the data object. The extracted data is stored in a relational database, data mining database or other type of database.

This operation of the present invention is shown in flowchart 8402 in FIG.
Note that the steps of flowchart 8402 are performed for a particular data object type. For reference purposes, a particular data object type is referred to herein as a "current data object type."

At step 8404, the current data object type is analyzed to identify information of interest 8506 contained in the data object of the current data object type. The information of interest 8506 identified represents information extracted from the data object of the current data object. For example, if the current data object type is a US patent, the information of interest 8506 identified in step 8404 may include a patent number, inventor, assignee, reference, number of claims, number of drawings, etc. .

At step 8404, interesting information 8506 for the current data object type may be identified by examining the example data object 8502 for the current data object type (see FIG. 85). Alternatively, at step 8404, the information of interest 8506 may be identified by other means. For example, in step 8404, the data object standard 8504 that characterizes / defines / describes the current data object type and specifies the data content and location of the data content in the data object of the current data object type is consulted. Thus, it is possible to identify information of interest.

At step 8406, the system identifies where the interesting information 8506 (identified at step 8404) was located in the data object of the current data object type. Step 8406 may also be performed by examining an example data object 8502 of the current data object, or examining a data object standard 8504 that characterizes the current data object type.

At step 8408, if necessary, one or more new database tables are created to store data extracted from data objects of the current data object type. Note that step 8408 is optional because the database tables that store the extracted information may already exist.

In step 8410, one or more database tables 8510 (one of these)
One or more may have been created in step 8408). The selected database table 8510 stores information extracted from data objects of the current data object type. The database table 8510 selected in the step 8410 is represented, for example, as a relational database table 8510 in FIG.

In step 8412, a column (field) in the database table 8510, which is a place for storing information extracted from the data object of the current data object type, is selected. This is shown in FIG. 85. For example, in FIG. 85, the data in the location 8508A is stored in the column 851 of the relational database 8510.
2 is specified. Similarly, data object locations 8508B, 8508C, and 8508D of the current data object type
The data in the columns 8514, 8516 and 8 of the relational database table 8510
518 respectively.

After step 8412 is completed, the system prepares to receive and extract data from a data object of the current data object type. Therefore,
At step 8414, a data object of the current data object type is received.

At step 8416, the system determines the type of the received data object. In particular, at step 8416, the system determines that the received data object is of the current data object type. The system can determine the type of the data object by examining the information attached to the data object when the data object was received in step 8414. In particular, at step 8414, an indication of the type of the data object may also be provided to the system. Alternatively, the system can analyze the received data object to determine the type of the data object.

At step 8418, the system proceeds according to the type of data object,
Extract information from the received data object. Preferably, the extraction operation does not alter or otherwise affect the received data object. The system recognizes where to extract the information of interest 8506 by referring to the location 8508 identified in step 8406.

At step 8420, the system stores the extracted information in a column of the database table 8510 associated with the current database type as determined at steps 8410 and 8412.

In step 8422, the system stores the data object itself.

(Embodiment of Tool Box) In this specification, various widgets (components) of the present invention will be described. The present invention is directed to a toolbox embodiment. In this toolbox embodiment, any number of these widgets may be packaged as separately accessible components that can be added to other applications, or the system described herein. Used to customize For example, extensions of the user interface include (but are not limited to) the ability to "mix and match" certain widgets or components associated with the user interface. Consider FIGS. 16 and 75 and the “kind frame” (7504). These can be packaged as separately accessible components of the API and are referred to as "toolkits"
Will be available as The same applies to all other components of the invention. Users can build their own user interfaces or other applications, perhaps by embedding the context browser in other applications (eg, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets).

Exemplary Implementation In one embodiment of the present invention, the systems and components of the present invention described herein utilize a well-known computer (eg, computer 8602 shown in FIG. 86). Implemented using Computer 8602 may be a commercially available, well-known computer (e.g., an I / O) capable of performing the functions described herein.
international Business Machines, Apple
, Silicon Graphics Inc. , Sun, HP, Dell, C
ompaq, Digital, Cray, etc.).

[0531] The computer 8602 includes one or more processors (also referred to as central processing units (CPUs)), such as the processor 8606. The processor 8606 is connected to the communication bus 8
604. The computer 8602 has a main or main memory 8.
608 (preferably random access memory (RAM)). Main memory 86
08 stores control logic (computer software) and data within itself.

[0532] The computer 8602 also includes one or more second storage devices 8610. The second storage device 8610 is, for example, a hard disk drive 8612
And / or includes a removable storage device or drive 8614. Removable storage drive 8614 represents a floppy disk drive, magnetic tape drive, compact disk drive, optical storage device, tape backup, ZIP drive, JAZZ drive, and the like.

The removable storage drive 8614 interacts with the removable storage unit 8616. Removable storage unit 8616, as will be appreciated, includes a computer-usable or readable storage medium having computer software (control logic) and / or data stored therein. Removable storage drive 8614 reads and / or writes to removable storage unit 8616 in well-known fashion.

[0534] The removable storage unit 8616 (also referred to as a program storage device or computer program product) may be a floppy disk, magnetic tape, compact disk, optical storage disk, ZIP disk, JAZZ disk / tape, or any other Represents a computer data storage device. A program storage device or computer program product also includes any device capable of storing a computer program (eg, a hard drive, ROM, or memory card, etc.).

In one embodiment, the invention is directed to a computer program product or a program storage device having software enabling the computer 8602 to perform any combination of the functions described herein.

The computer program (also called computer control logic) is stored in main memory 8608 and / or second storage device 8610. Such computer programs, when executed, enable the computer 8602 to perform the functions of the present invention as described herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed, enable processor 8606 to perform the functions of the present invention. Accordingly, such computer programs represent a controller of computer 8602.

[0537] The computer 8602 also includes an input / output / display device 8622 (eg,
Monitor, keyboard, pointing device, etc.).

The computer 8602 further includes a communication interface or network interface 8618. Network interface 8618 enables computer 8602 to communicate with remote devices. For example, a network interface 8618 allows the computer 8602 to communicate over a communication network (eg, LAN, WAN, Internet, etc.). A network interface 8618 may interface with a remote site or network via a wired or wireless connection. Computer 8602 receives data and / or computer programs 8620 via network interface 8618. The data transmitted and received by the computer 8602 via the interface 8618 and / or the electrical / magnetic signals containing the computer program 8620 also represent the computer program product (s).

The invention is capable of working with software, hardware and operating system implementations other than those described herein. Any software, hardware, and operating system implementations are suitable for performing the functions described herein.

(Conclusion) Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is understood that these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Should be. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a group browser.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of image skimming according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an event trace corresponding to a preview data object function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a patent that is a member of multiple groups.

FIG. 5 illustrates a data object (eg, a document that is a member of multiple contexts).

FIG. 6 illustrates a corporate document window according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates filtering in a corporate document window by document type.

FIG. 8 illustrates filtering in a corporate document window by security class.

FIG. 9 illustrates a new corporate document type dialog according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates a new security class dialog according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates a new security class dialog according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates a new corporate document dialog according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates the addition of a corporate document to an IPAM system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 illustrates the addition of a corporate document to an IPAM system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 illustrates the addition of a corporate document to an IPAM system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 illustrates a context browser according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 illustrates a type table according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 illustrates a type document cross reference table according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 illustrates one embodiment of a type table.

FIG. 20 illustrates one embodiment of a cross-reference table for type documents.

FIG. 21 is used to describe a data object preview function according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is used to describe a data object preview function according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a table illustrating the differences between different annotation types.

FIG. 24 illustrates various types of document annotations according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 25 illustrates various types of document annotations according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 26 illustrates various types of document annotations according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 27 illustrates various types of document annotations according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 28 illustrates various types of document annotations according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 29 illustrates various types of document annotations according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 30 illustrates various types of document annotations according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 31 illustrates an annotation pane according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 32 illustrates a flowchart representing the operation of the present invention in creating an annotation linked to a data object.

FIG. 33 illustrates a flowchart representing the operation of the present invention when creating a group or annotation type.

FIG. 34 illustrates a GUI search according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 35 illustrates a GUI search according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 36 illustrates a GUI search according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 37 illustrates one embodiment of a claims tree.

FIG. 38 illustrates a flowchart reflecting the operation of the present invention when creating and using a claim tree.

FIG. 39 is used to describe the claim branch display function of the present invention.

FIG. 40 is used to describe the claim branch display function of the present invention.

FIG. 41 is used to describe the claim branch display function of the present invention.

FIG. 42A shows a menu applicable to a claim tree.

FIG. 42B illustrates node state information stored within nodes of a hyperbolic tree according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 43 illustrates one embodiment of a patent citation tree.

FIG. 44 illustrates a patent look-up table according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 45 illustrates a non-patent lookup table according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 46 illustrates one embodiment of a patent look-up table.

FIG. 47 illustrates one embodiment of a non-patent lookup table.

FIG. 48 illustrates a data object family table according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 49 illustrates one embodiment of a data object family table.

FIG. 50A shows a table associated with a relationship type supported by an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 50B shows a table associated with a relationship type supported by an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 51 illustrates one embodiment of a patent family timeline.

FIG. 52 illustrates one embodiment of a data object family table corresponding to the patent family time series of FIG. 51.

FIG. 53 illustrates one embodiment of a proxy technology patent family.

FIG. 54 illustrates one embodiment of a data object family table corresponding to the agent technology patent family of FIG. 53.

FIG. 55 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention when generating a relation table.

FIG. 56 is used to describe an example source of relational data used by an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 57A is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention when analyzing related information.

FIG. 57B is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the present invention when calculating a closure for a data object family.

FIG. 58 is a diagram illustrating the operation of an enterprise server when interacting with third party components and tools.

FIG. 59 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the enterprise server when interacting with a third party component / tool.

FIG. 60 is a more detailed block diagram of an enterprise server interacting with a third party component / tool.

FIG. 61 is an event trace illustrating the operation of a corporate server when interacting with a third party component.

FIG. 62A is a flowchart corresponding to the event trace diagram of FIG. 61.

FIG. 62B is a flowchart corresponding to the event trace diagram of FIG. 61.

FIG. 63 is an example of a data flow diagram for operation of a corporate server when interacting with a third party component representing data using a landscape or map.

FIG. 64 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of the operation of a third party component interacting with a corporate server.

FIG. 65 illustrates an example of a data display represented as a map or landscape.

FIG. 66 illustrates an example of a data display represented as a map or landscape.

FIG. 67 is one example of a display of data represented using a graph with dynamically adjustable axes.

FIG. 68 is an enterprise server event trace running on certain third-party components / tools.

FIG. 69 illustrates various configurations and distributions of components and functionality supported by the present invention.

FIG. 70 illustrates various configurations and distributions of components and functionality supported by the present invention.

FIG. 71 illustrates various configurations and distributions of components and functionality supported by the present invention.

FIG. 72 illustrates various configurations and distributions of components and functionality supported by the present invention.

FIG. 73 illustrates various configurations and distributions of components and functionality supported by the present invention.

FIG. 74 is a flowchart showing an operation of the embodiment of the present invention when executing a proxy name process.

FIG. 75 illustrates another context browser according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 76 is a block diagram of an enterprise server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 77 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention when executing a context to be processed according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 78A illustrates free text annotations according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 78B illustrates free text annotations according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 79 illustrates one embodiment of a form-type annotation.

FIG. 80 illustrates another embodiment of a form-based annotation.

FIG. 81 is a dataflow diagram used to describe form-type annotations according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 82 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a form-type annotation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 83A is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a form-based annotation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 83B is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a form-based annotation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 84 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention when an arbitrary data object is input.

FIG. 85 is a data flow diagram supporting the flowchart of FIG. 84.

FIG. 86 is one embodiment of a block diagram of a computer system useful for implementing the modules of the present invention.

FIG. 87 illustrates one embodiment of a patent claim tree module.

FIG. 88 illustrates one example of a landscape tool or map tool operable with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 89 illustrates one example of a search tool operable with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 90 illustrates one embodiment of an export operation.

FIG. 91 is used to illustrate one embodiment of the plug-in operation of the present invention with a third party tool.

FIG. 92 is used to illustrate one embodiment of the plug-in operation of the present invention with a third party tool.

FIG. 93 is used to illustrate one embodiment of the plug-in operation of the present invention with a third party tool.

FIG. 94 is used to illustrate one embodiment of the plug-in operation of the present invention with a third party tool.

FIG. 95 is used to illustrate one embodiment of the plug-in operation of the present invention with a third party tool.

FIG. 96 is used to illustrate one embodiment of the plug-in operation of the present invention with a third party tool.

FIG. 97 is used to illustrate one embodiment of the plug-in operation of the present invention with a third-party tool.

FIG. 98 is used to illustrate one embodiment of the plug-in operation of the present invention with third party tools.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (81) Designated country EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE ), OA (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, KE, LS, MW, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, CA, CH, CN, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID , IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, NO, (72) Invention NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW Wrapperport, Irving S. United States California 94303, Palo Alto, Edgewood Drive 1500 (72) Inventor Hoffman, Luke United States California 94043, Mountain View, Windmill Park Lane 306 (72) Inventor Puglia, David United States California 95030, Los Gatos, East Vineland Avenue 17429 (72) Inventors Dewolf, Andrew S. United States California 94086, Sunnyvale, Acarans Drive No. 11 242 (72) Inventor Gorretski, David United States California 94086, Sunnyvale, Waverly Street 272 (72) Inventor Jackson, Adam United States California 94089, Sanivale, Morse Avenue Number 7 −107 1063 (72) Inventor Crowsky, California USA 95129, San Jose, Corvette Drive 1038 (72) Inventor Park, Brian United States of America 94002, Belmont, Ponce Avenue 2636 (72) Inventor Rab, Charles Jr. United States of America California 94086, Sunnyvale, East Evelyn Number 638 730 (72) Inventor Rosenquist, Brent America Country California 94087, Sunnyvale, Kennard-way 1668 (72) inventor Shunittsu, Matthew United States California 94043, Mountain View, Maderu-way 2558 (72) inventor Smith, David W.. United States California 94043, Mountain View, Morning Suncourt 3 (72) Inventor Paradan, Shelley United States California 94086, Sunnyvale, Paintbrush Drive 1058 (72) Inventor Bashur, Nowra United States California 94043, Mountain View, Windmill Park Lane 306 F term (reference) 5B075 ND20 5B082 GC02 GC04

Claims (37)

[Claims] 1. A computer-implemented method for enabling a search for patents in an electronic patent shoe, comprising: (1) generating an electronic patent shoe containing a plurality of patents; and (2) the electronic patent shoe. Displaying a list of patents in the shoe; (3) displaying image data representing at least a portion of the patent from the electronic patent shoe; and (4) displaying at least the next patent according to a command to view the next patent. (5) fetching and displaying image data representing at least a part of at least the previous patent according to a command for viewing the previous patent. A method comprising the steps of: (6) determining whether the request information relating to the patent is locally available; and (7) providing an option to preview the request information if the request information is not locally available. The method of claim 1, comprising: (8) retrieving and displaying at least a portion of the request information when the option is selected. 3. A method of processing context data, comprising: (1) selecting one or more contexts, wherein each context has one or more attributes and a plurality of data objects satisfying the attributes. And (2) displaying a list of data objects included in the context; and (3) processing a plurality of the data objects included in the context. Method. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the context is a group. 5. The method of claim 3, wherein each of the contexts is associated with a data object type and includes a data object of the data object type. 6. The method of claim 3, wherein the data object is of interest to a legal entity. 7. The data object is a patent, and the step (3) comprises the steps of (a)
7. The method of claim 6, including the step of :) performing a patent-centric operation on the data object. 8. The step (a) includes generating a patent citation tree including the patent data object and the non-patent data object, wherein the patent data object and the non-patent data object are (i) cited by the basic patent. 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the method comprises: (ii) citing a basic patent. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising visualizing the patent citation tree as a hyperbolic tree. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein each node of the hyperbolic tree includes state information including display attribute information. 11. The step (a) includes generating a patent claim tree including nodes corresponding to claims in one of the patents and a link between the nodes indicating dependencies between the claims. The method of claim 7, wherein 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising displaying at least a portion of a claim corresponding to one of the nodes if a selection device is located in the vicinity of one of the nodes. 13. The method further comprising the step of: upon the occurrence of a suitable user command, displaying the dependent claim, the base claim of the dependent claim, and any intermediate claims between the dependent claim and the base claim. The method according to claim 11. 14. The method further includes: (4) generating a data object family tree including a plurality of data objects and indicating a relationship between the data objects; and (5) displaying the data object family tree. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the method comprises: 15. The method of claim 14, wherein step (5) comprises displaying the data object family tree as a hyperbolic tree. 16. The method of claim 3, further comprising: (4) generating at least one annotation. 17. The step (4) of generating document annotations having a group of ranges linked to at least a portion of at least one of the data objects and including at least one of the data objects. 17. The method of claim 16, comprising. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the document annotation is linked to at least a portion of image data associated with at least one of the data objects.
The method described in. 19. The method of claim 16, wherein step (4) includes generating a group annotation having a range of groups that is active when the group annotation is created. 20. The method of claim 16, wherein step (4) includes generating a data object type annotation having a range of data object types that is active when the data object type annotation is created. The described method. 21. Step (4) generates a case annotation that is linked to at least a portion of at least one of the data objects and that has a range of cases active when the case annotation was created. 17. The method of claim 16, comprising the step of: 22. Step (4) generating a corporate annotation linked to at least a portion of at least one of the data objects and accessible to a user at all times with appropriate authentication. 17. The method of claim 16, comprising: 23. A system for processing data, comprising: an intellectual property asset manager (IPAM); a plug-in manager coupled to the IPAM; and at least one plug-in coupled to the plug-in manager. A system comprising: 24. The system of claim 23, further comprising at least one external data processing component coupled to said plug-in. 25. The system of claim 24, wherein the external data processing component displays data using at least a graph. 26. The system of claim 24, wherein the external data processing component displays data using at least a map. 27. The system of claim 24, wherein the plug-in manager has a first application programming interface (API) and the external data processing component has a second API. 28. The plug-in comprises: means for translating a message from the plug-in manager to the external data processing component into a format compatible with the second API; Means for translating a message to the first API into a format compatible with the first API. 29. A method of processing a assignee name, comprising: (1) selecting a normalized assignee name for an entity; and (2) identifying a name designation of the entity in a data set. And (3) linking the name designation and the normalized assignee name. 30. The method of claim 2, wherein step (3) comprises replacing at least some instances of the name representation with the normalized assignee name.
10. The method according to 9. 31. A method for processing context data, comprising: (1) accessing a database of patent information and patent bibliographic information; and (2) accessing one or more contexts. (3) each of the one or more contexts includes any number of patents represented in the database; and (3) at least some of the patents in at least one of the one or more contexts include a patent. Automatically and centrally and context-sensitive processing. 32. The method of claim 31, further comprising (4) annotating the patents represented in the database. 33. The method of claim 32, wherein step (4) comprises annotating the patent using an annotation form. 34. The method of claim 31, wherein step (3) comprises creating and displaying a family of data objects. 35. A system for processing data, the system comprising: an intellectual property asset manager (IPAM); and at least one external data processing component coupled to the IPAM for extending the functionality of the IPAM. Wherein the external data processing component displays data from the IPAM using at least one of a graph and a map. 36. Means for accessing a database of patent information and patent bibliographic information, and means for accessing one or more groups, each of the one or more groups being represented by the database represented in the database. Means including any number of patents, and means for automatically performing a patent-centric and group-oriented process on at least some of the patents in at least one of the one or more groups. 36. The system of claim 35 comprising. 37. The system of claim 35, further comprising means for generating and displaying a data object family.