Patent US5721910A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5721910A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Relational database system containing a multidimensional hierachical model of interrelated subject categories with recognition capabilities
Assignee: ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Co
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Filing: 1996-06-04
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Granted: 1998-02-24
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Expires: 2016-06-04
Abstract
Abstract The present invention is a database and a method of producing that database which can be used to determine the meaning of scientific or technical documents, such as patents and/or technical or scientific publications and/or abstracts of these patents or publications, and to assign the technical documents to one or more scientific or technical categories within a multidimensional hierarchical model which reflects the business, scientific or technical interests of a business, scientific or technical entity or specialty.
Inventors
- 👤 Sandra S. Unger
- 👤 Sibylle Pagnucco
- 👤 Roger W. Cohen
- 👤 Rocco A. Fiato
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 06:41
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/30; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/912; Y10S707/923; Y10S707/924; Y10S707/929; Y10S707/953; Y10S707/954; Y10S707/956; Y10S707/957; Y10S707/99941; Y10S707/99944; Y10S707/99945
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim
105 words
A computer readable medium comprising a database system, including stored data of scientific or technical documents, such as patents, technical or scientific publications, abstracts of these patents or publications, and associated bibliographic and technical classification data, or combinations thereof such that said scientific and technical documents are assigned to one or more scientific or technical categories (category assignments) within a multidimensional hierarchical model of a business, scientific or technical entity or specialty, and said category assignments are stored in a relational database wherein said category assignments are used to identify one or more patterns, trends and/or discontinuities based on a population analysis of the categories.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
105 words
A computer readable medium comprising a database system, including stored data of scientific or technical documents, such as patents, technical or scientific publications, abstracts of these patents or publications, and associated bibliographic and technical classification data, or combinations thereof such that said scientific and technical documents are assigned to one or more scientific or technical categories (category assignments) within a multidimensional hierarchical model of a business, scientific or technical entity or specialty, and said category assignments are stored in a relational database wherein said category assignments are used to identify one or more patterns, trends and/or discontinuities based on a population analysis of the categories.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
The database system of claim 1 where the stored data and category assignments can be displayed on a computerized graphical device in the form of multidimensional tabular or graphical displays which permit the observation of trends and discontinuities within the business, scientific or technical entity or specialty being modeled.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
39 words
The database of claim 1 wherein said stored data includes patent abstracts, patent identifiers, technical index tenths, patent classifications, patent claims, graphic images, chemical structures, and all or portions of the text of the patent or published patent application.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
The database of claim 1 wherein said stored data includes the technical abstracts, document identifiers, technical index terms, graphic images, chemical structures, and all or portions of the text of the scientific or technical publication.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
46 words
The database of claim 1 wherein said stored data includes a fractional contribution matrix which stores the cumulative opinion of a team of technical or scientific experts on the fractional contribution of each category to a set of higher-level (more abstract) concepts within the hierarchical model.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
23 words
The database of claim 5 wherein a set of higher-level (more abstract) concepts are related to each stored category by a mathematical relationship.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
27 words
The database system of claim 1 where the database can also store the claims of the corresponding U.S. patents and the claims of the corresponding European patents.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
126 words
A method of creating a database for a collection of scientific or technical documents, such as patents and/or technical or scientific publications and/or abstracts of these patents or publications, by: (a) creating a hierarchical model of subjects of potential interest (b) creating an expert technical search (ETS) for each subject-category), within the hierarchical model (c) automatically applying the set of ETS's against a set of electronically stored patents, patent abstracts, patent identifiers, technical index tenths, technical documents, and/or abstracts of these documents (d) using the results of the search strategies to electronically assign each patent or technical document to one or more subject-categories within the hierarchical model (e) Storing the set of subject-categories and unique patent identifiers or unique document identifiers in an electronic database table.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
126 words
A method of creating a database for a collection of scientific or technical documents, such as patents and/or technical or scientific publications and/or abstracts of these patents or publications, by: (a) creating a hierarchical model of subjects of potential interest (b) creating an expert technical search (ETS) for each subject-category), within the hierarchical model (c) automatically applying the set of ETS's against a set of electronically stored patents, patent abstracts, patent identifiers, technical index tenths, technical documents, and/or abstracts of these documents (d) using the results of the search strategies to electronically assign each patent or technical document to one or more subject-categories within the hierarchical model (e) Storing the set of subject-categories and unique patent identifiers or unique document identifiers in an electronic database table.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of electronically manipulating the stored subject-categories, the stored unique identifiers and the stored technical index tenths to display tabular summaries an graphical summaries of the stored data.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of using the tabular summaries and the graphical summaries to identify trends and discontinuities.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method as of claim 7 where multiple-entity fields are parsed to create normalized, single-entity fields in a separate table including a unique identifier for each patent or technical document.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method as of claim 7 where the expert technical search strategies are stored in a database and are applied against technical index terms, text, and/or abstract stored in the same database or against technical index terms, text and/or abstracts stored in a different database.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method as of claim 8 where the relational database used to store, categorize, and manipulate patent abstracts can also store electronic objects such as graphic images, spreadsheets, video images and chemical structures linked to specific patent or document records.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method as of claim 8 where the relational database used to store the patent abstracts and the subject-categories can display the patent abstracts, the U.S. claims, the European claims and the subject-categories on a single computer display screen by use of scrollable windows.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method as of claim 8 where the database can also contain subject-specific tables of technical details such as catalyst precursors, cocatalysts, reaction conditions, reactor types, which are captured in a discrete form by scientists evaluating the underlying patents.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
32 words
A method as of claims 8 where the database can also contain links to full-text sources of patents either in a local CD-ROM, a local LAN, a Wide-Area-LAN or on the Internet.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method as of claim 8 wherein the set of technical searches are created, stored and executed on a commercial database system to identify the technology represented by each technical document or patent.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
42 words
A method as of claim 8 wherein the set of technical searches are created and stored and executed on a local database system using documents captured from a commercial database system to identify the technology represented by each technical document or patent.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method as of claim 8 wherein each technical search can automatically assign a set of technical documents or patents to one or more technical categories within a multidimensional hierarchy.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
70 words
The method as in claim 8 further comprising the step of deriving each higher level of the multidimensional subject hierarchy from the sum of an aggregate count of unique items in each category multiplied by a weighting factors for each category in the next higher level, producing a higher (more abstract) level within the hierarchy: f(x1)=sum((attribute-1*weighting-factor-1)+(attribute-2*weighting-factor-1)+ . . . ) f(x2)=sum((attribute-1*weighting-factor-2)+(attribute-2*weighting-factor-2)+ . . . ) f(x3)=sum((attribute-1*weighting-factor-3)+(attribute-2*weighting-factor-3)+ . . . ).
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
38 words
A method as in claim 8 wherein the aggregate count of unique items is determined by modeling a scientific or business discipline based on the technical content of patents or technical documents in that scientific or business discipline.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method as in claim 8 wherein the weighting factors are derived by the cumulative knowledge of experts in that scientific or business discipline to reflect the impact of each technical category on the next higher level of the hierarchy.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-02-23 | 2001-08-25 | 2002-02-24 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-02-23 | 2005-08-25 | 2006-02-24 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-02-23 | 2009-08-25 | 2010-02-24 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |