Systems, methods, interfaces and software for extending search results beyond initial query-defined boundaries
US9317587B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 3, 2005 |
| Grant date | Apr 19, 2016 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 2, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F16/9538
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
To facilitate legal research, companies, such as Thomson West provide subscription-based online information-retrieval systems. Seeking to improve these and related IR systems, the present inventors recognized researchers often overlook some types of documents, such as legal encyclopedias and treatises that may be useful to them. Accordingly, the present inventors devised systems, methods, and software that automatically search for other types of documents not specifically targeted by user queries. One exemplary system automatically submits a user query for legal opinions to first and second databases, with the first storing legal opinions and the second storing non-opinion documents, such as headnotes from the West Key Number System, articles from American Law Reports, and/or articles from American Jurisprudence.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.