Identification of licensing targets using citation neighbor search process

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United States Patent

Breitzman

(io) Patent No.: (45) Date of Patent:

US 7,433,884 B2 Oct. 7, 2008

IDENTIFICATION OF LICENSING TARGETS USING CITATION NEIGHBOR SEARCH PROCESS

Inventor: Anthony F. Breitzman, 5 Nottingham Dr., Sicklerville, NJ (US) 08081

Assignees: Chi Research, Inc., Haddon Heights, PA (US); Anthony F. Breitzman,

Sicklerville, NJ (US)

Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 426 days.

Appl.No.: 10/953,044

Filed: Sep. 29, 2004

Prior Publication Data

US 2006/0074867 Al Apr. 6, 2006

Int. CI.

G06F17/00 (2006.01)
G06F 7/00 (2006.01)

U.S. CI 707/102; 707/104.1; 705/35;

705/36 R; 705/37

Field of Classification Search None

See application file for complete search history.

References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

5,623,679 A * 4/1997 Rivette et al 715/526

5,623,681 A * 4/1997 Rivette et al 715/522

5,799,325 A * 8/1998 Rivette et al 715/500

5,809,318 A * 9/1998 Rivette et al 715/512

5,845,301 A * 12/1998 Rivette et al 715/512

5,950,214 A * 9/1999 Rivette et al 715/512

5,991,751 A * 11/1999 Rivette et al 707/1

5,991,780 A * 11/1999 Rivette et al 715/512

6,018,749 A * 1/2000 Rivette et al 715/525

6,038,574 A * 3/2000 Pitkow et al 715/513

6,175,824 Bl* 1/2001 Breitzman et al 705/36 R

6,457,028 Bl* 9/2002 Pitkow et al 715/513

6187036

Source T t£

4 56930861

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

2002/0152146 Al * 10/2002 Reader 705/35

2002/0174131 Al* 11/2002 Winer et al 707/102

2002/0178029 Al* 11/2002 Nutter et al 705/1

2003/0046307 Al * 3/2003 Rivette et al 707/104.1

2003/0195764 Al 10/2003 Baker et al 705/1

2004/0015481 Al 1/2004 Zinda 707/1

2004/0083117 Al * 4/2004 Kim et al 705/1

2004/0103112 Al 5/2004 Colson et al 707/102

2004/0122841 Al * 6/2004 Goodman et al 707/102

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2005/0097093 Al * 5/2005 Clarkson 707/3

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

WO WO 01/84423 A2 * 11/2001

WO WO 01/84424 A2 * 11/2001

WO WO 01/84425 A2 * 11/2001

WO WO 01/84426 A2 * 11/2001

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

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Mogee, M.E. "Patent Analysis Methods in Support of Licensing", Technology Transfer Society Annual Conference, Jul. 22, 1997.* Hall, B.H., A. Jaffe and M. Trajtenberg "Market Value and Patent Citations: A First Look", Conference on Intangibles and Capital Markets, May 15-16, 1998.*

Narin, F. "Tech-Line® Background Paper", CHI Research, Inc., Aug. 19, 1998 *

Aurigin "How to Gain an Advantage in IP Licensing", Slide Presentation, Mar. 4, 1999.*

Lambert, N. "A Comparison of Two Top Internet Patent Sites, And Why I Still Search Patents Online", Searcher, vol. 7, No. 3, Mar. 1999, p. 48*

Information Today "CHI Research, Inc. Introduces Tech-Line Analysis Tool Technology", press release, 1999.*

Metrics Group "Welcome to PatentCitations.com", downloaded fromwww.patentcitations.com, Dec. 3, 2001.* Metrics Group "Citation Indication Analytics Database", downloaded from www.metricsgroup.com, Jun. 5, 2002.* Breitzman, A.F. and M.E. Mogee "The Many Applications of Patent Analysis", Journal of Information Science, vol. 28, No. 3, 2002, pp. 187-205 *

Mogee Research & Analysis, LLC "MRAA—Basic Package: Patent Citation Reports", downloaded from mogee.com, Jun. 7, 2003.* Hamid, Z.A.A. "Pre-Licensing Consideration Through Patent Mapping", LES Singapore, Oct. 6, 2003 *

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Metrics Group "Patent Licensing", downloaded from www. metricsgroup.com, Dec. 3, 2003.*

Metrics Group "Citation Bridge", downloaded from www.patentcitations.com, Feb. 1, 2004.*

MetricsGroup "Patent Citation Analytics", downloaded from www. metricsgroup.com, Feb. 20, 2004.*

Anthony J. Trippe, "Patinformatics: Identifying Haystacks from Space," Searcher, vol. 10, No. 9, Oct. 2002, printout from web site: http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/oct02/trippe.htm, printout date: Oct. 18, 2004, 15 pages.

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Brochure for "Patent Portfolio Management," TAEUS, Colorado
Springs, Colorado, brochure date is unknown, 2 pages.
Ina Fried, "Microsoft opens technology to more licensing," CNET
News.com, Dec. 3, 2003, 5 pages.

Dawn Kawamoto et al. "HP seeks profits from its patents," CNET
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Newsletter article: "Patent Citation Analysis is a Tool for Technology Transfer," CHI's Research, May 1995, 2 pages. Anthony F. Breitzman et al. "The many applications of patent analysis," Journal of Information Science, vol. 28, No. 3, 2002, pp. 187205.

* cited by examiner

CHI's Patent Citation Neighbor Search finds patents linked to
a given source patent by references (citations). For example, if the
front page of patent A, under the heading "references cited" lists
patent B as a reference, then we say patent A cites patent B. This est-
ablishes a link of strength 1.0 between patents A and B. If patent B,
in turn, cites patent C, this establishes a link of strength 1/2 bet-
ween patents A and C. Similarly, if A cites B, B cites C and C cites D,
then the strength of the link between A and D is 1/3.

Example:

A references — > B references—> C references — > D

CHI's standard Patent Citation Neighbor Search finds all patents
linked to the given source patent by links of strength 1/3 or more. Any
pair of patents may be linked through many different referencing paths.
The Neighbor Search lists the linked patents in order, most strongly linked
listed first, where strength is defined as the sum of strengths for each
unique path connecting the pair. The most strongly linked patent to the
given source patent is, in this sense, the "nearest neighbor" patent.

Example:

Path 1: A references—> B references—> D

Path 2 :A references—> B references—> C references—>

In Path 1, patent A is linked to patent D with strength 1/2.
In Path 2, patent A is linked to patent D with strength 1/3.

The total strength of the links between patents A and D is 0.83.