System and method for information disclosure statement management and prior art cross-citation control

Abstract

The present inventive subject matter relates to document management, more particularly to a system and method for information disclosure statement management and prior art cross-citation control. Various embodiments of the present inventive subject matter include systems and methods for controlling the cross-citation and propagation of prior art reference documents from one patent case to another. Some embodiments may include propagation control user interfaces which display to a user sets of patent cases as potential source documents of prior art. In some embodiments, characteristics of the prior art may be identified and used as the basis for selecting and controlling the cross-citation of prior art.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 542,515 filed Oct. 3, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and made a part hereof.FIELD OF THE INVENTIVE SUBJECT MATTER[0002]The present inventive subject matter relates to document management, more particularly to a system and method for information disclosure statement management and prior art cross-citation control.BACKGROUND[0003]Under the laws and regulations of various patenting authorities, patent applicants are required to disclose various documents known to the applicant to be relevant to the patentability of the patent application. These documents come to the attention of applicants in many ways such as from a foreign patenting authority. In such cases, the applicant may be required to disclose such a document to another patenting authority where the same application is pending or in all cases where related appli...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention relates to a system and method for managing information disclosure statements in patent applications. The technical effect of this invention is to provide a more efficient and streamlined process for determining which authorities and for which applications the document must be disclosed, as well as prior art cross-citation control. The invention aims to address the time-consuming and difficult process of determining which documents are relevant and which standards to meet in various patenting authorities. The invention also includes a database for storing relevant documents and a control unit for organizing and transferring data in and out of the system. Overall, the invention improves the efficiency and accuracy of managing information disclosure statements in patent applications.

Problems solved by technology

Under such scenarios, determining which authorities and for which applications the document must be disclosed is generally a very time consuming process.

Further, determining which patenting authorities the document must be disclosed to can be also be a difficult, time-consuming process due not only to a relevancy determination, but also to varying standards for required disclosures under the laws and regulations of the various patenting authorities.

Workloads and prosecution wait times at some patenting authorities have increased dramatically and unregulated and confusing cross-citation of prior art between related cases does not help this situation.

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