Cross-Context Taxonomy Search for Ambiguous Legal Queries
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hierarchical taxonomies in legal research tools are inefficient when users are unsure of the specific legal context or interested in multiple contexts, leading to irrelevant search results and reduced user experience.
Innovation Solution
Dynamic cross-contextual taxonomy search and interpretation that involves modifying a multi-layer hierarchical taxonomy by duplicating and reversing parent-child relationships, regrouping nodes based on common parent nodes, and ranking them by associated document counts to provide a ranked list of relevant search results.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a hierarchical taxonomy is used to organize legal documents, then search efficiency is improved when users know the specific legal context, but search effectiveness deteriorates when users are unsure of the context or interested in multiple contexts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic taxonomy modification by detecting user search behavior and automatically reorganizing the taxonomy structure. When a user searches for a legal concept without specifying context, the system dynamically creates cross-contextual groupings that adapt to the user's information needs, transforming the static hierarchical structure into a flexible, context-aware organization system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a cross-contextual dimension to the traditional single-hierarchical taxonomy by creating multiple parent-child relationships for the same nodes. This allows nodes to belong to multiple contexts simultaneously, enabling users to traverse the taxonomy from multiple dimensional perspectives (different legal contexts) rather than being constrained to a single hierarchical path.
2Device complexity
If a fixed hierarchical taxonomy is used, then the system structure remains simple and maintainable, but the system cannot provide cross-contextual search capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates duplicate representations of taxonomy nodes across different contextual frameworks. When cross-contextual search is needed, the system generates copied node structures that maintain the original hierarchical relationships while establishing additional contextual connections, allowing the same legal concept to be accessed from multiple contextual perspectives without modifying the original taxonomy structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer between the user and the fixed hierarchical taxonomy. This intermediary component detects user search patterns, identifies when cross-contextual search is needed, and mediates by creating temporary cross-contextual groupings that bridge multiple hierarchical paths, allowing users to search across contexts without requiring the underlying taxonomy structure to change.
3Ease of operation
If traditional taxonomy search is used, then results are organized by parent nodes first, but relevant results may be buried deep in the hierarchy when context is unknown
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary analysis of user search queries to identify when cross-contextual search might be beneficial before executing the search. By detecting keywords and search patterns that suggest unknown or multiple contexts, the system proactively prepares cross-contextual groupings and reorganizes results accordingly, saving users time by avoiding deep hierarchical traversal when it's not necessary.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the present disclosure provide systems, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media that support dynamic cross-contextual taxonomy search and interpretation. A multi-layer hierarchical taxonomy may be indicated by metadata that is retrieved based on input search term(s). The multi-layer hierarchical taxonomy may includes a first plurality of nodes that are arranged as parent-child node pairs, and that are grouped into node groups based on common parent nodes. The multi-layer hierarchical taxonomy may be dynamically modified to include a second plurality of nodes that includes duplicates of the parent-child node pairs in which the parent-child relationships are reversed. The nodes may then be regrouped based on common parent nodes, and one or more node groups may be deleted if all the parent-child node pairs are duplicated in another node group. A graphical user interface (GUI) may display a ranked listing of informational elements that correspond to the node groups.