Patent Application
20060218173
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data mining systems. More particularly, the present invention provides a method, system, and computer program product for invention mining.
2. Related Art
A team working on a project may hold periodic “brainstorming” meetings in which inventive aspects of the project are “mined” to extract potentially patentable subject matter. Invention disclosures describing the potentially patentable subject matter are then generated and submitted to the project team's Intellectual Property (IP) department for review and possible further processing (e.g., patentability search, patent application, etc.). Unfortunately, the members of the project team often lose track of invention disclosures once they are submitted to the IP department. This may hinder the members of the project team in the mining of further inventions based on or related to previously submitted invention disclosures, may increase the time spent by members of the project team on administrative tracking tasks, may cause members of the project team to lose focus of the priority of the team's invention disclosures (i.e., “out of sight, out of mind”), and may adversely affect the submission of invention disclosures by the members of the project team in the future.
In general, the present invention provides a method, system, and computer program product for invention mining. In particular, the present invention provides a tool for assisting a project team in creating, tracking, prioritizing, categorizing, and filing invention disclosures associated with the project team's invention mining efforts on one or more projects.
A first aspect of the present invention is directed to a method for invention mining, comprising: extracting and storing in a first database a predetermined, limited amount of information from all invention disclosures submitted by members of a project team; generating an invention disclosure report using information extracted from each of the invention disclosures; and displaying the invention disclosure report in a user interface (UI), wherein all members of the project team can access the displayed invention disclosure report.
A second aspect of the present invention is directed to a system for invention mining, comprising: a system for extracting and storing in a first database a predetermined, limited amount of information from all invention disclosures submitted by members of a project team; a system for generating an invention disclosure report using information extracted from each of the invention disclosures; and a system for displaying the invention disclosure report in a user interface (UI), wherein all members of the project team can access the displayed invention disclosure report.
A third aspect of the present invention is directed to a program product stored on a computer readable medium for invention mining, the computer readable medium comprising program code for performing the following steps: extracting and storing in a first database a predetermined, limited amount of information from all invention disclosures submitted by members of a project team; generating an invention disclosure report using information extracted from each of the invention disclosures; and displaying the invention disclosure report in a user interface (UI), wherein all members of the project team can access the displayed invention disclosure report.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is directed to a method for deploying an application for invention mining, comprising: providing a computer infrastructure being operable to: extract and store in a first database a predetermined, limited amount of information from all invention disclosures submitted by members of a project team; generate an invention disclosure report using information extracted from each of the invention disclosures; and display the invention disclosure report in a user interface (UI), wherein all members of the project team can access the displayed invention disclosure report.
A fifth aspect of the present invention is directed to computer software embodied in a propagated signal for invention mining, the computer software comprising instructions to cause a computer system to perform the following functions: extract and store in a first database a predetermined, limited amount of information from all invention disclosures submitted by members of a project team; generate an invention disclosure report using information extracted from each of the invention disclosures; and display the invention disclosure report in a user interface (UI), wherein all members of the project team can access the displayed invention disclosure report.
These and other features of this invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the various aspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The drawings are merely schematic representations, not intended to portray specific parameters of the invention. The drawings are intended to depict only typical embodiments of the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements.
As indicated above, the present invention provides a method, system, and computer program product for invention mining. In particular, the present invention provides a tool for assisting a project team in creating, tracking, prioritizing, categorizing, and filing invention disclosures associated with the project team's invention mining efforts on one or more projects. The present invention enables the project team to concentrate on invention mining efforts for particular project(s), provides an environment that enhances the inventive creativity of the project team, and reduces the time required by administrative tasks related to the tracking of invention disclosures.
A system 10 for invention mining in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is depicted in
The team disclosure database 12 organizes and displays in a user interface (UI) 22 (
In the present example, UI 22 is organized into two panes: a report selection pane 26 and a data viewing pane 28. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, however, that many different UI techniques can be used to organize/present/display data, reports, etc., in accordance with the present invention. Accordingly, the dual pane technique described herein is not intended to be limiting in any way.
As shown in
As shown in
In
The invention disclosures 14 listed in the selected invention disclosure report 24 are split up into the following status categories: “Close,” “Draft,” “File,” “File/Merge,” “Order Search,” “Publish,” “Search in Progress,” “Search Results Received,” and “Under Evaluation.” In this example, the status categories are listed in alphabetic order, although any desired ordering can be used.
It can be seen in the “Count” column 32E of the selected invention disclosure report 24 that the members 16 of the “EMM” project team 18 have submitted a total of 78 invention disclosures 14. Examining both the “Count” column 32E and the “Status” column 32B of the selected disclosure report 24, it can be seen that the status of the 78 invention disclosures in this example is split up as follows:
The above-listed status categories in this example can be defined, for example, as follows:
When the entry for “File/Merge” in the “Status” column 32B is expanded, the selected invention disclosure report 24 appears as depicted in
It should be noted that the team disclosure database 12 of the present invention is not intended to be used to provide members 16 of a project team 18 with access to the invention disclosures 14 themselves. Rather, it is used to provide all members 16 of a project team 18, including those members 16 of a project team 18 who are not an inventor on some or all of the submitted invention disclosures 14, with limited information regarding all of the invention disclosures related to the project. This provides a place where the members 16 of the project team 18 can mine their ideas from ongoing projects and keep track of the status of all invention disclosures associated with the projects through the invention process.
In the system 10 of
Links can be provided in UI 22 to allow a member 16 of the project team 18, who is also an inventor on a listed invention disclosure 14, to access the complete invention disclosure 14 in database 20. Security measures such as username/password could be used to limit access to the invention disclosures 14 in database 20.
As shown in
As shown in
A computer system 100 for implementing an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in
I/O interface(s) 108 may comprise any system for exchanging information to/from an external source. External devices/resource(s) 110 may comprise any known type of external device, including speakers, a CRT, LED screen, handheld device, keyboard, mouse, voice recognition system, speech output system, printer, monitor/display (e.g., display 112), facsimile, pager, etc.
Bus 106 provides a communication link between each of the components in computer system 100, and likewise may comprise any known type of transmission link, including electrical, optical, wireless, etc. In addition, although not shown, additional components, such as cache memory, communication systems, system software, etc., may be incorporated into computer system 100.
Data (e.g., information on all invention disclosures 14 submitted by members 16 of a project team 18, invention disclosure reports 24, etc.) used in the practice of the present invention can be stored locally to computer system 100, for example, in storage unit/database 114 (e.g., as team disclosure database 12), and/or may be provided to computer system 100 over a network 116. Storage unit/database 114 can be any system capable of providing storage for data and information under the present invention. As such, storage unit/database 114 may reside at a single physical location, comprising one or more types of data storage, or may be distributed across a plurality of physical systems in various forms. In another embodiment, storage unit/database 114 may be distributed across, for example, a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN) or a storage area network (SAN) (not shown).
Network 116 is intended to represent any type of network over which data can be transmitted. For example, network 116 can include the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a virtual private network (VPN), a WiFi network, or other type of network. To this extent, communication can occur via a direct hardwired connection or via an addressable connection in a client-server (or server-server) environment that may utilize any combination of wireline and/or wireless transmission methods. In the case of the latter, the server and client may utilize conventional network connectivity, such as Token Ring, Ethernet, WiFi or other conventional communications standards. Where the client communicates with the server via the Internet, connectivity could be provided by conventional TCP/IP sockets-based protocol. In this instance, the client would utilize an Internet service provider to establish connectivity to the server. One or more client devices 118 may be connected to computer system 100 via network 116. Each client device 118 comprises components similar to those described above with regard to computer system 100.
Shown in memory 104 as a computer program product is a database system 120. Database system 120 includes an information gathering system 122 for gathering/importing limited information on all invention disclosures 14 submitted by members 16 of a project team 18, an editing system 124 for updating/editing such information, and a reporting/displaying system 126 for generating/displaying invention disclosure reports 24 and other information to a user 128 (e.g., a member 16 of a project team 18) in accordance with the present invention. The reporting/displaying system 126 provides a user interface 22 for displaying the invention disclosure reports 24 as detailed above.
It should be appreciated that the teachings of the present invention can be offered as a business method on a subscription or fee basis. For example, one or more components of the present invention could be created, maintained, supported, and/or deployed by a service provider that offers the functions described herein for customers. That is, a service provider could be used to provide invention mining, as described above.
It should also be understood that the present invention can be realized in hardware, software, a propagated signal, or any combination thereof. Any kind of computer/server system(s)—or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein—is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software could be a general purpose computer system with a computer program that, when loaded and executed, carries out the respective methods described herein. Alternatively, a specific use computer, containing specialized hardware for carrying out one or more of the functional tasks of the invention, could be utilized. The present invention can also be embedded in a computer program product or a propagated signal, which comprises all the respective features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which—when loaded in a computer system—is able to carry out these methods. Computer program, propagated signal, software program, program, or software, in the present context mean any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and/or (b) reproduction in a different material form.
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of this invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to a person skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined by the accompanying claims.
