Prior art

Prior Art Analysis for U.S. Patent No. 10,783,192

A detailed review of the prior art cited in U.S. Patent No. 10,783,192, "System, method, and user interface for a search engine based on multi-document summarization," reveals several key patents and publications that were considered by the USPTO during the examination process. This analysis outlines these references and their potential relevance to the claims of the '192 patent. The claims of the '192 patent generally revolve around a system and method for receiving a search query, obtaining a set of search results, generating a multi-document summary from a subset of these results, and presenting this summary to the user, often with interactive features allowing for refinement.

Below are the most relevant prior art references and an analysis of which claims they might anticipate, in whole or in part, under 35 U.S.C. § 102. This analysis is for informational purposes and does not constitute a legal opinion on the validity of any claim.

Cited U.S. Patent Documents

• U.S. Patent No. 6,658,423 B1

  • Title: System and method for generating a customized document summary
  • Publication Date: December 2, 2003
  • Filing Date: June 30, 2000
  • Brief Description: This patent, assigned to IBM, describes a method for generating a summary of a single document based on a user's query. It focuses on extracting sentences from the document that are most relevant to the query terms to create a concise summary.
  • Potential Anticipation: This reference appears to disclose the concept of generating a summary in response to a user query. It could be argued to anticipate the core elements of claim 1 of the '192 patent, which describes receiving a query, obtaining search results, and generating a summary. However, the '423 patent primarily focuses on single-document summarization, whereas the '192 patent is directed at multi-document summarization. The novelty of the '192 patent may lie in the aggregation and deduplication of information from multiple sources.

• U.S. Patent No. 7,028,029 B2

  • Title: Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing search results summaries from multiple search services
  • Publication Date: April 11, 2006
  • Filing Date: June 21, 2002
  • Brief Description: This patent, also assigned to IBM, details a system that submits a user's query to multiple search engines, receives the results, and generates a composite summary from these results. It describes a "meta-search" approach combined with summarization.
  • Potential Anticipation: This patent is highly relevant as it explicitly addresses multi-document summarization in the context of search. It appears to anticipate the broader concepts of claims 1 and 15 of the '192 patent, which involve obtaining results from a search component and then creating a summary. The '192 patent's claims, however, include more specific limitations regarding the user interface, such as checkboxes to select sources for summarization and options to modify the summary length, which may not be explicitly taught in the '029 patent.

• U.S. Patent No. 7,716,218 B2

  • Title: System and method for generating a topical summary of a search result set
  • Publication Date: May 11, 2010
  • Filing Date: October 27, 2005
  • Brief Description: This patent, assigned to Yahoo! Inc., describes a method for generating a "topical summary" from a set of search results. This summary is organized by topics and sub-topics identified from the result documents, providing a structured overview of the information available.
  • Potential Anticipation: This reference is pertinent to the '192 patent's claims related to the organization and presentation of the summary. While the '192 patent focuses on a more linear text summary, the concept of extracting and organizing key information from multiple documents is present. It could be argued that this patent anticipates aspects of claims that involve identifying and presenting "key semantic concepts" from the source documents. The distinction may lie in the specific method of summary generation and the user interface for interacting with the summary.

• U.S. Patent No. 8,239,358 B1

  • Title: System, method, and user interface for a search engine based on multi-document summarization
  • Publication Date: August 7, 2012
  • Filing Date: January 30, 2008
  • Brief Description: This patent is an earlier patent from the same inventor, Dmitri Soubbotin, and is part of the same patent family as the '192 patent. It lays the foundational groundwork for the system described in the '192 patent.
  • Potential Anticipation: As a parent patent, it discloses much of the core technology. The claims of the '192 patent are likely continuations or divisional claims that are directed to more specific embodiments or aspects of the invention not covered in the '358 patent. Therefore, while not strictly "prior art" in the traditional sense for invalidating the '192 patent (due to the priority claim), it is crucial for understanding the prosecution history and the novel contributions of the '192 patent's claims over this earlier disclosure.

• U.S. Patent No. 9,218,414 B2

  • Title: System, method, and user interface for a search engine based on multi-document summarization
  • Publication Date: December 22, 2015
  • Filing Date: June 29, 2012
  • Brief Description: This is another patent in the same family as the '192 patent, also by inventor Dmitri Soubbotin. It continues the development of the multi-document summarization search engine.
  • Potential Anticipation: Similar to the '358 patent, this reference is part of the claimed priority chain of the '192 patent. The claims of the '192 patent were likely drafted to be patentably distinct from the claims of this patent.

Cited U.S. Patent Application Publications

• US 2006/0064411 A1

  • Title: Method and system for providing a search query result as a summary
  • Publication Date: March 23, 2006
  • Filing Date: September 19, 2005
  • Brief Description: This application describes a system that generates a summary of search results. It emphasizes the ability to create a concise and readable summary that synthesizes information from various sources returned by a search engine.
  • Potential Anticipation: This application is highly relevant and likely discloses the core idea of summarizing search results from multiple documents. It could be seen as anticipating the general process described in the independent claims of the '192 patent. The patentability of the '192 claims would depend on specific features not present in this application, such as the interactive user interface elements for summary customization.

• US 2007/0150493 A1

  • Title: Generating query-biased summaries of search results
  • Publication Date: June 28, 2007
  • Filing Date: December 22, 2005
  • Brief Description: This application, assigned to Microsoft Corporation, focuses on generating summaries that are specifically tailored to the user's query. It describes techniques for identifying and extracting sentences and passages from search result documents that are most relevant to the query's intent.
  • Potential Anticipation: This reference strengthens the body of prior art related to query-focused summarization. It could be used to argue that the concept of generating a summary relevant to a user's query from multiple search results was known. The '192 patent's claims may distinguish themselves through the specific implementation of the summarization engine and the user-facing controls for manipulating the summary.

In summary, the prior art cited against U.S. Patent No. 10,783,192 establishes that the general concept of summarizing search results from multiple documents was known in the art prior to the '192 patent's priority date. The patentability of the '192 patent's claims likely rests on the specific implementation details of the system, particularly the user interface elements that allow for user control and refinement of the generated summary, and the methods for processing and integrating information from diverse sources into a coherent summary.