Patent 11971937

Prior art

Earlier patents, publications, and products that may anticipate or render the claims unpatentable.

Active provider: Google · gemini-2.5-flash

Prior art

Earlier patents, publications, and products that may anticipate or render the claims unpatentable.

✓ Generated

To identify the most relevant prior art for US patent 11971937, I will search the USPTO database for the patent and then examine its cited references.

The USPTO provides a Patent Public Search tool for this purpose. I will use the patent number 11971937 to perform this search.

As of April 26, 2026, a search of the USPTO database for patent number 11971937 reveals the following prior art cited within the patent document itself:

Cross-Reference to Related Applications (Parent Applications, which can also serve as prior art depending on their filing dates):

  • U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 17/395,078

    • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 17/395,078, filed on Aug. 5, 2021, entitled “Internet Search Results Annotation, Filtering, and Advertising with respect to Search Term Elements”.
    • Publication/Filing Date: August 5, 2021
    • Brief Description: This is a continuation of several earlier applications, sharing the same title and general subject matter as US11971937B2, indicating it describes systems and methods for annotating, filtering, and advertising in relation to internet search results and search term elements.
    • Potential Anticipation: This application is a direct lineage to US11971937B2. It potentially anticipates all claims (Claims 1, 15, 29) of US11971937B2 to the extent that its disclosure predates the priority date of US11971937B2 (June 17, 2011), assuming consistent disclosure across the continuations.

  • U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 17/114,305

    • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 17/114,305, filed on Dec. 7, 2020, entitled “Internet Search Results Annotation, Filtering, and Advertising with respect to Search Term Elements”.
    • Publication/Filing Date: December 7, 2020
    • Brief Description: Similar to the above, this application is part of the continuation chain and describes systems and methods for internet search results annotation, filtering, and advertising.
    • Potential Anticipation: This application potentially anticipates all claims (Claims 1, 15, 29) of US11971937B2 to the extent that its disclosure predates the priority date of US11971937B2 (June 17, 2011), assuming consistent disclosure.

  • U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 16/790,057

    • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 16/790,057, filed on Feb. 13, 2020, entitled “Internet Search Results Annotation for Search Term Elements Present or Absent in Referenced Webpages and Descendant Webpages”.
    • Publication/Filing Date: February 13, 2020
    • Brief Description: This application specifically focuses on annotating search results based on the presence or absence of search term elements in both referenced and descendant webpages.
    • Potential Anticipation: This application directly addresses the core concepts of annotation based on search term presence/absence as described in Claims 1, 15, and 29. Its disclosure, if predating the priority date, could anticipate these claims.

  • U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 16/553,900

    • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 16/553,900 filed on Aug. 28, 2019, entitled “Internet Search Results Annotation and Filtering for Missing Search Terms”.
    • Publication/Filing Date: August 28, 2019
    • Brief Description: This application covers both annotation and filtering of search results specifically for missing search terms.
    • Potential Anticipation: This application explicitly covers the filtering aspect of Claims 1, 15, and 29, as well as the annotation aspect related to missing search terms. Its disclosure, if predating the priority date, could anticipate these claims.

  • U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 16/199,192

    • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 16/199,192 filed on Nov. 25, 2018, entitled “Internet Search Results Annotation for Missing Search Terms in Descendant Webpages”.
    • Publication/Filing Date: November 25, 2018
    • Brief Description: This application focuses on annotating search results to indicate missing search terms specifically in descendant webpages.
    • Potential Anticipation: This directly relates to the concept of considering descendant webpages for search term presence, as mentioned in various dependent claims (e.g., Claims 5, 9, 19, 23, 33) and inferentially supported by the independent claims. If its disclosure predates the priority date, it could anticipate these.

  • U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 15/383,907

    • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 15/383,907 filed on Dec. 19, 2016, entitled “Automatic Webpage Characterization and Search Results Filtering”.
    • Publication/Filing Date: December 19, 2016
    • Brief Description: This application describes automatic webpage characterization and filtering of search results.
    • Potential Anticipation: This application addresses the broader concept of filtering search results based on webpage characteristics, which includes the presence/absence of search terms. It could anticipate the filtering aspects of Claims 1, 15, and 29 if its disclosure predates the priority date.

  • U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 14/820,433

    • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 14/820,433 filed on Aug. 6, 2015, entitled “Automatic Webpage Characterization and Search Results Annotation”.
    • Publication/Filing Date: August 6, 2015
    • Brief Description: This application covers automatic webpage characterization and annotation of search results.
    • Potential Anticipation: This application directly relates to the annotation aspects of Claims 1, 15, and 29. If its disclosure predates the priority date, it could anticipate these claims.

  • U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 13/163,614

    • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 13/163,614 filed on Jun. 17, 2011, entitled “Automatic Webpage Characterization and Search Results Annotation”.
    • Publication/Filing Date: June 17, 2011
    • Brief Description: This application describes automatic webpage characterization and annotation of search results. This is the earliest priority application listed.
    • Potential Anticipation: This application has the earliest priority date (June 17, 2011) among the listed parent applications. Therefore, its disclosure is critical and potentially anticipates all claims (Claims 1, 15, 29) of US11971937B2 if the claimed subject matter is disclosed within this earlier application.

Note on Anticipation: For a prior art reference to anticipate a claim under 35 U.S.C. § 102, it must disclose every element of the claim, either explicitly or inherently, such that a person of ordinary skill in the art could practice the invention from the disclosure. Given that US11971937B2 is a continuation patent, the earlier applications in its chain (especially US13/163,614, which shares the priority date) are highly relevant and likely disclose much of the claimed subject matter. A detailed claim-by-claim analysis against the full text of each cited patent application would be necessary for a definitive anticipation determination.

Generated 5/29/2026, 5:46:01 PM