Prior art — US Patent 6029195

USPTO Search for US Patent 6029195

US Patent 6029195, titled "System for customized electronic identification of desirable objects," was published on February 22, 2000. Its application number is US08/985,731, filed on December 5, 1997, and it claims priority from November 29, 1994.

Most Relevant Prior Art for US Patent 6029195

The following patent citations are explicitly referenced within US6029195 as prior art. While the exact issue dates for these prior art patents were not directly retrievable through the provided search functionality in this analysis, their content and descriptions as presented within US6029195 are used for the anticipation analysis.

1. U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,554 to Graham et al.

Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,554, issued to Graham et al.
Publication/Filing Date: Not directly retrieved through search, but predates the priority date of US6029195 (November 29, 1994).
Brief Description: This patent "discloses a method for retrieving segments of a manual by comparing a query with nodes in a decision tree."
Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Graham et al. focuses on retrieving segments of a manual using decision trees. This suggests a form of information retrieval based on structured queries and hierarchical data. While it uses decision trees, which are also mentioned in US6029195 for searching and rapid profiling, US6029195 claims a more comprehensive system involving dynamic user profiles, target object profiles, and continuous updating, along with the generation of rank-ordered listings and privacy mechanisms. Graham et al. might potentially anticipate elements of US6029195 related to:
- Claim 1 (partially): The step of "receiving a user query." The concept of comparing a query with data (nodes in a decision tree) is present.
- Claim 16 (partially): The broad idea of "accessing said plurality of target objects in response to said user query."
- However, Graham et al. does not appear to teach the automatic construction and updating of user interest summaries or target object profiles based on the frequency of terms, nor the generation of user-customized rank-ordered listings or the sophisticated clustering and privacy aspects central to US6029195. Therefore, it is unlikely to anticipate these more specific elements. It could potentially anticipate aspects of claims related to using decision trees for searching, but not the specific personalized content identification system.

2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,556

Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,556.
Publication/Filing Date: Not directly retrieved through search, but predates the priority date of US6029195 (November 29, 1994).
Brief Description: This patent "addresses techniques for deriving morphological part-of-speech information and thus to make use of the similarities of different forms of the same word (e.g. 'article' and 'articles')."
Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,556 focuses on morphological analysis to improve text processing by recognizing different forms of the same word. This technique is a fundamental component of many advanced information retrieval systems, including the one described in US6029195, which heavily relies on textual analysis for generating "target profiles" (e.g., using term frequency and TF/IDF). This patent could potentially anticipate elements of US6029195 related to:
- Claim 1 (partially): The step of "generating a target profile for each of said target objects based upon at least one descriptive attribute of said target object." Specifically, if the descriptive attribute is textual, and the generation involves analyzing word forms (as implied by "word frequency" calculations in US6029195), the underlying technique of morphological analysis could be anticipated.
- Claim 1 (partially): The method of "generating a search profile for each user" if those search profiles involve textual preferences where morphological analysis would be beneficial.
- However, this patent primarily addresses a specific text processing technique (morphological analysis) and not the overarching system of personalized identification, profile generation, continuous updating, and customized recommendations as claimed in US6029195. It describes a component technique that US6029195 might employ, rather than the entire system or method.

Claims of US6029195 for Context (Extracted from provided patent text):

Claim 1:
A system for customized electronic identification of desirable objects in an electronic media environment, said system comprising:
(a) a target profile generation module for automatically generating a target profile for each of a plurality of target objects, each target profile describing at least one attribute of a respective target object;
(b) a target object repository for storing said target profiles;
(c) a user profile generation module for generating a target profile interest summary for each of a plurality of users, each target profile interest summary describing at least one interest of a respective user in target objects, wherein said target profile interest summary is automatically updated on a continuing basis to reflect changing interests of said user; and
(d) a profile processing module, coupled to said target object repository and said user profile generation module, for evaluating said target profiles against said target profile interest summaries to generate a user-customized rank ordered listing of target objects most likely to be of interest to each user.

Claim 2:
The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said target profile generation module generates each target profile based upon a frequency with which each word appears in a descriptive text of a respective target object relative to an overall frequency of use of said word in all target objects.

Claim 3:
The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said target profile generation module generates each target profile based upon a statistical measure related to a term frequency times inverse document frequency of words associated with a respective target object.

Claim 4:
The system as defined in claim 1, further comprising a pseudonymous server for dissociating a user's true identity from a pseudonym through cryptographic techniques, thereby ensuring privacy of said user's target profile interest summary.

Claim 5:
The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said target objects are selected from the group consisting of published articles, purchasable items, and other people.

Claim 6:
The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said target profile interest summary for a single user represents multiple areas of interest.

Claim 7:
The system as defined in claim 6, wherein said target profile interest summary consists of a set of individual search profiles, each search profile identifying one of said user's areas of interest.

Claim 8:
The system as defined in claim 1, further comprising a clustering module for grouping said target objects into clusters based on similarity of their target profiles, and for automatically generating menus for each cluster to allow users to navigate throughout said clusters.

Claim 9:
The system as defined in claim 8, wherein said clustering module generates hierarchical clusters.

Claim 10:
The system as defined in claim 9, wherein said hierarchical clusters form a decision tree for identifying target objects.

Claim 11:
The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said user profile generation module receives relevance feedback from users regarding target objects to update said target profile interest summaries.

Claim 12:
The system as defined in claim 11, wherein said relevance feedback is provided actively by a user indicating interest on a scale.

Claim 13:
The system as defined in claim 11, wherein said relevance feedback is inferred passively from user behavior.

Claim 14:
The system as defined in claim 13, wherein said user behavior includes monitoring which target objects the user chooses to access, and a duration of access.

Claim 15:
A method for customized electronic identification of desirable objects in an electronic media environment, said method comprising:
(a) automatically generating a target profile for each of a plurality of target objects, each target profile describing at least one attribute of a respective target object;
(b) storing said target profiles in a target object repository;
(c) generating a target profile interest summary for each of a plurality of users, each target profile interest summary describing at least one interest of a respective user in target objects, wherein said target profile interest summary is automatically updated on a continuing basis to reflect changing interests of said user; and
(d) evaluating said target profiles against said target profile interest summaries to generate a user-customized rank ordered listing of target objects most likely to be of interest to each user.

Claim 16:
The method as defined in claim 15, wherein said step of automatically generating a target profile for each of said target objects comprises generating said target profile based upon a frequency with which each word appears in a descriptive text of a respective target object relative to an overall frequency of use of said word in all target objects.

Claim 17:
The method as defined in claim 15, wherein said step of automatically generating a target profile for each of said target objects comprises generating said target profile based upon a statistical measure related to a term frequency times inverse document frequency of words associated with a respective target object.

Claim 18:
The method as defined in claim 15, further comprising the step of providing a pseudonymous server for dissociating a user's true identity from a pseudonym through cryptographic techniques, thereby ensuring privacy of said user's target profile interest summary.

Claim 19:
The method as defined in claim 15, wherein said target objects are selected from the group consisting of published articles, purchasable items, and other people.

Claim 20:
The method as defined in claim 15, wherein said target profile interest summary for a single user represents multiple areas of interest.

Claim 21:
The method as defined in claim 20, wherein said target profile interest summary consists of a set of individual search profiles, each search profile identifying one of said user's areas of interest.

Claim 22:
The method as defined in claim 15, further comprising the step of grouping said target objects into clusters based on similarity of their target profiles, and for automatically generating menus for each cluster to allow users to navigate throughout said clusters.

Claim 23:
The method as defined in claim 22, wherein said clustering generates hierarchical clusters.

Claim 24:
The method as defined in claim 23, wherein said hierarchical clusters form a decision tree for identifying target objects.

Claim 25:
The method as defined in claim 15, wherein said step of generating a target profile interest summary for each of a plurality of users comprises receiving relevance feedback from users regarding target objects to update said target profile interest summaries.

Claim 26:
The method as defined in claim 25, wherein said relevance feedback is provided actively by a user indicating interest on a scale.

Claim 27:
The method as defined in claim 25, wherein said relevance feedback is inferred passively from user behavior.

Claim 28:
The method as defined in claim 27, wherein said user behavior includes monitoring which target objects the user chooses to access, and a duration of access.