Prior art

The following prior art documents were cited by US patent 6775664. As these are parent or continuation-in-part applications, they represent a significant portion of the foundational technology. The anticipation analysis is conducted at a high level, comparing the abstract of the cited patents with the independent claims of US6775664, as a full legal analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 102 would require a detailed claim-by-claim comparison against the full specification of each cited patent.

US6775664B2 claims priority from multiple earlier applications, including US08/627,436 filed on April 4, 1996, and US09/195,708 filed on November 19, 1998. The priority date for US6775664B2 is stated as April 4, 1996.

Here are the details for each cited patent:

1. US5867799A

• Full Citation: US5867799A, "Information filter system and method for integrated content-based and collaborative/adaptive feedback queries."
• Filing Date: April 4, 1996.
• Publication Date: February 2, 1999.
• Brief Description: This patent describes an information filter system and method that integrates content-based and collaborative/adaptive feedback queries. It uses both content-based and collaborative filtering to predict the relevance of information ("informons") to a user. Both types of filters are adaptive over time and include community filters and member client filters. The system employs self-optimizing adaptive filtering to minimize errors. It is interactive, distributed, and applicable to internet search engine implementations.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): US5867799A is a direct parent application (stemming from US08/627,436) to US6775664. Its abstract broadly discloses the core inventive concept of US6775664: an information filtering system integrating adaptive content-based and collaborative filtering, using user feedback for relevance prediction in a network environment like the internet. This patent potentially anticipates claims 1, 11, and 22, and likely many dependent claims of US6775664, particularly those relating to the fundamental mechanisms of combining content-based and collaborative filtering, the adaptive nature of the filters, and the use of user feedback in a search engine context. The concept of "wires" for ongoing queries, explicitly mentioned in the background of US6775664 as originating from its parent application, is highly likely disclosed in this patent.

2. US6308175B1

• Full Citation: US6308175B1, "Integrated collaborative/content-based filter structure employing selectively shared, content-based profile data to evaluate information entities in a massive information network."
• Filing Date: November 19, 1998.
• Publication Date: October 23, 2001.
• Brief Description: This patent details an integrated information filter structure for evaluating information entities in large networks like the internet. It combines collaborative and content-based filtering, which is adaptive over time. The filter is updated using new information content, user feedback data, and selectively shared content-based profile data from other users. It employs collaborative content-based profiles (CWF), comprising content-based profiles and collaborative feedback profiles, and is particularly suited for search engine systems to enhance search relevancy.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): US6308175B1 is also a direct parent application (stemming from US09/195,708) to US6775664. Its abstract describes an integrated, adaptive filter structure that uses both content-based and collaborative filtering, with feedback and shared profile data, for improving search results in a network. This directly anticipates the core elements of claims 1, 11, and 22 of US6775664 concerning the integrated and adaptive filtering mechanisms, including the use of feedback and content profiles. The "selectively shared, content-based profile data" feature aligns with the "agent mind melding" concept mentioned in US6775664.

3. US6314420B1

• Full Citation: US6314420B1, "Information filter system and method for integrated content-based and collaborative/adaptive feedback queries."
• Filing Date: December 3, 1998.
• Publication Date: November 6, 2001.
• Brief Description: The abstract for US6314420B1 is identical to that of US5867799A. It describes an information filter system and method for integrated content-based and collaborative/adaptive feedback queries, predicting informon relevance using adaptive content-based and collaborative filters. It incorporates community and member client filters, self-optimizing adaptive filtering, and is designed for interactive, distributed operation within internet search engines.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): US6314420B1 is a direct parent application (stemming from US09/204,149, which is a continuation-in-part of US08/627,436) to US6775664. Given the identical abstract to US5867799A, it presents the same broad disclosure of an integrated, adaptive content-based and collaborative filtering system using feedback for relevance determination in search engines. Therefore, it also potentially anticipates claims 1, 11, and 22, and related dependent claims of US6775664, regarding these fundamental filtering and adaptive mechanisms.

4. US5867794A

• Full Citation: US5867794A, "Integrated content-based and collaborative filter structure employing selectively shared, content-based profile data to evaluate information entities in a massive information network."
• Filing Date: April 4, 1996.
• Publication Date: February 2, 1999.
• Brief Description: The abstract for US5867794A is identical to that of US6308175B1. It describes an integrated information filter structure that uses selectively shared, content-based profile data to evaluate information entities in large information networks. It combines adaptive collaborative and content-based filtering, updating the filter with new information, user feedback, and shared profile data. This filter structure, utilizing collaborative content-based profiles (CWF), is particularly applicable to search engine systems for delivering more relevant search results.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): US5867794A is also a direct parent application (stemming from US08/627,436) to US6775664. With an abstract identical to US6308175B1, it similarly discloses the integrated, adaptive content-based and collaborative filtering system, emphasizing the use of feedback and shared profile data to enhance search relevancy. Consequently, it potentially anticipates claims 1, 11, and 22, and their related dependent claims in US6775664, covering the foundational aspects of combining these filtering approaches and their adaptive nature.

Conclusion on Anticipation

The four cited patents are all closely related to US6775664, being parent or continuation-in-part applications. Their abstracts consistently describe an information filtering system that integrates adaptive content-based and collaborative filtering, utilizes user feedback, and is applicable to internet search engines to provide more relevant information.

The independent claims of US6775664 (e.g., Claims 1, 11, and 22) articulate an information processing system/method/means comprising:

• A content-based filtering system for receiving and filtering informons for relevancy to a wire or demand query.
• A feedback system providing data from other users.
• A control system for operating the filtering for either a wire response or a demand response, returning that response to the user.
• The filtering system combining feedback data with content profile data to determine relevancy for at least a wire response.

Given the close familial relationship and the broad disclosures in the abstracts of the cited patents, it is highly probable that all claims of US6775664 that broadly describe the combination of content-based and collaborative filtering, the adaptive nature of these filters, and the use of user feedback for relevance determination are potentially anticipated by these earlier patents under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

The specific novelty, if any, for US6775664 over these direct ancestors would likely reside in the explicit "system for controlling the operation of said filtering system to filter for one of a wire response and a demand response" and the precise architectural choices and methods for directing queries to either continuous "wire" responses or "demand" responses, and how the feedback data is specifically utilized within this dual-mode operational context. However, the fundamental integrated filtering concepts themselves are extensively described in the prior art identified.