Prior art

To identify the most relevant prior art for US patent 7370035, I will examine the patent's cited references. Prior art includes any evidence that an invention is not new or is obvious.

Here's an analysis of the prior art cited in US7370035:

Priority Claims (U.S. Provisional Applications):
The patent US7370035 claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) from several provisional applications. These provisional applications, filed earlier than the main patent application, are considered prior art as of their filing dates, particularly if they disclose subject matter claimed in the granted patent and name a different inventor, or if they are by the same inventors and fall outside the grace period. However, since these are provisional applications by the same inventors, they typically establish priority rather than act as prior art against the main patent unless specific conditions regarding the grace period are met. For this analysis, they are considered to provide an earlier effective filing date for the disclosed subject matter.

• U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/408,015

  • Filing Date: September 3, 2002
  • Brief Description: This provisional application would generally describe early concepts related to the methods and systems for search indexing. Without the full text, specifics are limited, but it would likely cover incremental searching and/or indexing.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): If this provisional application fully discloses any of the independent claims (Claims 1, 9, 17, 18, 26) of US7370035, it would establish an earlier priority date for that subject matter. It would not directly anticipate under 35 U.S.C. § 102 as prior art against US7370035 unless it was by "another inventor" or published more than a year before the non-provisional filing. Assuming it's by the same inventors, it serves to establish the earliest effective filing date for the disclosed invention.

• U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/413,013

  • Filing Date: September 23, 2002
  • Brief Description: Similar to the above, this would likely expand on the concepts of search indexing, potentially introducing more specific methods or system architectures.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): As with 60/408,015, this provisional would primarily contribute to the priority date for any overlapping claimed subject matter.

• U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/448,923

  • Filing Date: February 20, 2003
  • Brief Description: This provisional would further develop aspects of the search indexing methods and systems.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Establishes priority for disclosed subject matter.

• U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/470,903

  • Filing Date: May 14, 2003
  • Brief Description: This provisional would describe additional refinements or specific embodiments of the search indexing technology.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Establishes priority for disclosed subject matter.

• U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/478,960

  • Filing Date: June 13, 2003
  • Brief Description: This provisional would contain further developments leading up to the filing of the non-provisional application.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Establishes priority for disclosed subject matter.

Related U.S. Patent Applications (Incorporated by Reference):
US7370035 also refers to two copending applications filed on the same date. These would be considered prior art if they meet the criteria under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) for documents by another inventor, or under 35 U.S.C. 102(e) pre-AIA if they publish later but have an earlier effective filing date. Given they are "copending" and likely by the same inventors and assignee, they are more likely to be related art that informs the scope of the invention rather than direct anticipatory prior art.

• U.S. Application Serial No. 10/654,595

  • Title: APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR LOCATING DATA
  • Filing Date: September 3, 2003
  • Brief Description: This application likely details the apparatus and methods for the general location of data, which would broadly cover aspects of the search functionality.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Given the similar subject matter and same filing date, this application could be highly relevant. If it fully discloses the features of Claims 1 or 9 (method or apparatus for searching with multiple strings in the same field) or Claims 18 or 26 (selective command execution) before the effective filing date of US7370035's claims, it could potentially anticipate them.

• U.S. Application Serial No. 10/654,596

  • Title: METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR WEB-BASED INCREMENTAL SEARCHES
  • Filing Date: September 3, 2003
  • Brief Description: This application focuses specifically on incremental searching in a web-based environment. This is a core aspect of US7370035.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This application is highly relevant due to its focus on web-based incremental searches. It could potentially anticipate elements of Claims 1 and 9 (incremental searching) as well as the overall system described in the patent, especially concerning web-based implementations. Any overlap in the specific mechanisms for incremental filtering or indexing of web content would be critical.

To provide a definitive assessment of anticipation, the full text of each cited patent and application would need to be reviewed and compared to the claims of US7370035. However, based on the titles and filing dates, these related applications and provisional applications would represent the most significant body of prior art by the same inventors for establishing the true scope and novelty of US7370035.