US 10585959

Here's a concise summary of US patent 10585959:

US Patent 10,585,959

• Title: Internet search results annotation and filtering for missing search terms
• Assignee: Accusearch Technologies LLC (Current Assignee as of 2025-03-18)
• Inventors: Robert Osann, Jr.
• Filing Date: August 28, 2019 (Application No. US16/553,900)
• Issue Date: March 10, 2020
• Abstract: The patent addresses the issue of Internet search results often linking to webpages or their descendants that do not contain all the search terms submitted by a user. It proposes annotating search results to highlight missing search terms on referenced and descendant webpages, optionally filtering out results with missing terms, and displaying relevant advertisements. This system aims to help users avoid irrelevant links, thus saving time and speeding up the search process.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Claim 1 (System): This claim describes a computer system that receives a user's search query, performs an Internet search, and then sends back annotated search results for display. The key aspect is that each search result displayed on the user's computing device includes an automatic annotation. This annotation is generated based on whether the original search terms are present or absent in the webpage directly linked in the search result. The annotation specifically identifies one or more search terms missing from the referenced webpage and indicates that the search result is less relevant to the user's query.
• Claim 11 (Method): This claim outlines a method that mirrors the functionality of the system described in Claim 1. It involves receiving a search request, performing an Internet search, and transmitting automatically annotated search results to a user's computing device. The method includes displaying a search result grouping with an annotation that responds to the presence or absence of search terms in the referenced webpage. Like Claim 1, this annotation specifically notes missing search terms and signals lower relevance.
• Claim 20 (Computing Device Apparatus): This claim describes the user's computing device itself as an apparatus that facilitates this annotated search process. The computing device receives the user's search request, initiates the Internet search, and then receives and displays the automatically annotated search results from a remote server. The displayed search result grouping again features an annotation that highlights search terms missing from the referenced webpage, thereby indicating that the result is less relevant.

Litigation Status:
As of April 26, 2026, the patent is currently listed as "Active". The provided patent information indicates pending litigation:

• A PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board) case, IPR2026-00286, has been filed and is currently pending.
• A U.S. case has been filed in the Delaware District Court (case number 1:25-cv-00514).

Searches for "US patent 10585959 CAFC docket 2026" did not return any specific dockets for this patent at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) by the current date. It is common for District Court and PTAB cases to be appealed to the CAFC, but given the current dates of the pending IPR and filed District Court case, it is unlikely they would have reached the CAFC appeal stage by April 2026.

Known litigation involving US patent 10585959 includes the following cases:

1. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Case

   • Plaintiff(s): Google LLC
   • Defendant(s): Accusearch Technologies LLC
   • Jurisdiction: Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)
   • Case Number: IPR2026-00286
   • Filing Date: March 6, 2026
   • Outcome or Current Status: Pending

2. United States District Court for the District of Delaware Case

   • Jurisdiction: Delaware District Court
   • Case Number: 1:25-cv-00514
   • Plaintiff(s): Not explicitly detailed in search results.
   • Defendant(s): Not explicitly detailed in search results.
   • Filing Date: The Google Patents record indicates a U.S. case was filed in the Delaware District Court, but a specific filing date for this case number related to US10585959 is not provided in the readily available search results.
   • Outcome or Current Status: The Google Patents record lists this as "litigation" with a "Critical" status for the patent family, indicating it is active. No specific outcome or detailed current status is provided in the immediate search results.

Proceedings overview

There is one AIA trial proceeding on file for US patent 10585959, currently pending. This means the patent's claims are still being challenged, and the outcome of this proceeding will determine the future defensive posture.

IPR2026-00286 — Google LLC v. Accusearch Technologies LLC

• Type: Inter Partes Review
• Filed: 2026-03-06
• Status: Pending. The proceeding is active and has not yet reached a Final Written Decision.
• Judge panel: Information regarding the specific Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) assigned to this panel is not publicly available at this stage of the proceeding from the provided patent text or standard PTAB search results for a pending case.
• Petition grounds: Specific claims challenged, prior art cited, and statutory bases (§ 102 / § 103 / § 112) are not detailed in the provided patent text. To determine these, access to the petition filed in IPR2026-00286 on the USPTO PTAB E2E system would be required.
• Institution decision: Not yet issued. The institution decision deadline is typically six months from the filing date, which would be around September 6, 2026.
• Final Written Decision (if issued): Not yet issued, as the proceeding is pending.
• Settlement / termination: Not yet settled or terminated, as the proceeding is pending.
• Appeal: No appeal has been filed, as the proceeding is pending and no Final Written Decision has been issued.
• Defensive value: This active IPR means that the patent's validity is currently under scrutiny. The outcome of this proceeding will be highly significant for anyone facing assertion of this patent; if claims are invalidated, it could significantly weaken the patent owner's position. Conversely, if institution is denied or claims are sustained, it would harden the patent against future challenges on the same grounds.

Strategic summary

Currently, the validity of US10585959 is being challenged in IPR2026-00286. As this proceeding is still pending, no claims have been definitively canceled or sustained through a Final Written Decision. Therefore, all claims of US10585959 remain presumptively valid at this time. The specific claims being challenged and the prior art asserted by Google LLC are not publicly detailed in the provided information, but would be critical to understand the full scope of the challenge.

The estoppel landscape under § 315(e)(2) will only become relevant after a Final Written Decision is issued. If claims are challenged and found unpatentable or patentable in IPR2026-00286, Google LLC (and its privies) would be estopped from raising those specific grounds, or any grounds they reasonably could have raised, in future district court or ITC actions. For other potential defendants, the specific prior art and grounds raised in this IPR would indicate which avenues for challenge might still be available or foreclosed by the eventual outcome. There is no pattern signal of multiple IPRs by the same petitioner yet, as this is the first IPR listed. The patent was assigned to Accusearch Technologies LLC in March 2025, and Unified Patents is listed as a petitioner in the IPR, suggesting a defensive aggregator is involved.

Recommended next steps

For a defendant facing assertion of US10585959 today, the key immediate step would be to monitor IPR2026-00286 closely.

• Institution Decision: The next significant milestone is the institution decision deadline, which will be approximately September 6, 2026. This decision will reveal which claims, if any, the PTAB has agreed to review based on Google LLC's petition.
• Access to Filings: It is recommended to obtain copies of the IPR2026-00286 petition and the patent owner's preliminary response from the USPTO PTAB E2E system (login required) to understand the exact claims challenged, the prior art asserted, and the arguments presented by both sides. This information is crucial for assessing the strength of the IPR and for informing any parallel defensive strategies.
• Tracking: Continue to monitor the PTAB case via the Unified Patents PTAB Data portal or directly through the USPTO PTAB E2E system for further updates, including the institution decision, scheduling orders, and eventual Final Written Decision.## Proceedings overview
  There is one AIA trial proceeding on file for US patent 10585959, which is currently pending. This indicates that the patent's validity is actively being challenged, and the outcome will significantly shape the defensive landscape.

IPR2026-00286 — Google LLC v. Accusearch Technologies LLC

• Type: Inter Partes Review
• Filed: 2026-03-06
• Status: Pending. The proceeding is active and has not yet reached a Final Written Decision. The last modification to the case was on 2026-05-13, which was a document filing related to Petitioner's Objections to Patent Owner's Demonstratives.
• Judge panel: Information regarding the specific Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) assigned to this panel is not publicly available at this stage of the proceeding from the provided patent text or standard PTAB search results for a pending case.
• Petition grounds: Specific claims challenged, prior art cited, and statutory bases (§ 102 / § 103 / § 112) are not detailed in the provided patent text or public search results without access to the full petition.
• Institution decision: Not yet issued. The institution decision deadline is typically six months from the filing date, which would be around September 6, 2026.
• Final Written Decision (if issued): Not yet issued, as the proceeding is pending.
• Settlement / termination: Not yet settled or terminated, as the proceeding is pending.
• Appeal: No appeal has been filed, as the proceeding is pending and no Final Written Decision has been issued.
• Defensive value: This active IPR means that the patent's validity is currently under scrutiny. The outcome of this proceeding will be highly significant for anyone facing assertion of this patent; if claims are invalidated, it could significantly weaken the patent owner's position. Conversely, if institution is denied or claims are sustained, it would harden the patent against future challenges on the same grounds.

Strategic summary

Currently, the validity of US10585959 is being challenged in IPR2026-00286. As this proceeding is still pending, no claims have been definitively canceled or sustained through a Final Written Decision. Therefore, all claims of US10585959 remain presumptively valid at this time. The specific claims being challenged and the prior art asserted by Google LLC are not publicly detailed in the provided information, but would be critical to understand the full scope of the challenge.

The estoppel landscape under § 315(e)(2) will only become relevant after a Final Written Decision is issued. If claims are challenged and found unpatentable or patentable in IPR2026-00286, Google LLC (and its privies) would be estopped from raising those specific grounds, or any grounds they reasonably could have raised, in future district court or ITC actions. For other potential defendants, the specific prior art and grounds raised in this IPR would indicate which avenues for challenge might still be available or foreclosed by the eventual outcome. There is no pattern signal of multiple IPRs by the same petitioner yet, as this is the first IPR listed for this patent. The patent was assigned to Accusearch Technologies LLC in March 2025, and Google LLC is listed as the petitioner in the IPR. Unified Patents also tracks this IPR on its portal, which indicates that a defensive aggregator is involved in this challenge.

Recommended next steps

For a defendant facing assertion of US10585959 today, the key immediate step would be to monitor IPR2026-00286 closely.

• Institution Decision: The next significant milestone is the institution decision deadline, which will be approximately September 6, 2026. This decision will reveal which claims, if any, the PTAB has agreed to review based on Google LLC's petition.
• Access to Filings: It is recommended to obtain copies of the IPR2026-00286 petition and the patent owner's preliminary response from the USPTO PTAB E2E system (login required) to understand the exact claims challenged, the prior art asserted, and the arguments presented by both sides. This information is crucial for assessing the strength of the IPR and for informing any parallel defensive strategies.
• Tracking: Continue to monitor the PTAB case via the Unified Patents PTAB Data portal (https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/ptab/case/IPR2026-00286) or directly through the USPTO PTAB E2E system for further updates, including the institution decision, scheduling orders, and eventual Final Written Decision.

Inventors

The sole named inventor is Robert Osann, Jr. The original assignee on the issued patent is listed as "Individual", indicating Robert Osann, Jr. was the original owner. Robert Osann, Jr. operates as an independent inventor and intellectual property consultant, providing services such as patent searching, application drafting, and expert witness testimony. He has a history of selling or licensing his patents. No specific employer at the time of filing (2019-08-28) is determinable beyond his individual capacity.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is "Individual", referring to Robert Osann, Jr., the inventor. Robert Osann, Jr. does not appear to ship a product embodying the claims of this patent himself; rather, he develops and sells/licenses his intellectual property. His primary line of business is as an independent inventor and IP consultant. His current status is operating as an independent consultant.

Assignment timeline

Based on the available information, one assignment event is identified.

• 2024-02-24 (executed) / recorded 2025-03-18 — Reel [Not determinable from available data]
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Robert Osann, Jr.
  • Assignee: Accusearch Technologies LLC
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from available data.
  • Context: Transfer-to-asserter

Note: Specific reel/frame and correspondent details for this assignment were not discoverable from the provided patent text or search results, which did not include direct access to the USPTO Assignment Center records for this patent.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10585959
    2011 : Priority Date
    2019 : Application Filed by Osann
    2020 : Patent Issued to Osann
    2024 : Osann assigned to Accusearch
    2025 : Accusearch sued Google
    2026 : Unified Patents IPR filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from independent inventor Robert Osann, Jr. to Accusearch Technologies LLC. While Accusearch Technologies LLC has an operating business in public records research and background screening, the patent's subject matter (internet search results annotation and filtering) appears distinct from their core product line. RPX reported that AccuSearch Technologies received a "larger portfolio" from the inventor and subsequently filed its "first litigation," strongly indicating that this portfolio is being used for licensing and assertion rather than for integration into Accusearch's primary business.

   • Cite: Google Patents "Current Assignee" section, RPX Insight article dated May 2, 2025. Assignment recorded 2025-03-18 (Google Patents), executed 2024-02-24 (RPX Insight).

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Unified Patents, a known anti-NPE entity, has filed an Inter Partes Review (IPR2026-00286) challenging US10585959. Unified Patents typically initiates IPRs against patents being asserted by Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs). Additionally, RPX, another organization that tracks NPEs, reported AccuSearch Technologies LLC filing its "first litigation" with this patent family, further identifying them as an asserting entity.

   • Cite: Google Patents "Legal status" section (PTAB case IPR2026-00286, Petitioner: Unified Patents), RPX Insight article dated May 2, 2025.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Only one assignment from the inventor to Accusearch Technologies LLC has been identified from the provided information. The specific correspondent attorney and firm for this transaction are not available in the given sources, thus preventing an assessment of recurrence.

   • Cite: Correspondent information not determinable from provided text or search results.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only one assignment event, from the inventor to Accusearch Technologies LLC, is evident from the provided data.

   • Cite: Assignment recorded 2025-03-18 (Google Patents), executed 2024-02-24 (RPX Insight).

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The assignment of the patent from Robert Osann, Jr. to Accusearch Technologies LLC was executed on February 24, 2024 and recorded on March 18, 2025. Accusearch Technologies LLC filed its first litigation, suing Alphabet (Google), on May 2, 2025. The recording of the assignment occurred approximately two months before the lawsuit was filed, and the execution date was about 15 months prior, indicating a transfer arranged to precede assertion.

   • Cite: Assignment recorded 2025-03-18 (Google Patents), executed 2024-02-24 (RPX Insight), litigation filing date May 2, 2025 (RPX Insight).

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The original assignee was an individual inventor, Robert Osann, Jr., not a company that underwent bankruptcy proceedings.

   • Cite: Inventor: Robert Osann, Jr. (Individual); Original Assignee: Individual.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While Accusearch Technologies LLC has an operating business distinct from the patent's claims, and the transfer was followed by litigation against Google, there is no direct evidence from the provided sources (such as SEC filings or specific investigative reports) to confirm that an operating company transferred the patent to Accusearch to assert it on their behalf.

   • Cite: RPX Insight article dated May 2, 2025.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present as the current owner. The patent is currently owned and being asserted by Accusearch Technologies LLC. However, Unified Patents, a defensive aggregator, has filed an IPR against this patent, which is a common response to NPE assertions.

   • Cite: Google Patents "Legal status" section (PTAB case IPR2026-00286, Petitioner: Unified Patents).

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals: the transfer from an independent inventor to Accusearch Technologies LLC, the subsequent filing of "first litigation" by Accusearch with this patent family, the pre-litigation timing of the assignment relative to the lawsuit, and the involvement of Unified Patents in an IPR against the patent, which is characteristic of a defensive action against an NPE.

For verification, refer to the USPTO Patent Assignment Search at https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (search for patent number 10585959).

The USPTO database search for patent number 10585959 confirms its existence as "US10585959B2 - Internet search results annotation and filtering for missing search terms".

A direct "References Cited" section, which typically lists external prior art documents cited by the examiner or applicant against the patent, is not explicitly provided within the text of US10585959, nor was it directly retrievable through web searches of the USPTO database. Such a section is usually found under a " References Cited" heading in a patent document.

However, US10585959 is a continuation patent application. The patent text includes a "CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS" section that lists earlier applications in the same patent family, establishing a priority chain back to the earliest filing. While these family applications typically serve to provide a priority date for the claims of US10585959 rather than act as anticipatory prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102, they are internal "citations" that define the scope and timing of the invention. The effective priority date for US10585959 is June 17, 2011, derived from the earliest application in this chain.

Below are the patent applications cited in the "CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS" section of US10585959, along with an explanation of their potential relevance under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

Most Relevant Prior Art (Internal Family Citations):

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

   • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 13/163,614, entitled "Automatic Webpage Characterization and Search Results Annotation."
   • Publication/Filing Date: June 17, 2011.
   • Brief Description: This application generally relates to systems and methods for automatically characterizing webpages and annotating search results to provide users with additional information about the content of linked webpages. This includes aspects of identifying and marking webpages based on their composition, style, function, or behavior, and potentially the presence or absence of search term elements.
   • Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102: As the original parent application, Ser. No. 13/163,614 establishes the priority date for the entire patent family. Therefore, if the claims of US10585959 are fully supported by the disclosure of Ser. No. 13/163,614, this application would not be anticipatory prior art against US10585959. It merely provides the legal basis for the claims. However, if any claims in US10585959 introduce new subject matter not disclosed in Ser. No. 13/163,614, then any intervening art (filed or published after June 17, 2011, but before the filing date of US10585959 for the new matter) could potentially become prior art against those specific claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102. Without a detailed comparison of the claims and disclosures, it's not possible to identify specific claims for potential anticipation.

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

   • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 14/820,433, entitled "Automatic Webpage Characterization and Search Results Annotation."
   • Publication/Filing Date: August 6, 2015.
   • Brief Description: This application, a continuation of Ser. No. 13/163,614, further develops systems and methods for automatic webpage characterization and search results annotation, building upon the foundational concepts of identifying and presenting characteristics of webpages to users.
   • Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102: This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 13/163,614 and a parent to US10585959. Its claims benefit from the priority date of June 17, 2011, provided by Ser. No. 13/163,614. Therefore, it generally would not anticipate the claims of US10585959 if those claims are fully supported by the disclosure of this or earlier parent applications. If, however, US10585959 contains claims with new matter not supported by Ser. No. 14/820,433 (and thus not by Ser. No. 13/163,614), then any art published or filed prior to the effective filing date of such new matter in US10585959 could potentially anticipate those specific claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

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

   • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 15/383,907, entitled "Automatic Webpage Characterization and Search Results Filtering."
   • Publication/Filing Date: December 19, 2016.
   • Brief Description: This application, a continuation of Ser. No. 14/820,433, focuses on automatic webpage characterization and the filtering of search results based on certain criteria, which may include the presence or absence of search term elements.
   • Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102: Similar to the above, this application is a continuation in the same family and benefits from the June 17, 2011 priority date. It would not typically anticipate claims of US10585959 that are fully supported by its own disclosure or that of earlier parent applications. Potential anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102 would only arise if claims in US10585959 introduce new matter not supported by this application (or earlier ones), in which case any intervening art could apply against those specific claims.

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

   • Full Citation: U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 16/199,192, entitled "Internet search results annotation for missing search terms in descendant webpages."
   • Publication/Filing Date: November 25, 2018.
   • Brief Description: This application, a continuation of Ser. No. 15/383,907, specifically addresses the annotation of Internet search results to indicate missing search terms in referenced webpages and their descendant webpages.
   • Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102: As the immediate parent application to US10585959, this application also claims priority back to June 17, 2011. It generally would not anticipate claims in US10585959 that are adequately supported by its own disclosure. Only if US10585959 presents new claims or new matter not supported by Ser. No. 16/199,192 (and thus the earlier applications), could intervening art potentially anticipate such new subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

To analyze the obviousness of US patent 10585959 under 35 U.S.C. § 103, we will consider the prior art references explicitly mentioned or derived from the "Prior Art" sections of the patent itself. The priority date for US10585959 is June 17, 2011. Therefore, any references with a priority date on or before this date are relevant for an obviousness analysis.

The "CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS" and "Applications Claiming Priority" sections of US10585959 list several related applications that share the same June 17, 2011 priority date. These applications represent the applicant's own earlier work and disclose subject matter relevant to the claims of US10585959. For this analysis, we will consider:

• Reference 1 (Ref. 1): U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 13/163,614, filed on June 17, 2011, and titled "Automatic Webpage Characterization and Search Results Annotation" (which matured into US9104765B2). This is the earliest application in the priority chain.
• Reference 2 (Ref. 2): U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 16/199,192, filed on November 25, 2018, and titled "Internet Search Results Annotation for Missing Search Terms in Referenced Webpages and Descendant Webpages" (which matured into US10437900B2). This is a parent application to US10585959 and shares the same priority date.

Analysis of Obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103

A person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) in the field of Internet search and data processing, at the time of the invention (June 17, 2011), would have been motivated to combine or modify the teachings of these prior art references to arrive at the claimed invention of US10585959.

Claim 1 Obviousness Combination: Reference 1 + General Knowledge

Claim 1 of US10585959 recites:
"A system for providing annotated Internet search results suitable for display to a user of a computing device connected to an Internet, wherein the system comprises: one or more servers comprising one or more processors...wherein the system receives a search request...comprising one or more search term elements; wherein in response...the system causes an Internet search to be performed...wherein the system transmits...information comprising at least one automatically annotated Internet search result...wherein the automatically annotated Internet search result is provided for display...as a search result grouping referencing a webpage...wherein the search result grouping comprises an annotation...wherein the annotation is provided in response to a presence or absence of the one or more search term elements in the referenced webpage; wherein the annotation is automatically placed...so that it is associated with the automatically annotated Internet search result; and wherein the annotation comprises one or more search term elements missing in the referenced webpage and provides an indication that the automatically annotated Internet search result is less relevant with regard to what the user seeks."

Explanation of Obviousness:
Reference 1, US13/163,614, is titled "Automatic Webpage Characterization and Search Results Annotation". This title clearly teaches the core concepts of automatically characterizing webpages and annotating search results. A PHOSITA would understand that "webpage characterization" involves analyzing various attributes of a webpage's content.

The background section of US10585959 itself highlights a persistent problem in the art: "A user may find that a webpage located at a URL link provided on a search results page not only contains irrelevant information given their intended search, it also doesn't contain the search terms that they had specified." It further notes, "Knowing in advance which webpages contain which search term elements would be useful to aid the user in minimizing lost time and frustration." This clearly identifies a known problem and a desired solution within the field.

A PHOSITA, aware of the teachings of Reference 1 (automatic webpage characterization and search results annotation) and the known problem of search results lacking all specified search terms, would be logically motivated to apply the webpage characterization functionality to determine the "presence or absence of the one or more search term elements in the referenced webpage." It would be a straightforward design choice to then use the "annotation" functionality taught by Reference 1 to display this characterization (i.e., indicate missing search terms) adjacent to the search result grouping. Such an annotation, by its very nature, would serve to "provide an indication that the automatically annotated Internet search result is less relevant with regard to what the user seeks," directly addressing the problem of irrelevant results and wasted user time.

Therefore, Claim 1 would be obvious as it represents a logical application and refinement of the automatic webpage characterization and annotation system taught by US13/163,614, driven by the well-understood need to improve the relevance and efficiency of Internet search results.

Claim 2 Obviousness Combination: Reference 1 + Reference 2

Claim 2 of US10585959 recites:
"The system of claim 1, wherein the annotation is provided also in response to a presence or absence of the one or more search term elements in one or more descendant webpages of the referenced webpage, and wherein each descendant of the referenced webpage is a webpage linked directly one level from the referenced webpage."

Explanation of Obviousness:
Building upon the obviousness of Claim 1, Claim 2 introduces the additional limitation that the annotation is also based on the presence or absence of search terms in "one or more descendant webpages".

Reference 2, US16/199,192, is directly titled "Internet search results annotation for missing search terms in referenced webpages and descendant webpages". This title explicitly discloses the concept of annotating search results for missing terms not only in the referenced webpage but also in its descendant webpages. Since Reference 2 shares the same priority date as US10585959, its disclosure would be available as prior art for any subject matter not covered by the earliest common priority. Even if considered within the same family, its explicit title demonstrates that extending the analysis to descendant webpages was a known and addressed aspect of search result annotation.

Furthermore, the background of US10585959 itself acknowledges the relevance of descendant pages: "Sometimes a subset of search term elements will be contained in a webpage located at a search result URL link while other specified search term elements are located in descendent webpages of the webpage located at the search result URL link. Thus, the descendent webpage may still at times be useful to the user." The patent further details scenarios, such as publication sites, where "the remainder of the search terms appear in a descendant page which is the full document that requires payment or registration."

A PHOSITA, having the knowledge of Reference 1 (automatic webpage characterization and annotation) and recognizing that relevant search terms might reside in descendant pages (as highlighted in the problem statement of US10585959), would be motivated to extend the webpage characterization process to include these descendant pages. Reference 2 provides a clear teaching that this extension was already contemplated and explicitly titled. The motivation would be to provide a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of a search result's relevance to the user, thereby further reducing wasted time and improving the search experience, especially in cases where the primary page acts as a gateway to more complete information.

Therefore, Claim 2 would be obvious as it represents a straightforward and motivated extension of the annotation system taught by US13/163,614, further informed by the recognition of the importance of descendant webpages for search term presence, as explicitly taught by US16/199,192 and discussed in the immediate patent's background.