Managing references related to patent applications

Abstract

A reference-management tool facilitates managing prior art references relating to one or more patent applications, which may be represented by matters. Interfaces can be presented to users to enable the users to group matters into clans, to associate references with matters, to automatically generate information disclosure statements (IDSs) and to track citations of references.

1 . A method of managing references associated with one or more patent applications, the method comprising:
 associating a first matter and a second matter with a clan, wherein the first matter corresponds to a first patent application and the second matter corresponds to a second patent application;   associating a first reference and a second reference with the first matter;   receiving, at an interaction server, a generate command;   populating, at the interaction server, a plurality of input fields of an information disclosure statement (IDS) form to create a completed IDS form, in response to receiving the generate command, wherein at least one of the plurality of input fields includes descriptive data corresponding to the first reference;   generating, at the interaction server, an IDS filing package, wherein the IDS filing package includes the completed IDS form and the first reference;   presenting an IDS review interface to a reviewing user, the IDS review interface comprising a representation of the completed IDS form and a representation of the first reference;   presenting a set of selectable options to the reviewing user, wherein the set of selectable options includes an approve option and a reject option;   receiving, from the reviewing user, a selection of the approve option; and   notifying a filing user that the IDS filing package is ready to be filed.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the reviewing user and the filing user are the same user. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the representation of the completed IDS form is selectable such that selection of the representation of the completed IDS form causes the completed IDS form to be displayed; and wherein the representation of the first reference is selectable such that selection of the representation of the first reference causes the first reference to be displayed. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising associating, in response to receiving the selection of the approve option, the first reference with the second matter. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising presenting a first view matter interface, wherein the first view matter interface corresponds to the first matter, the first view matter interface comprising an indication that the first reference has been included in the IDS filing package. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising presenting a second view matter interface, wherein the second view matter interface corresponds to the second matter, the second view matter interface comprising an indication that the first reference has been associated with the second matter. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 receiving a remove command from the reviewing user, wherein the remove command corresponds to the second reference;   presenting a set of selectable options to the reviewing user, the set of selectable options comprising a first reason for removing the second reference from the first matter and a second reason for removing the second reference from the first matter;   receiving, from the reviewing user, a selection of at least one of the first and second reasons;   removing the second reference from the first matter; and   associating the at least one selected reason with the second reference.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 presenting a first view matter interface, wherein the first view matter interface corresponds to the first matter, the first view matter interface comprising a selectable option for displaying references that have been removed from the first matter;   receiving a selection of the selectable option for displaying removed references; and   displaying a representation of the second reference, wherein the representation includes an indication that the second reference has been removed from the first matter.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving a push command corresponding to the second reference and associating the second reference with the second matter in response to receiving the push command. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising notifying at least one user that the second reference has been associated with the second matter. 
     
     
         11 . One or more computer-readable media having embodied thereon computer-executable instructions for performing a method of managing references associated with one or more patent applications, the method comprising:
 presenting a first interface to a reviewing user, the first interface comprising a first region for displaying notifications and a second region that includes an indication of a matter having an information disclosure statement (IDS) filing package to be reviewed, wherein the IDS filing package includes a completed IDS form and a first reference;   receiving a user selection of the indication; and   presenting a second interface to the reviewing user, the second interface comprising:
 (1) a selectable representation of the completed IDS form, wherein selection of the selectable representation of the completed IDS form causes the completed IDS form to be presented to the reviewing user; and 
 (2) a selectable representation of the first reference, wherein selection of the selectable representation of the first reference causes the first reference to be presented to the reviewing user. 
   
     
     
         12 . The media of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 presenting a set of selectable options to the reviewing user, wherein the set of selectable options includes an approve option and a reject option;   receiving, from the reviewing user, a selection of the approve option; and   notifying, in response to receiving the selection of the approve option, a filing user that the IDS filing package is ready to be filed.   
     
     
         13 . The media of  claim 11 , further comprising presenting a third interface, the third interface comprising an indication that the first reference has been included in the IDS filing package associated with the matter. 
     
     
         14 . The media of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 receiving a remove command from the reviewing user, wherein the remove command corresponds to a second reference associated with the matter;   presenting a set of selectable options to the reviewing user, the set of selectable options comprising a first reason for removing the second reference from the matter and a second reason for removing the second reference from the matter;   receiving, from the reviewing user, a selection of at least one of the first and second reasons;   automatically removing the second reference from the matter; and   associating the at least one selected reason with the second reference.   
     
     
         15 . The media of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 presenting a selectable option for displaying references that have been removed from the matter;   receiving a selection of the selectable option for displaying removed references; and   displaying an indication that the second reference has been removed from the matter.   
     
     
         16 . A method for managing references associated with one or more patent applications, the method comprising:
 associating a plurality of matters with a clan;   associating a reference with a first one of the plurality of matters;   receiving a generate command from a first user;   populating, at an interaction server and in response to receiving the generate command, a plurality of input fields of an information disclosure statement (IDS) form to create a completed IDS form associated with the first one of the plurality of matters, wherein at least one of the plurality of input fields is populated with descriptive data associated with the reference;   generating an IDS filing package, wherein the IDS filing package includes the completed IDS form and the reference; and   notifying a second user that the IDS filing package is ready to be reviewed by the second user.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 presenting an IDS review interface to the second user, the IDS review interface comprising a representation of the completed IDS form and a representation of the reference;   presenting a set of selectable options to the second user, wherein the set of selectable options includes an approve option and a reject option;   receiving, from the second user, a selection of the approve option; and   communicating a notification to a third user, the notification indicating that the IDS filing package is ready to be filed.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 receiving a download request from the third user; and   saving a copy of the IDS filing package on a computing device operated by the third user.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising associating, in response to receiving the selection of the approve option, the reference with a second one of the plurality of matters. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising presenting a view matter interface, the view matter interface comprising an indication that the reference has not been included in an IDS filing package associated with the second one of the plurality of matters.