Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-05
2001-07-17
Hong, Stephen S. (Department: 2776)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06263351
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system and method of displaying information on a computer screen. A system employing the present invention provides an efficient procedure for researching documents and the interrelationships between documents. The present invention is particularly applicable to research involving documents that extensively cite or refer to other documents.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The nature of many academic and professional writings is such that authors rely upon and cite previously published works, studies, or test results to support arguments or opinions. For example, in the common law system in America, lawyers and judges cite and rely upon previously decided cases (i.e., written judicial opinions) to support their arguments and opinions. The American common law system is particularly reliant upon the precedent established by previous case decisions because a judicial court (or judge) will usually consider as very persuasive a previously-decided case in which the same legal issue has been resolved or decided.
However, courts will not always agree with, or be bound by, previously-decided cases. Instead of agreeing with a conclusion reached in a previous case, or “following” it, courts may occasionally, disagree with, criticize, question, reverse, or overrule the previous case. Therefore, beginning with the first time a case is cited in a subsequent case, the earlier case's authoritative value can change. For example, if a persuasive judge is critical of the earlier case, that earlier case will be less authoritative than it was before the judge's critical treatment of the case. On the other hand, if the judge strongly supports the reasoning of the earlier case, the authoritative value of the earlier case will be enhanced. Virtually every time a case is discussed or cited, its authoritativeness or precedential status is affected. The importance or precedential status of a case can continue to evolve over many years as a result of interpretations given to it by judges in subsequent cases.
Therefore, when considering a legal issue decided in a court's written opinion or decision, it is critical to consider what subsequent cases have said about it. Lawyers performing legal research consequently have a need to determine which later cases have discussed (and therefore, cited) in any given earlier case. For many years, lawyers have been able to find out which later cases have cited any given case by using a tool known as Shepard's Citations published by McGraw-Hill, Inc. Shepard's Citations is basically an organized index that lists all the cases that have cited a particular case. When a later case cites an earlier case, there is usually some discussion of the earlier, cited case. Shepard's Citations also sometimes gives a brief indication of how the later case treated the earlier case of interest (e.g., the later case may have “followed,” “criticized,” or “questioned” the earlier case).
In recent years, legal research has been increasingly performed by lawyers using computerized legal research systems. The most popular of these may be the on-line legal research systems, such as Westlaw and LEXIS/NEXIS. However, legal research systems employing local CD-ROM or other databases have become quite popular.
FIG. 1
a
is a representation of a screen taken from the Westlaw legal research system operated by the West Publishing Company. The screen shows a portion of the text of the Wilson Sporting Goods case shown at
101
in
FIG. 1
a.
The title bar
102
includes the citations
103
for the Wilson case, which are 904 F.2d 677, and 14 U.S.P.Q.2d 1942. These two citations mean that the Wilson case can be found starting at page 677 of volume 904 of the F.2d reporter series, or alternatively, starting at page 1942 of volume 14 of the U.S.P.Q.2d reporter series.
Also shown in the title bar
102
is the “rank”
104
of the displayed document, which is simply the position or order of the Wilson case with respect to all of the other documents found in the search conducted by the user. In this particular example, the Wilson case is ranked second out of three search documents. Each of the search documents is a document that satisfies a particular query entered by the user, and in the example shown in
FIG. 1
a,
three documents in the database CTA satisfy the user's query.
The current page number and the number of pages in the document are shown in
FIG. 1
a
at
105
. The number of pages essentially corresponds to the number of screens the Wilson case fills. For example,
FIG. 1
a
shows the first Westlaw page of the Wilson case, and
FIG. 1
b
shows Westlaw page 25.
FIG. 1
b
is the screen that is twenty-fifth of the thirty-nine screens that make up the Wilson case.
FIGS. 1
a
and
1
b
thus simply show different portions of the text of the Wilson case.
As described above, when researching issues that are discussed in the Wilson case, it is very useful to see what subsequently decided cases have said about the analysis in the Wilson case. The Westlaw system provides access to this type of information through a number of services, one of which is the on-line version of Shepard's Citations. In the Westlaw system, the user can access this information by selecting a menu item from a pull-down menu or by selecting (i.e., “clicking on”) an on-screen button. When the user selects the Shepard's Citation service in Westlaw while viewing the Wilson case, a screen similar to that shown in
FIG. 1
c
is displayed.
The top of
FIG. 1
c
shows at
110
a citation to the cited document, 904 F.2d 677, which is the citation to the Wilson case. Thus, the Wilson case is considered, in this screen, to be the “cited” document. A parallel citation to the Wilson case is shown at
114
.
FIG. 1
c
also contains a list
112
of citations to a number of cases. The citations in this list
112
are references to cases which cite the Wilson case. These cases listed at
112
are called “citing cases” because they are later cases that cite the Wilson case (i.e., the cited case). In other words, the text of each of the cases shown in the list
112
contains a specific reference to the Wilson case.
The citation
116
at the bottom of
FIG. 1
c
(“140 F.R.D. 121, 127”), indicates that a case having a citation to the Wilson case can be found starting at page 121 of volume 140 of the F.R.D. (Federal Rules Decisions) reporter series. The specific citation or reference to the Wilson case can be found on page 127 of that volume.
FIG. 1
c
also shows at
118
that this citation references headnote 9 of the Wilson case. This means that the case at 140 F.R.D. 121 cites the Wilson case for the issue discussed at headnote 9 of the Wilson case. The headnotes are prepared and categorized by the West Publishing Company.
As suggested at
120
of
FIG. 1
c,
the Shepard's listing for the Wilson case spans eight Westlaw screens. Page 2 of the Shepard's listing is shown in
FIG. 1
d.
This page lists additional citing cases (i.e., cases that cite the Wilson case). As can be seen from
FIGS. 1
c
and
1
d,
the Shepard's citations are listed in a somewhat organized manner. For example, in
FIG. 1
d,
the cases decided in the First Circuit that cite the Wilson case are listed under the heading “Cir. 1, ” and the cases in the Second Circuit that cite the Wilson case are listed under heading “Cir. 2.”
FIG. 1
d
also shows an instance in which the Shepard's listing analyzes one of the listed citations. At
122
, the Shepard's listing suggests that the case published at 796 F.Supp. 640 (the “citing case”) “followed” the analysis or reasoning of the Wilson case. This means that the citing case (found at 796 F.Supp. 640) applied the same analysis as the court in the Wilson case. The Shepard's Citations listing also will occasionally provide other analysis of citing cases, and may, for example, point out those cases which “explain,” “criticize,” or “reverse” the Wilson case.
As described above, the Westlaw system allows the research
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