Using multiple query representations in patent prior-art search

Abstract

Before a patent application is made, it is important to search the appropriate databases for prior-art (i.e., pre-existing patents that may affect the validity of the application). Previous work on prior-art search has concentrated on single query representations of the patent application. In the following paper, we describe an approach which uses multiple query representations. We evaluate our technique using a well-known test collection (CLEF-IP 2011). Our results suggest that multiple query representations significantly outperform single query representations.