• Patent

The KnowledgeFilter system as described in the 1999 patent disclosure, was the first web-based user-enhanced content system, anticipating many of the current applications comprising the second generation social Web (Web 2.0).

These include:

• Knowledge-sharing sites such as Yahoo Answers: IMPROVED!

• Wiki-style applications such as Wikipedia: IMPROVED!

• Recommendation sites such as Amazon.com and Epinions: IMPROVED!

• Digg-style applications such as Digg.com and Reddit.com: IMPROVED!

• Content-sharing sites such as Flickr and YouTube: IMPROVED!

• Blogs and other user-generated content systems: IMPROVED!

• Group-moderated sites such as Slashdot.org: IMPROVED!

In addition to advanced versions of features now in use on those sites, the KnowledgeFilter specification describes an information-rich comment system that mines information provided by user-comment submissions to rank, sort, organize and evaluate content.

The patent application that was filed in October 1999 has recently been granted with a 1999 patent date. Other patents covering this far-reaching technology are pending and in development.

KnowledgeFilter became a victim of the Internet bust that took down many of its potential licensees in 2001, but kept its doors open and continued to test and develop its software while waiting for the patent to be issued.

Now that the patent has been awarded, KnowledgeFilter is actively seeking to sell or license its technology and associated intellectual property to a short list of qualified target companies. The current design team would welcome the opportunity to continue to develop the software, and to build the KnowledgeCenter portal originally envisioned as an alternative to search-engine based organization of Web-based knowledge.

KnowledgeFilter: The 1999 Patent

The extended period of time for processing the 1999 application was the result of the patent office's recognition of the patent’s ability to have a profound and far reaching impact on the Internet. Fortunately, KFI’s 1999 patent date precedes three patents awarded to Amazon.com in 2005 for its ratings and consumer review software filed in 2000, giving KFI’s IP position tremendous strategic advantage for companies such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL and even Amazon in today’s competitive Internet business environment.

In light of the three recently issued Amazon.com’s year 2000 patents on user reviews and ratings, it is imperative that Google, or any other key player, maintain its own freedom to use and develop systems that utilize user feedback to organize content. KnowledgeFilter’s 1999 patent is built on a broad disclosure of the first Web-based system to use ratings and reviews to organize Web content and search results. Its ownership would therefore convey to the holder the right to freely utilize and further develop such systems.

KnowledgeFilter’s patent covers the core of the invention and is disclosed in the patent.

• Internet users can collaboratively build a self-organizing knowledge base.

• Ratings supplied by users are utilized to sort information in the knowledge base.

• Comments are quantified to allow the sorting of information by corroboration level and to enhance, test and automatically update collective knowledge and opinions.

LEARN MORE

• The Software

• Sample Forums

• Applications

• Imagine...

• Alliance Opportunities

• The Company

• The Portal

Download patent (PDF)

PATENT ABSTRACT
(US Patent # 7,031,952)

A method and system for sharing knowledge is disclosed. The method and system comprises receiving information input into a database and organizing items of information in the database. The method and system further includes collecting ratings and comments associated with each item of information and allowing users to access and sort items of information according to selected rating criteria in order to find the most reliable and/or valuable information from the database.

In a second aspect, the present invention including an interface for providing information concerning a subject is disclosed. The interface comprises a first area that shows the subject and contributor name; a second area that shows the content of the information item; a third area that shows rating related to the subject; and a fourth area that allows users to submit ratings for the information item.

Accordingly, a knowledge-sharing system and interface are provided that allows every member of a knowledge-sharing group to benefit from the aggregate knowledge, experience and opinions of other members of the group. The system and method allows individual members to easily locate the information from a collectively generated knowledge base that is most consistent with that individual's personal measures of value in the information.