IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,719,586
Granted Patent B2
US 10,719,586 · App. 15/730,950 · Granted Jul 21, 2020

Establishing intellectual property data ownership using immutable ledgers

Inventors: Jonathan Lenchner (North Salem, NY); Maharaj Mukherjee (Poughkeepsie, NY)
Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
G06F21/10G06F21/64G06F40/00G06Q50/184H04L9/0637H04L9/3239G06F21/6218G06F40/20H04L9/3247H04L2209/38
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,719,586
App. No.
15/730,950
Granted
Jul 21, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

Embodiments for determining ownership of intellectual property data by a processor. Various communications provided by one or more contributors relating to the intellectual property data are tracked using one or more immutable ledgers. The communications maintained in the one or more immutable ledgers may be analyzed to identify a degree of contribution by the one or more contributors to the intellectual property. A degree of ownership may be assigned to the intellectual property data for the one or more contributors according to the analyzed content.

Claims (36)

1. A computer implemented method for determining ownership of intellectual property data by a processor, comprising:

tracking communications provided by one or more contributors relating to the intellectual property data using one or more immutable ledgers;

analyzing content of the communications maintained in the one or more immutable ledgers to identify a degree of contribution by the one or more contributors to the intellectual property data; wherein the tracking includes tracking audio data or video data such that analyzing the content includes transcribing the audio data or the video data to text data to create a record in the one or more immutable ledgers, the transcription including embedded attribution information as to whom of the one or more contributors contributed what portions of the intellectual property data during the communications;

commensurate with analyzing the transcription, performing a back-tracking operation on identified expressions appearing in a final state within the content; wherein the back-tracking operation recursively analyzes the communications in the one or more immutable ledgers to identify those of the communications where the identified expressions were first used to determine which of the one or more contributors first contributed the content associated with each of the identified expressions; and assigning a degree of ownership to the intellectual property data for the one or more contributors according to the analyzed content.

2. The method of claim 1 , further including tracking each stage of development of the intellectual property data according to the communications such that the tracking identifies each contribution by the one or more contributors.

3. The method of claim 1 , further including maintaining records of the communication between the one or more contributors.

4. The method of claim 1 , further including processing the communications of the one or more immutable ledgers using natural language processing (NLP).

5. The method of claim 1 , further including:

identifying one or more primary contributions to the intellectual property data provided by one of the one or more contributors using the one or more immutable ledgers, wherein the one or more immutable ledgers is a blockchain ledger; or

identifying one or more secondary contributions to the intellectual property data provided by an alternative one of the one or more contributors.

6. The method of claim 1 , further including assigning the degree of ownership to the intellectual property data for the one or more contributors according to a plurality of contribution factors.

7. A system for determining ownership of intellectual property data, comprising:

one or more computers with executable instructions that when executed cause the system to:

cognitively track communications provided by one or more contributors relating to the intellectual property data using one or more immutable ledgers;

analyze content of the communications maintained in the one or more immutable ledgers to identify a degree of contribution by the one or more contributors to the intellectual property data; wherein the tracking includes tracking audio data or video data such that analyzing the content includes transcribing the audio data or the video data to text data to create a record in the one or more immutable ledgers, the transcription including embedded attribution information as to whom of the one or more contributors contributed what portions of the intellectual property data during the communications;

commensurate with analyzing the transcription, perform a back-tracking operation on identified expressions appearing in a final state within the content: wherein the back-tracking operation recursively analyzes the communications in the one or more immutable ledgers to identify those of the communications where the identified expressions were first used such as to determine which of the one or more contributors first contributed the content associated with each of the identified expressions: and

assign a degree of ownership to the intellectual property data for the one or more contributors according to the analyzed content.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the executable instructions track each stage of development of the intellectual property data according to the communications such that the tracking identifies each contribution by the one or more contributors.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the executable instructions maintain records of the communication between the one or more contributors.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the executable instructions process the communications of the one or more immutable ledgers using natural language processing (NLP).

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the executable instructions:

identify one or more primary contributions to the intellectual property data provided by one of the one or more contributors using the one or more immutable ledgers, wherein the one or more immutable ledgers is a blockchain ledger; or

identify one or more secondary contributions to the intellectual property data provided by an alternative one of the one or more contributors.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the executable instructions assign the degree of ownership to the intellectual property data for the one or more contributors according to a plurality of contribution factors.

13. A computer program product for determining ownership of intellectual property data by a processor, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

an executable portion that tracks communications provided by one or more contributors relating to the intellectual property data using one or more immutable ledgers;

an executable portion that analyzes content of the communications maintained in the one or more immutable ledgers to identify a degree of contribution by the one or more contributors to the intellectual property data; wherein the tracking includes tracking audio data or video data such that analyzing the content includes transcribing the audio data or the video data to text data to create a record in the one or more immutable ledgers, the transcription including embedded attribution information as to whom of the one or more contributors contributed what portions of the intellectual property data during the communications;

an executable portion that commensurate with analyzing the transcription, performs a back-tracking operation on identified expressions appearing in a final state within the content; wherein the back-tracking operation recursively analyzes the communications in the one or more immutable ledgers to identify those of the communications where the identified expressions were first used to determine which of the one or more contributors first contributed the content associated with each of the identified expressions: and

an executable portion that assigns a degree of ownership to the intellectual property data for the one or more contributors according to the analyzed content.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , further including an executable portion that tracks each stage of development of the intellectual property data according to the communications such that the tracking identifies each contribution by the one or more contributors.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 , further including an executable portion that maintains records of the communication between the one or more contributors.

16. The computer program product of claim 13 , further including an executable portion that processes the communications of the one or more immutable ledgers using natural language processing (NLP).

17. The computer program product of claim 13 , further including an executable portion that:

identifies one or more primary contributions to the intellectual property data provided by one of the one or more contributors using the one or more immutable ledgers, wherein the one or more immutable ledgers are a blockchain ledger; or

identifies one or more secondary contributions to the intellectual property data provided by an alternative one of the one or more contributors.

18. The computer program product of claim 13 , further including an executable portion that assigns the degree of ownership to the intellectual property data for the one or more contributors according to a plurality of contribution factors.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 12, 2017
From: LENCHNER, JONATHAN; MUKHERJEE, MAHARAJ
To: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 043849/0121 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20190114395A1 · Apr 18, 2019
Cited By (11)
US 12,210,984 US 12,217,197 US 12,217,255 US 12,254,427 US 12,400,154 US 12,412,120 US 12,412,131 US 12,412,132 US 12,524,820 US 12,547,991 US 12,651,275