IP Library Granted Patent US 12,547,931
Granted Patent B2
US 12,547,931 · App. 17/412,630 · Granted Feb 10, 2026

Retraining document-tagging machine-learned model based on anonymized data

Inventors: Roshan Satish (Seattle, WA); Matthew John Thanabalan (Oakland, CA); David Wong (San Francisco, CA); Benjamin Edward Childs (Seattle, WA); Abhijit Salvi (Cupertino, CA); Vinay Jethava (Gothenburg, SE)
Assignee: Docusign, Inc.
G06N20/00G06F16/93
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,547,931
App. No.
17/412,630
Granted
Feb 10, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A document management system trains a machine-learned model using a first training set of tagged documents to, when applied to a document, tag one or more portions of the document. The document management system applies the machine-learned model to a target document. One or more portions of the target document incorrectly tagged by the machine-learned model are identified. A feature vector representative of the target document is generated. Each entry of the feature vector is representative of a characteristic of the target document without including private information from the target document. The document management system queries a corpus of documents using the feature vector to identify a set of documents that correspond to the feature vector. A second training set of tagged documents is generated using the identified set of documents. The document management system retrains the machine-learned model using the second training set of tagged documents.

Claims (64)

1 . A method comprising:

training, by a document management system, a machine-learned model using a first training set of training documents, each training document in the first set of training documents labeled with first corresponding tags of a plurality of tags;

assigning, by the document management system and based on the machine-learned model processing a target document, a first tag of the plurality of tags to one or more portions of the target document;

identifying, by the document management system, whether a portion of the one or more portions of the target document is incorrectly assigned the first tag based on the machine-learned model processing the target document;

based on identifying that the portion of the one or more portions of the target document is incorrectly assigned the first tag based on the machine-learned model processing the target document, generating, by the document management system, a feature vector for the target document, each entry of the feature vector indicative of a characteristic of the target document, wherein entries of the feature vector include anonymized data created based on the document management system removing sensitive data included in the target document;

querying, by the document management system and based on the anonymized data of the feature vector, a corpus of documents using the feature vector to identify a set of documents corresponding to the feature vector;

generating, by the document management system and based on the identified set of documents, a second training set of training documents, each training document in the second training set of training document labeled with second corresponding tags of the plurality of tags;

retraining, by the document management system, the machine-learned model using the second training set of training documents to be a retrained machine-learned model; and

assigning, by the document management system and based on the retrained machine-learned model processing the target document, a second tag of the plurality of tags to the portion of the one or more portions of the target document.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one entry of the feature vector includes at least one of: a Boolean representation, a decimal representation, a count representation, or a string representation.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein characteristics of the target document include at least one of: a word type, a word count, a clause type, a clause count, a spacing, a header, a document type, a renewal period, a renewal notice period, a termination date, a start date, a party type, a jurisdiction, a font, or a font size.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein querying the corpus of documents using the feature vector to identify the set of documents corresponding to the feature vector comprises:

generating, by the document management system, additional feature vectors, each additional feature vector associated with a document in the corpus of documents;

comparing the feature vector with the additional feature vectors; and

selecting additional feature vectors with a threshold similarity to the feature vector.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine-learned model is a first machine-learned model, and wherein the second training set of training documents is generated using a second machine-learned model.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second training set of training documents includes the first training set of training documents.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein retraining the machine-learned model comprises:

applying the machine-learned model to the second training set of training documents to generate predictions of tags for one or more portions of documents in the second set of training documents;

updating weights of the machine-learned model based on the predictions and the second corresponding tags; and

generating, based on the updating the weights of the machine-learned model, the retrained machine-learned model.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the feature vector comprises:

identifying the sensitive data included in the target document; and

removing, based on performing anonymity operators, the sensitive data included in the target document.

9 . A system comprising:

processing circuitry; and

computer readable media comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the processing circuitry to:

train a machine-learned model using a first training set of training documents, each training document in the first set of training documents labeled with first corresponding tags of a plurality of tags;

assign, based on the machine-learned model processing a target document, a first tag of the plurality of tags to one or more portions of the document;

identify whether a portion of the one or more portions of the target document is incorrectly assigned the first tag based on the machine-learned model processing the target document;

based on identifying that the portion of the one or more portions of the target document is incorrectly assigned the first tag based on the machine-learned model processing the target document, generate a feature vector of the target document, each entry of the feature vector indicative of a characteristic of the target document, wherein entries of the feature vector include anonymized data created based on removing sensitive data included in the target document;

query, based on the anonymized data of the feature vector, a corpus of documents using the feature vector to identify a set of documents corresponding to the feature vector;

generate, based on the identified set of documents, a second training set of training documents, each training document in the second training set of training documents labeled with second corresponding tags of the plurality of tags;

retrain the machine-learned model using the second training set of training documents to be a retrained machine-learned model; and

assign, based on the retrained machine-learned model processing the target document, a second tag of the plurality of tags to the portion of the one or more portions of the target document.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein at least one entry of the feature vector includes at least one of: a Boolean representation, a decimal representation, a count representation, or a string representation.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein characteristics of the target document include at least one of: a word type, a word count, a clause type, a clause count, a spacing, a header, a document type, a renewal period, a renewal notice period, a termination date, a start date, a party type, a jurisdiction, a font, or a font size.

12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein to query the corpus of documents using the feature vector to identify the set of documents corresponding to the feature vector, the instructions cause the processing circuitry to:

generate additional feature vectors, each additional feature vector associated with a document in the corpus of documents;

compare the feature vector with the additional feature vectors; and

select additional feature vectors with a threshold similarity to the feature vector.

13 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the machine-learned model is a first machine-learned model, and wherein the second training set of training documents is generated using a second machine-learned model.

14 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the second training set of training documents includes the first training set of training documents.

15 . The system of claim 9 , wherein to retrain the machine-learned model, the instructions cause the processing circuitry to:

apply the machine-learned model to the second training set of training documents to generate predictions of tags for one or more portions of documents in the second set of training documents; and

update weights of the machine-learned model based on the predictions and the second corresponding tags; and

generate, based on updated weights of the machine-learned model, the retrained machine-learned model.

16 . The system of claim 9 , wherein to generate the feature vector, the instructions cause the processing circuitry to:

identify the sensitive data included in the target document; and

remove, based on performing anonymity operators, the sensitive data included in the target document.

17 . Computer-readable media encoded with instructions that, when executed, cause processing circuitry to:

train a machine-learned model using a first training set of training documents, each training document in the first training set of training documents labeled with first corresponding tags of a plurality of tags;

assign, based on the machine-learned model processing a target document, a first tag of the plurality of tags to one or more portions of the document;

identify whether a portion of the one or more portions of the target document is incorrectly assigned the first tag based on the machine-learned model processing the target document;

based on identifying the portion of the one or more portions of the target document is incorrectly assigned the first tag based on the machine-learned model processing the target document, generate a feature vector for the target document, each entry of the feature vector indicative of a characteristic of the target document, wherein entries of the feature vector include anonymized data created based on removing sensitive data included in the target document;

query, based on the anonymized data of the feature vector, a corpus of documents using the feature vector to identify a set of documents corresponding to the feature vector;

generate, based on the identified set of documents, a second training set of training documents, each training document in the second training set of training documents labeled with second corresponding tags of the plurality of tags;

retrain the machine-learned model using the second training set of training documents to be a retrained machine-learned model; and

assign, based on the retrained machine-learned model processing the target document, a second tag of the plurality of tags to the portion of the one or more portions of the target document.

18 . The computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein at least one entry of the feature vector includes at least one of: a Boolean representation, a decimal representation, a count representation, or a string representation.

19 . The computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein characteristics of the target document include at least one of: a word type, a word count, a clause type, a clause count, a spacing, a header, a document type, a renewal period, a renewal notice period, a termination date, a start date, a party type, a jurisdiction, a font, or a font size.

20 . The computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein to generate the feature vector, the instructions cause the processing circuitry to:

identify the sensitive data included in the target document; and

remove, based on performing anonymity operators, the sensitive data included in the target document.

Assignments (2)
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded May 23, 2025
From: DOCUSIGN, INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
Reel/Frame 071337/0240 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 26, 2021
From: SATISH, ROSHAN; THANABALAN, MATTHEW JOHN; WONG, DAVID; CHILDS, BENJAMIN EDWARD; SALVI, ABHIJIT; JETHAVA, VINAY
To: DOCUSIGN, INC.
Reel/Frame 057302/0297 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230064367A1 · Mar 2, 2023
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