System, method, and computer program product for tokenizing document citations

1. A computer-implemented method for processing a textual document, comprising:

tokenizing, with at least one processor, each string of a plurality of strings in at least one textual document into at least one citation token representing at least one citation parameter, resulting in a plurality of citation tokens;

grouping, with the at least one processor, the plurality of citation tokens into a plurality of token groups, each token group of the plurality of token groups comprising at least one citation token, each token group representing a single, separate citation in the at least one textual document;

assigning, with the at least one processor, metadata to each token group of the plurality of token groups, the metadata comprising a cardinality of the citation represented by each token group based on a position of each token group in the at least one textual document relative to other token groups, the cardinality comprising an occurrence count of the citation;

generating, with the at least one processor, a normalized citation for each token group of the plurality of token groups based on the metadata and the at least one citation token of the token group; and

generating, with the at least one processor, a document citation data structure based on the normalized citation for each token group of the plurality of token groups.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

matching the normalized citation for each string of the plurality of strings to records of a citation database; and

in response to determining that the normalized citation does not match the records of the citation database, adding the normalized citation to the citation database.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

matching the normalized citation for each string of the plurality of strings to records of a citation database; and

in response to determining that the normalized citation matches a record of the citation database, validating the normalized citation.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

associating an external document to at least one normalized citation of the document citation data structure; and

inserting a hyperlink to the external document into the at least one normalized citation.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a plurality of external documents uploaded or linked by a user; and

prompting the user to input document data for each external document of the plurality of external documents.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a citation category for each normalized citation from a plurality of citation categories; and

generating a plurality of tables of citations based on the document citation data structure, a format of the at least one textual document, and the citation category for each normalized citation.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of tables of citations comprises a table of authorities and a table of exhibits.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the cardinality for each string of the plurality of strings based at least on a position of the string in a sequence of the plurality of strings and a number of preceding matching citations.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a table of citations based on the document citation data structure and a format of the at least one textual document.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the cardinality of the citation represented by each token group based on at least one of the following: a preceding citation represented by a different token group, a following citation represented by a different token group, or any combination thereof.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising generating at least one of the following based on the document citation data structure:

a table of authorities, a set of reference documents or portions thereof, an index, an exhibit compilation, a table of contents, a word processing native file, or any combination thereof.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising, before tokenzing, parsing, with at least one processor, the at least one textual document to identify the plurality of strings based on a citation segment tagger algorithm, each string of the plurality of strings representing at least a portion of a citation.

13. A system comprising:

at least one processor programmed or configured to:

tokenize each string of a plurality of strings in at least one textual document into at least one citation token representing at least one citation parameter, resulting in a plurality of citation tokens;

group the plurality of citation tokens into a plurality of token groups, each token group of the plurality of token groups comprising at least one citation token, each token group representing a single, separate citation in the at least one textual document;

assign metadata to each token group of the plurality of token groups, the metadata comprising a cardinality of the citation represented by each token group based on a position of each token group in the at least one textual document relative to other token groups, the cardinality comprising an occurrence count of the citation;

generate a normalized citation for each token group of the plurality of token groups based on the metadata and the at least one citation token of the token group; and

generate a document citation data structure based on the normalized citation for each token group of the plurality of token groups.

14. The system of claim 13 , the at least one processor further programmed or configured to:

match the normalized citation for each string of the plurality of strings to records of a citation database;

in response to determining that the normalized citation does not match the records of the citation database, add the normalized citation to the citation database; and

in response to determining that the normalized citation matches a record of the citation database, validate the normalized citation.

15. The system of claim 13 , the at least one processor further programmed or configured to:

associate an external document to at least one normalized citation of the document citation data structure; and

insert a hyperlink to the external document into the at least one normalized citation.

16. The system of claim 13 , the at least one processor further programmed or configured to:

determine a citation category for each normalized citation from a plurality of citation categories; and

generate a plurality of tables of citations based on the document citation data structure, a format of the at least one textual document, and the citation category for each normalized citation.

17. The system of claim 13 , the at least one processor further programmed or configured to:

generate a table of citations based on the document citation data structure and a format of the at least one textual document.

18. The system of claim 13 , the at least one processor further programmed or configured to generate at least one of the following based on the document citation data structure: a table of authorities, a set of reference documents or portions thereof, an index, an exhibit compilation, a table of contents, a word processing native file, or any combination thereof.

19. The system of claim 13 , the at least one processor further programmed or configured to, before tokenzing, parse the at least one textual document to identify the plurality of strings based on a citation segment tagger algorithm, each string of the plurality of strings representing at least a portion of a citation.

20. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium including program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

tokenize each string of a plurality of strings in at least one textual document into at least one citation token representing at least one citation parameter, resulting in a plurality of citation tokens;

group the plurality of citation tokens into a plurality of token groups, each token group of the plurality of token groups comprising at least one citation token, each token group representing a single, separate citation in the at least one textual document;

assign metadata to each token group of the plurality of token groups, the metadata comprising a cardinality of the citation represented by each token group based on a position of each token group in the at least one textual document relative to other token groups, the cardinality comprising an occurrence count of the citation;

generate a normalized citation for each token group of the plurality of token groups based on the metadata and the at least one citation token of the token group; and

generate a document citation data structure based on the normalized citation for each token group of the plurality of token groups.