Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of generating keywords in an automated manner for use in searching an electronic database. The generated groups of keywords may be formatted in a variety of configurations, including a table. The table may include a plurality of columns for keywords and a plurality of rows for groups of keywords. The plurality of columns may include categories for keywords, and keywords with software compatible operators. A user may input at least one keyword in the table and is presented, in an automated manner, with at least one suggestion of a related term from which the user may choose. The sources of suggestions may include commercial thesauri or dictionaries, or a database of previously executed search queries or saved keyword tables. Boolean operators compatible with the database to be searched are added in an automated manner to the selected keywords when the table is populated.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for efficiently searching a patent database using patent search software. A target patent or group of patents are identified and utilized through a forward and backward citation search (FNB search) to identify patent references closely related to the patent search subject. The FNB search may be customized by a plurality of user selectable options to manipulate the results of the FNB search, and the results may be output in a variety of formats depending on the preferences of the user.