# US 2021/0241401 A1 · System and method for intellectual property rights labeling

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- Number: US 2021/0241401 A1
- Document ID: US20210241401A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/778,044
- Filed: 2020-01-31
- Published: 2021-08-05
- Earliest claimed: 2020-01-31
- Assignees: The Boeing Company
- Applicants: The Boeing Company
- Inventors: Duane J. McCollum; Michael A. Snow
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210241401A1

## CPC

- G06Q 50/184: {Intellectual property management}
- G06F 30/15: Vehicle, aircraft or watercraft design
- G06N 20/00: Machine learning
- G06Q 10/0635: Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities
- G06N 5/01: Dynamic search techniques; Heuristics; Dynamic trees; Branch-and-bound
- G06Q 10/0875: Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06N: COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS

## Abstract

A method includes accessing, by a processor of a computing device, metadata of a data file associated with a mixed-IP rights project. The method also includes performing, by the processor, a comparison of values of metadata field(s) of the metadata to a rights criterion. The method further includes, based on whether the comparison indicates that values of the one or more metadata fields satisfy the rights criterion, storing data indicating assignment of an IP rights label of a set of candidate IP rights labels to the data file.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method comprising:
accessing, by a processor of a computing device, metadata of a data file associated with a mixed-intellectual property (IP) rights project;
performing, by the processor, a comparison of values of one or more metadata fields of the metadata to a rights criterion; and
based on whether the comparison indicates that values of the one or more metadata fields satisfy the rights criterion, storing data indicating assignment of an IP rights label of a set of candidate IP rights labels to the data file.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the mixed-IP rights project corresponds to designing a modified system by adapting at least a portion of a base system, wherein a first entity has IP rights to the base system, and wherein a second entity has IP rights to at least a portion of the modified system.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the base system corresponds to a commercial aircraft and the modified system corresponds to a military platform based on the commercial aircraft.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein responsive to the comparison indicating that the values of the one or more metadata fields satisfy the rights criterion, the data indicates that a first IP rights label of the candidate IP rights labels is assigned to the data file, wherein the rights criterion is satisfied when the values of the one or more metadata fields indicate that the data file pertains to a base system without modifications associated with the mixed-IP rights project and the first IP rights label indicates single-party IP rights.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the comparison is a first comparison, the one or more metadata fields are a first metadata field, and the rights criterion is a first rights criterion, wherein the method further includes:
responsive to the first comparison indicating that a value of the first metadata field fails to satisfy the first rights criterion, performing a second comparison of a value of a second metadata field of the metadata to a second rights criterion; and
wherein the IP rights label is assigned to the data file based on whether the second comparison indicates that the value of the second metadata field satisfies the second rights criterion.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, further comprising:
responsive to the second comparison indicating that the value of the second metadata field fails to satisfy the second rights criterion, performing a third comparison of a value of a third metadata field of the metadata to a third rights criterion, wherein the IP rights label is assigned to the data file based on whether the third comparison indicates that the value of the third metadata field satisfies the third rights criterion.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein responsive to the third comparison indicating that the value of the third metadata field satisfies the third rights criterion, the IP rights label assigned to the data file is a third IP rights label of the candidate IP rights labels.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein responsive to the third comparison indicating that the value of the third metadata field fails to satisfy the third rights criterion, the IP rights label assigned to the data file is a fourth IP rights label of the candidate IP rights labels.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the data file comprises or corresponds to an engineering drawing.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprises one or more of an identifier of a person or group that released the data file, a release date of the data file, a descriptor of the data file, or a parts list associated with the data file.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the accessing the metadata comprises performing a join operation to aggregate data related to the data file from data tables.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a risk value based on the IP rights label assigned to the data file and storing risk data indicating the risk value.

### Claim 13

A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more memory devices storing instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
accessing, by an intellectual property (IP) rights classifier, metadata of an engineering design or analysis data file associated with a blended-IP rights project;
selecting, by the IP rights classifier based on the metadata, an IP rights label of a set of candidate IP rights labels to assign to the engineering design or analysis data file; and
storing, at the one or more memory devices, data indicating assignment of the IP rights label assigned to the engineering design or analysis data file.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The system of claim 13, further comprising one or more communication interfaces coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more communication interfaces configured to enable the one or more processors to communicate with one or more databases associated with the blended-IP rights project to access the engineering design or analysis data file and the metadata.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14, wherein the IP rights classifier uses one or more heuristic rules, one or more machine learning data models, or a combination thereof, to select the IP rights label.

### Claim 16

A computer-readable storage device storing instructions that are executable by one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
accessing a data file associated with design or analysis of an engineering project in which multiple entities potentially have intellectual property (IP) rights;
evaluating one or more metadata fields of metadata of the data file based on rights selection criteria;
selecting, based on the rights selection criteria, an IP rights label of a set of candidate IP rights labels to be assigned to the data file; and
storing data indicating assignment of the IP rights label to the data file.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the data file includes or corresponds to an engineering drawing associated with the engineering project.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the engineering project corresponds to designing a modified system by adapting at least a portion of a base system, wherein a first entity of the entities has IP rights to the base system, and wherein a second entity of the entities has IP rights to at least a portion of the modified system.

### Claim 19 (depends on 16)

The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the metadata includes one or more of an identifier of a person or group that performed the design or analysis of the engineering project, a date associated with the design or analysis of the engineering project, a descriptor of the design or analysis of the engineering project, or a parts list associated with the design or analysis of the engineering project.

### Claim 20 (depends on 16)

The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise determining, based on the metadata, a risk value associated with assignment of the IP rights label to the data file and storing risk data indicating the risk value.