{
  "patent_number": "US 5966126",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How to Build Complex Database Searches Using Venn Diagrams",
  "original_title": "Graphic user interface for database system",
  "summary": "A method for searching databases by visually connecting Venn diagrams to represent complex logical relationships between different sets of data.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a way to make database searching more intuitive by using visual icons that resemble Venn diagrams. Instead of typing complex code or SQL queries, a user selects specific regions within these circular icons to define how different data sets should overlap or exclude each other. The system then takes these visual selections and the lines connecting them to build a formal search query that a database can understand. For example, a user could drag or resize parts of a Venn diagram to tell the computer to find records that are in 'Set A' but not in 'Set B', and then link that result to another diagram to further narrow the search.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover text-based query languages like SQL or natural language processing.",
    "Does not cover search interfaces that rely solely on keyword input fields.",
    "Does not cover the underlying database storage or retrieval engine itself.",
    "Does not cover systems that do not use visual icons to represent set inclusion properties."
  ],
  "filed": "1996-12-23",
  "granted": "1999-10-12",
  "expires": "2016-12-23",
  "status": "expired",
  "holder": "Individual",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/individual",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Andrew J. Szabo",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/andrew-j-szabo"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 859,
  "tags": [
    "software",
    "ai_ml",
    "ecommerce"
  ],
  "abstract": "A graphic user interface method for representing a search of a database, providing a plurality of stylized Venn diagrams each representing an intersection of at least two sets; receiving from the user, for each generic graphic icon, a selection of at least one region, defining an output data set; presenting the generic graphic icons on the graphic user interface as modified graphic icons, each having graphic indication of the selections; and receiving linkage information from the user for the modified graphic icons to represent a composite set inclusion property, based on the output data sets and the linkage information. Once a search is defined, it may be translated, as necessary, for execution by a typical database search engine. Retrieved results may be quantified and ranked by the interface system for optimal presentation to the user.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/5966126/graphic-user-interface-for-database-system",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/5966126/graphic-user-interface-for-database-system/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US5966126",
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}