This project was about applying logical retrieval to patent retrieval.

Probabilistic logical retrieval is useful for complex search tasks where different search criteria, dimensions, and data sources need to be combined. After an initial search for patents about semiconductors (the initial search is the basic, so-called topical search), for example, the task is to explore the patents of the inventors who filed the most relevant patents about semiconductors. Logical retrieval supports the reasoning process, which is the post-processing of retrieval results and the combination of evidence. At large, this supports the decision-making processes that patent searchers are faced with.

Large-Scale Logical Retrieval enables searching for patents and related entities in both full-text and Structured Query Language (SQL) fashion. Particular to LSLR is the usage and modelling of techniques from distributed information retrieval in order to scale logical retrieval to millions of patents.