Patent ID: 8489573
Filing Date: 2013-07-16
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A search engine for generating an improved search query, the search engine comprising: an input for receiving a search request, the search request comprising N search terms; processor arranged to formulate a search query from the received search request; an output arranged to output the search query wherein the processing component is arranged to formulate the search query by generating a plurality of search strings, each search string comprising a different combination of a subset of the N search terms, the plurality of search strings being combined into a single search query the engine further comprising: a de-duplication engine for outputting a results set to a user, the de-duplication engine comprising: a search result input component arranged to receive a plurality of search results, each search result comprising one or more data items; a de-duplication component arranged to remove duplicate search results from the plurality of search results received at the search result input component and to generate a results set; a stored data set comprising one or more data categories and one or more data items distributed throughout the one or more data categories; a results set output component arranged to output the results set wherein the de-duplication component is arranged to compare the stored data set to the search results and to determine if a first search result is a duplicate result based on the following criteria: a) if the content of all of the one or more data categories in the stored data set are determined to match data items in the first search result then the first search result is determined to be a duplicate and is discarded: or b) if the content of at least one of the data categories in the stored data set is determined not to match any data items in the first search result then the first search result is added to the results set.