Abstract:
A method and system provides a predictive monitoring platform that identifies related but previously unspecified corporate entities that are in fact actually of interest to a customer. The method and system use a computer with a program module for a series of steps that search for and provide a list of previously unlinked corporate entities that are of potential interest to the customer for monitoring.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/174,733, filed on Jun. 12, 2015, which is incorporated herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Disclosure 
         [0003]    This disclosure relates to a method and system that provide predictive detection of changes for entities that are being monitored, especially a system which uses intelligent change detection to identify changed items that were not specifically requested but are, in fact, actually of interest to a user. 
         [0004]    2. Discussion of the Background Art 
         [0005]    In standard monitoring or notification scenarios there is a requirement on the requester (or process acting for the requester) to specify information of interest to be obtained. Alerting systems typically provide an alert based on generic system activity rather than directly requested information. These systems typically provide only information that is specifically requested. The technical problem is that most alerting/monitoring systems can only monitor companies selected by a requester/user and are incapable of monitoring other companies or entities of interested based upon association with the identified companies or entities by the requester/user. 
         [0006]    There is a need for a method and a system that identifies items, which are actually of interest, though not specifically requested by a user. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    The method and system of the present disclosure provides a predictive monitoring platform that identifies related but previously unspecified corporate entities that are in fact actually of interest to a user. This creates a powerful capability for users by providing unknown changes that might be of relevance to them. 
         [0008]    In particular, the method and system identify additional corporate entities (and/or contacts associated with the additional corporate entities or other entities) that the user should be monitoring and allows the user to refine the range or parameters of interest associated with the additional corporate entities that are identified by the predictive monitoring platform using the intelligent change detection system of the present disclosure. 
         [0009]    An embodiment of the method of the present disclosure monitors corporate entities for a requester (i.e. user) with a program module of a computer, which executes the following steps: 
         [0010]    obtaining a request for previously unlinked, corporate entities of potential interest for monitoring for the requester; 
         [0011]    based on the request, obtaining one or more previously unlinked, corporate entities from a seed list of previously unlinked corporate entities; 
         [0012]    establishing a linkage tree that includes the request and the obtained one or more related, but previously unlinked, corporate entities; 
         [0013]    based on a linkage change log, finding linkage changes of the linkage tree that comprise one or more of the previously unlinked corporate entities for monitoring, which are of interest to the requester for monitoring; and 
         [0014]    assembling a related list that includes the request and the one or more of the potential related, but previously unlinked, corporate entities of the found linkage changes. 
         [0015]    The method of the disclosure further comprises an embodiment in which the request includes an identity of a currently monitored corporate entity. 
         [0016]    The method of the disclosure further comprises an embodiment in which the linkage tree comprises one or more nodes for the request and the previously unlinked corporate entities. 
         [0017]    The method of the disclosure further comprises an embodiment in which the establishing step (a) adds a node to an existing linkage tree as a child node of a parent node of the nodes, or (b) deletes one of the nodes by removal, or (c) moves one of the nodes from one parent node to another parent node of the plurality of nodes. 
         [0018]    The method of the disclosure further comprises an embodiment in which exemplary outputs of the establishing step comprise time stamp, an entity identity, action and a parent identity. 
         [0019]    An embodiment of the system of the present disclosure monitors corporate entities for a requester with a computer that has access to a memory with a program module for controlling predictive monitoring of related entities. The computer controls the program module to execute the following steps: 
         [0020]    obtaining a request for previously unlinked, corporate entities of potential interest for monitoring for the requester; 
         [0021]    based on the request, obtaining one or more previously unlinked, corporate entities from a seed list of previously unlinked corporate entities; 
         [0022]    establishing a linkage tree that includes the request and the obtained one or more related, but previously unlinked, corporate entities; 
         [0023]    based on a linkage change log, finding linkage changes of the linkage tree that comprise one or more of the previously unlinked corporate entities for monitoring, which are of interest to the requester for monitoring; and 
         [0024]    assembling a related list that includes the request and the one or more of the potential related, but previously unlinked, corporate entities of the found linkage changes. 
         [0025]    A computer readable storage media containing executable computer program instructions which when executed cause a processing system to perform a method for monitoring corporate entities for a requester comprising: 
         [0026]    obtaining a request for previously unlinked, corporate entities of potential interest for monitoring for the requester; 
         [0027]    based on the request, obtaining one or more previously unlinked, corporate entities from a seed list of previously unlinked corporate entities; 
         [0028]    constructing a linkage tree that includes the request and the obtained one or more related, but previously unlinked, corporate entities; 
         [0029]    based on a linkage change log, identifying linkage changes of the linkage tree that comprise one or more of the previously unlinked corporate entities for monitoring, which are of interest to the requester for monitoring; and 
         [0030]    assembling a related list that includes the request and the one or more of the potential related, but previously unlinked, corporate entities of the found linkage changes. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0031]    Other and further objects, advantages and features of the present disclosure will be understood by reference to the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters denote like elements of structure and: 
           [0032]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a system for carrying out the method of the present disclosure; 
           [0033]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the method that assembles a list of related entities from a seed list; 
           [0034]      FIG. 3  is a diagram of operations performed by the method of  FIG. 2 : and 
           [0035]      FIG. 4  is a linkage tree diagram for the operations of  FIG. 3 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0036]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an exemplary system  100  is shown for providing execution of a method  200  of the present disclosure. Referring firstly to  FIG. 1 , system  100  comprises a computer  101 , a request related list  108 , a seed list  105 , a linkage repository  116 , a linkage change log  117  and a related list  106  that are each interconnected with a network  109 . Network  109  may be a private network or a broader network, for example, the internet. In some embodiments there may be one or more computers, request related lists, seed lists, linkage repositories, linkage change logs and related lists. 
         [0037]    Computer  101  comprises a processor  102  and a memory  103 . A program module  104  is disposed in memory  103 . Processor  102  is operable to execute instructions of program module  104  for performing method  200 , using network  109 , request related list  108 , seed list  105 , linkage repository  116 , linkage change log  117  and related list  106 . 
         [0038]    While program module  104  is shown as already loaded into memory  103 , program module  104  may be configured on a storage device  107  for subsequent loading into memory  103 . Storage device  107  is a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable storage device that is capable of storing program module  104  thereon. Examples of storage device  107  include a compact disk, a magnetic tape, a read only memory, an optical storage medium, a hard drive or a memory unit consisting of multiple hard drives, and a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive. Alternatively, storage device  107  can be a random access memory, or other type of electronic storage device, located on a remote storage system and coupled to computer  101  via network  109 . 
         [0039]    Request related list  108  comprises a list of related known corporate entities that are being monitored for a requester/user. Seed list  105  comprises a list of potential related, but previously unspecified, corporate entities. Method  200  processes a request of the requester/user for a corporate entity from related list  108  (i.e. specific entities to monitor) and one or more potential related, but previously unspecified, corporate entities from see list  105  (i.e. actual list of monitored entities which contains all the related know corporate entities) to produce a related list  106  for the requester/user. 
         [0040]    For example, the requester/user is monitoring a list of known corporate entities from request related list  108  for changes related to the known corporate entities. One of the known corporate entities being monitored undertakes a merger, acquisition or other corporate action that results in one or more new corporate entities becoming related to the list of known corporate entities being monitored. Method  200  identifies the related new corporate entities based on the changes to the underlying data of the customer&#39;s list of the known corporate entities. The requester/user is then given the data for the newly identified, previously unlinked, corporate entities along with the data for the known corporate entities being monitored. 
         [0041]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , method  200  comprises a build related corporate entity list  110  that comprises a series of process steps that are executed by program module  104  of computer  101  and that include a build linkage tree step  130 , an establish linkage changes step  140  and a build related list step  150 . Build linkage tree step  130  builds or modifies an existing linkage tree based on a requester/user&#39;s request from request related list  108 , seed list  105  and a linkage repository  116 . Establish linkage changes step  140  determines the presence or absence of linkage changes to the requester/user&#39;s existing corporate data, based on the linkage tree and a linkage change log  117 . That is, establish linkage changes  140  identifies any new corporate entities from seed list  105 , which were previously unlinked, to requester/user&#39;s know company listing from request related list  108 , thereby allowing the system to build related list  150 . Related list  106  is based on the linkage changes provided by establish linkage changes step  140 , wherein related list  106  comprises new and previously unlinked corporate entities. 
         [0042]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , build linkage tree  130  is executed based on request related list  108  to build a linkage tree or to modify an existing linkage tree from request related list  108  by incorporating each additional, previously unlinked, corporate entity from seed list  105 . Build linkage tree  30  comprises a read seed list (i.e. determine latest update point)  132  and a build linkage trees for all seed entities  134 . Read seed list  132  reads seed list  105  for a list of seed corporate entities that correspond to a requester/user&#39;s request provided by request related list  108 . The list of seed corporate entities  105  and request related list  108  are presented to build or modify linkage trees  134  to include all seed list corporate entities. Build linkage trees step  134  builds a linkage tree for each seed list corporate entity provided to step  132  based on data in linkage repository  116 . A linkage tree created in step  134 , for example, uses a directed graph structure. Preferably, a directed graph (or digraph) is a graph, or set of nodes connected by edges, where each edge has an associated direction. 
         [0043]    A “related list” request  108  contains a simple list of known entities being monitored. For each unknown entity in the seed list  105  there are related items in subsequent steps. Each entity in the seed list  105  is part of a linkage tree family is generated from the related list request  108 . It may not be at the apex of the tree as it may reference a subsidiary company and, therefore, has a parent(s). It may also have child entities. 
         [0044]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , one embodiment is shown for a tree family  400  that comprises a plurality of nodes  404 ,  406 ,  407 ,  408 ,  409 ,  410 ,  412 ,  414 ,  415 ,  418 ,  420 ,  424 ,  425  and  430 . Each node represents a previously known entity from request related list  108 . In this example, known entities of the request related list  108  are represented by nodes  404 ,  420  and  418 . In this example, the top of the tree is node  404  and does not have any parent nodes. Nodes  418  and  420  are child nodes further down the tree and have parents. Node  418  has parents  414  and  404 . Node  420  has parents  407 ,  406  and  404 . The remaining nodes  408 ,  409 ,  410 ,  412 ,  415 ,  424  and  425  are potential corporate entities of interest that are presently unknown to the requestor/user and generated from seed list  105  via determine latest update point  132 . 
         [0045]    A separate tree family is built around each previously unlinked corporate entity found in seed list  105 . In the example above, only one linkage tree is created. For entities in multiple linkage families, multiple linkage family trees are built. 
         [0046]    Establish linkage changes  140  logs changes to the linkage family tree built in step  134  as additions, deletions and/or moves from the seed list  105  versus linkage repository  116 . The entity identification number, entity relationships (i.e. how various entities are linked such as owned, shareholder, competitor, etc.) and meta data (i.e. date relationship identified) are stored in linkage repository  116 . In all cases the changes are time stamped. In an addition change, the entity is added to the linkage tree as a child node. For example in  FIG. 4 , one or more of nodes  408 ,  409 ,  410 ,  412 ,  415 ,  424  and  425  are added as child nodes. In a deletion change, one or more of the nodes is removed. The deleted entity is recorded and the parent is also recorded. In a move change, the entity is moved from one parent to another. The moved entity, its new parent and its previous parent and their respective nodes are recorded. 
         [0047]    Exemplary outputs of linkage tree step  140  for the addition, deletion and/or move changes comprise:
       Addition: time stamp, entity identity, action: add, detail: parent identity;   Move: time stamp, entity identity, action: move, detail: old parent identity and new parent identity; and   Deletion: time stamp, entity identity, action: delete, detail: parent identity.       
 
         [0051]    Establish linkage changes  140  reviews the linkage tree  134  to determine if any changes were made to the linkage tree  134  since the last update. If no changes are detected by the intelligent change detection system, then no related list  160  needs to be constructed. If changes to linkage tree  134  were detected by the intelligent change detection system, then step  144  retrieves all linkage changes from a changes step  142 , stores the changes in linkage change log  117 . Linkage changes log  117  contains a log of all changes, with time stamps, to all linkage family trees generated from linkage tree step  130 . The time period can be a specific date and time range or can be set to cover all changes for a linkage family tree. If the linkage family tree has a change  142 , then step  144  retrieves from linkage change log  117  all linkage changes to the linkage family tree structure for the linkage family tree that have been created within a required time period. 
         [0052]    The intelligent change detection system is set forth in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/073,369, filed on Mar. 17, 2016, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto. The intelligent change detection system compares the data element to a corresponding data element in a pend update history repository that contains changes that have occurred to the data element over time, thus yielding a comparison, and determining, based on the comparison, that the data element has changed. 
         [0053]    In particular, the update detection stage includes a change detection process and an apply business rules process. The update detection stage runs as part of a regular operational cycle, typically daily, but can be more often. 
         [0054]    The change detection process uses the field-element files for downstream mapping and comparison. The change detection process detects all changed elements across all field-element files. These changes are aggregated, and the change detection process compares the field-elements in the field-element files against a current value of those elements in the pend update history repository. 
         [0055]    The apply business rules process applies business rules logic that decides which field-element values to actually update in the full universe data repository and delta data repository. The elementification process can process files from various data sources either sequentially or in parallel. As such, the processing of files from these sources by the elementification process can all begin at the same time. The apply business rules process manages temporal integrity and will only release updates in sequence, even if the elementification process processed the sources in parallel. Also, depending on the content and size of each file, some may be processed faster than others, and so, the apply business rules process performs a temporal integrity check to ensure updates are applied in the correct order. 
         [0056]    Build related list  150  comprises an assemble related list step  152  that for each linkage family tree assembles a new related corporate entity or entities for storage in related list  106 . Thereafter, the new related corporate entity or entities stored in related list  106  is looped back to Request Related List  108 , i.e. information that is looped back to  108  will be linked to the corporate entity data plus how the relationship has been identified. 
         [0057]    An example of how this system operates is as follows. Requester/User “Gorham Inc.” provides system  100  with a seed list  105  of entities for processing, seed list  105  contains the following entities: 
         [0000]                                            Customer               Reference   Company Name                           1   Stark Enterprises           2   Marvel Inc.           3   Acme Inc.           4   Gotham Bank                        
Linkage repository  116  is used to build linkage tree  130 . Tree  130  is monitored for changes using the process outlined in  140 . Once a change is detected, related list  150  is built in the case of the Gorham Inc. customer list wherein the following entity is identified as a new related company.
 
         [0000]                                            Customer               Reference   Company Name                               Wayne Enterprises                        
Related list  106  is returned to the customer for inclusion on their seed list  105 .
 
         [0000]                                            Customer               Reference   Company Name                           1   Stark Enterprises           2   Marvel Inc.           3   Acme Inc.           4   Gotham Bank           5   Wayne Enterprises                        
Seed list  105  can be resubmitted to the process to identify potential changes to this new seed list in a continuous recursive manner.
 
         [0058]    The present disclosure having been thus described with particular reference to the preferred forms thereof, it will be obvious that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims.