Patent ID: 8433723

Claim:
An apparatus for electronically identifying and compiling chemical structures found in a storage facility comprising one or more electronic files, the apparatus comprising: (a) a memory for storing a code defining a set of instructions; and (b) a processor for executing the set of instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: (i) identify a plurality of candidate chemical structures in at least a portion of the one or more electronic files of the storage facility, wherein each electronic file of the portion of the one or more electronic files comprises at least one respective non-embedded image of a chemical structure, and identifying a respective candidate chemical structure comprises identifying one or more graphical features common to chemical structures; (ii) for each candidate chemical structure of the plurality of candidate chemical structures, derive a respective chemical structure object with an associated set of properties, wherein one or more properties of the set of properties is derived from at least a portion of the one or more graphical features common to chemical structures, a first property of the set of properties is a number of carbons, wherein the number of carbons is derived from the one or more graphical features common to chemical structures, and a second property of the set of properties comprises one of the following: (A) number of hetero atoms, (B) number of bonds, (C) number of bonds of a selected bond order, (D) number of rings, and (E) formula weight; (iii) for each chemical structure object, apply one or more filters to at least one property of the associated set of properties, wherein the one or more filters includes a filter configured to eliminate chemical structure objects having a value of the first property of the set of properties less than a predetermined number of carbons; (iv) for each chemical structure object, compute a respective confidence factor value based on two or more properties of the set of properties associated with the chemical structure object; wherein one or more chemical structure objects are eliminated based on respective confidence factor values in order to reduce false positives; and (v) provide, for storage in a searchable electronic compendium of identified chemical structure objects, chemical structure objects not eliminated by the one or more filters.