Patent ID: 6978420

Claim:
A hierarchical document cross-referencing system comprising: a document server computer accessible by a user computer, said document server computer comprising: a database which stores the contents of a first document and a second document wherein said first document and said second document each includes one or more segments, each of said segments having segment content and a corresponding segment label wherein said segment label is shorter than said segment content; and a module executable in said document server computer wherein said module is configured to receive a request to search said first document and said second document for a key phrase composed and input by a user, said module searches said first document and said second document for said key phrase, said module identifying said segments containing said key phrase, said module displaying on said user computer a side-by-side display wherein said side-by-side display lists only the labels, and not the segment content, of said identified segments from said first document in a first list and lists only the labels, and not the segment content, of said identified segments from said second document in a second list.