Patent ID: 7207010

Claim:
Method for identifying species of plants and/or animals and/or types of minerals, as well as parts of them or products made from them, using a database, a data display terminal ( 2 ), and a menu control assigned to the database, wherein a user ( 1 ), after having selected a category, is offered a matrix ( 10 ) of characteristics that is assigned to this category, for identifying a concrete outward appearance that falls within this category, on the data display terminal ( 2 ), where lines indicate the different characteristics, and columns of the matrix ( 10 ) of characteristics indicate the different forms of the characteristics, and the user ( 1 ) is guided through the matrix ( 10 ) of characteristics, line by line, by means of the menu control, until the concrete outward appearance is identified or the identification process is interrupted; wherein if characteristics that preclude one another are selected, several concrete outward appearances of the category in question are identified and displayed to the user ( 1 ), if applicable; and wherein any incorrect selections are recognized and displayed to the user ( 1 ), and the characteristic in question is offered for a new identification process.