Patent Document ID: 6018738
Application ID: 09010824
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for operating a machine to generate a determination of a degree to which (i) a new entity having at least one attribute with an associated attribute value, and (ii) one entity selected from a group of entities, each entity of the group of entities having at least one attribute with an associated attribute value, match, the method comprising steps of: a) accepting, by the machine, information relating to the new entity, the entities of the group of entities, and the attributes and attribute values of the new entity and the entities of the group of entities; b) for each of the at least one attribute of each entity of the group of entities, adjusting, with the machine, the attribute value associated therewith based on a frequency of the at least one attribute throughout the entities of the group of entities to thereby generate an adjusted attribute value; and c) determining, with the machine, a degree to which (i) the new entity and (ii) the one entity match based on the attribute value associated with each of the at least one attribute of the new entity and the adjusted attribute value of each of the at least one attribute of the one entity.