Patent Document ID: 8832047
Application ID: 11191568

Base Claim:
1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a server from a client, an offline audit log containing information with respect to modifications made to content provided within a first electronic document that is retained locally at the client, wherein the server forms part of a distributed document control system; making a determination, without active participation of the document author, and based at least in part on the information contained within the offline audit log, whether the first electronic document should supersede a second electronic document in the distributed document control system; and storing, based on the determination, information in the distributed document control system that links the first electronic document with the second electronic document in a superior-subordinate relationship such that when a request to modify content provided within the second electronic document is received, the distributed document control system forces content provided within the first electronic document to be modified; where receiving the offline audit log, making the determination and storing information in the distributed document control system are performed by one or more computers programmed to perform these operations.

---

Claim 6:
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein making the determination comprises searching a data repository for document metadata matching that of the first electronic document.