Patent Law

J. Nicholas Hoover writing in the May 19, 2008 print issue of Information Week states:

Powerset launched a tool to search Wikipedia and open source database Freebase Monday, but the technology that powers the search startup could wind up at home in a corporate setting.

Powerset specializes in what's become known as natural language or semantic search. Rather than relying exclusively or primarily only on linking algorithms, as Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and other major Web search engines do, Powerset also uses an "ontology" of syntax, grammar, and sentence structure and, to a lesser extent, thesauri, in an attempt to pull meaning from queries and Web pages -- or in the case of businesses, eventually documents and files. "Search is only a small part of the engine here," Powerset CTO Barney Pell said in an interview. "Really, it's a content understanding engine."

Other search companies are getting in on the semantic game as well, and are looking toward businesses as potential customers.

? Startup Hakia has begun targeting users searching for legal, medical, and financial information, and licensed its technology to a startup that summarizes information for law enforcement, government agencies, and pharmaceutical companies.

? Semantra is a new enterprise search start-up focused exclusively on semantic search, and does what it calls "conversational analytics" for Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) CRM and all major relational databases.

? Q-Go is a Dutch company that does natural language in several verticals. Its customers include DHL, KLM, and Deutsche Telekom.

? Cognition similarly does vertical search with a natural language angle, and has its own Wikipedia search.

? Inquira uses natural language search in its customer service app to help support staff answer broad or unclear questions, and counts among its customers Honda, SunTrust, and Honeywell.

? Astute Solutions' RealDialog uses natural language processing for Web self service support

? Even the major Web and corporate search companies, including Google, IBM, and Microsoft, have their own semantic search efforts under way.

Post your comments on your experiences with these other search companies.  Access links and the full article here.