Super Lawyers, the Minneapolis-based lawyer directory, has secured a U.S. patent for its rating system.
From the company’s official Twitter feed, Super Lawyers said:
“We are honored to announce that our selection process has officially been patented (U.S. Patent No. 8,412,564)”
And on the Super Lawyers blog, it said:
“We are one of the few lawyer rating services in the country to be granted this distinction, and we are honored that our unique process now has the backing of the United States Patent and Trademark Organization.
Our multiphase selection process involves three steps: creation of the candidate pool, evaluation of candidates by the research department, and peer evaluation by practice area. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Candidates cannot nominate themselves, nor can they pay to be on a Super Lawyers list.”
The United States Patent & Trademark office describes the Super Lawyers patent on its website as a “system and method for identifying excellence within a profession.”
From the abstract:
“The present invention provides for a system and method of identifying excellence within a profession. In one embodiment, excellent performing candidates within a profession group are identified by creating a candidate pool from independent research and a peer nomination process. Identified candidates then obtain a score according to an independent research and objective evaluation process. Peer evaluators contribute to this score by evaluating top-scoring candidates, and a total score is compiled for each identified candidate. Candidates with scores in a top percentage of the candidates are then recognized as demonstrating excellent performance in the profession group.”
The inventors are listed as Charles Thell, William White and Cindy Larson, all of Minnesota.
Super Lawyers was acquired by Thomson Reuters, the assignee of the patent, in February 2010.
The Patently-O blog has more detail about the patent.
In other Super Lawyers news, the company recently launched a London listing – its first outside the United States.
[…] April 2013, the Super Lawyers selection process was granted a patent from The United States Patent and Trademark […]