In one embodiment the present invention provides a novel method for probabilistically quantifying a degree of relevance between two or more citationally or contextually related
data objects, such as patent documents, non-patent documents, web pages, personal and corporate contacts information, product information,
consumer behavior, technical or scientific information, address information, and the like. In another embodiment the present invention provides a novel method for visualizing and displaying relevance between two or more citationally or contextually related
data objects. In another embodiment the present invention provides a novel search input / output interface that utilizes an iterative self-organizing mapping (“SOM”) technique to automatically generate a visual map of relevant patents and / or other related documents desired to be explored, searched or analyzed. In another embodiment the present invention provides a novel search input / output interface that displays and / or communicates search input criteria and corresponding search results in a way that facilitates intuitive understanding and
visualization of the logical relationships between two or more related concepts being searched.