ANGELIC Secrets: Bridging from Factors to Facts in US Trade Secrets

The ANGELIC (ADF for kNowledGe Encapsulation of Legal Information from Cases) project provided a methodology for implementing a system to predict the outcome of legal cases based on a theory of the relevant domain constructed from precedent cases and other sources. The method has been evaluated in several domains, including US Trade Secrets Law. Previous systems in this domain were based on factors, which are either present or absent in a case, and favour one of the parties with the same force for every factor. Evaluations have, however, suggested that the ability to represent different degrees of presence and absence, and different strengths, could improve performance. Here we extend the methodology to allow for different degrees of presence and support, by using dimensions as a bridge between facts and factors. This new program is evaluated using a standard set of test cases.