1. A computer-implemented method for analyzing a patent application and providing a visual representation, the method comprising: receiving a selection from a user to view claims of the patent application in a claim tree hierarchical structure; displaying, by a computer, the claims in the claim tree hierarchical structure on a display, wherein the claim tree hierarchical structure visually depicts relationships between the claims; identifying one or more words of at least one of the claims that constitutes one or more elements; displaying, in the claim tree hierarchical structure, the words constituting the one or more elements in association with the claims; receiving a selection from a user to search a selected element from the one or more elements in association with the claims; loading, into a memory of the computer, at least one database storing patents, patent applications, and court opinions that relates to the patents or the patent applications; searching the at least one database for the selected element, wherein the results of the search indicate that the selected element has a defined prior usage in patents or patent applications with earlier priority dates stored in the at least one database and corresponding case reference information in court opinions stored in the at least one database, the defined prior usage informing how the selected element has been used in the patents or patent applications with earlier priority dates to provide a meaning of the selected element, and the case reference information indicating how the selected element has been interpreted by courts; and displaying the selected element with a first visual indication indicating that the selected element has been used in the patents or patent applications with earlier priority dates from the at least one database, and a second visual indication indicating that the selected element has been interpreted by courts.
1. A computer-implemented method for analyzing a patent application and providing a visual representation, the method comprising: receiving a selection from a user to view claims of the patent application in a claim tree hierarchical structure; displaying, by a computer, the claims in the claim tree hierarchical structure on a display, wherein the claim tree hierarchical structure visually depicts relationships between the claims; identifying one or more words of at least one of the claims that constitutes one or more elements; displaying, in the claim tree hierarchical structure, the words constituting the one or more elements in association with the claims; receiving a selection from a user to search a selected element from the one or more elements in association with the claims; loading, into a memory of the computer, at least one database storing patents, patent applications, and court opinions that relates to the patents or the patent applications; searching the at least one database for the selected element, wherein the results of the search indicate that the selected element has a defined prior usage in patents or patent applications with earlier priority dates stored in the at least one database and corresponding case reference information in court opinions stored in the at least one database, the defined prior usage informing how the selected element has been used in the patents or patent applications with earlier priority dates to provide a meaning of the selected element, and the case reference information indicating how the selected element has been interpreted by courts; and displaying the selected element with a first visual indication indicating that the selected element has been used in the patents or patent applications with earlier priority dates from the at least one database, and a second visual indication indicating that the selected element has been interpreted by courts. 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: displaying one or more suggested alternate terms for the selected element.