7. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon computer-readable instructions for categorizing patent related prior art citations, comprising instructions configured to cause at least one processor to: obtain an electronic document from a patent information system; perform an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) process on the electronic document; identify a plurality of citation fields within the electronic document based on a result of the OCR process; calculate a most likely candidate, including instructions configured to cause the at least one processor to: compare the plurality of citation fields to a primary trusted records list, wherein the primary trusted records list consists of a database of trusted data received via a text based format from the patent information system; return a matching record in the primary trusted records list based on the plurality of citation fields; set the most likely candidate to the matching record; categorize the most likely candidate into one or more predetermined categories, including instructions configured to cause the at least one processor to determine whether the most likely candidate was provided by a patent applicant or an examiner; and output the most likely candidate and a corresponding one or more categories.
7. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon computer-readable instructions for categorizing patent related prior art citations, comprising instructions configured to cause at least one processor to: obtain an electronic document from a patent information system; perform an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) process on the electronic document; identify a plurality of citation fields within the electronic document based on a result of the OCR process; calculate a most likely candidate, including instructions configured to cause the at least one processor to: compare the plurality of citation fields to a primary trusted records list, wherein the primary trusted records list consists of a database of trusted data received via a text based format from the patent information system; return a matching record in the primary trusted records list based on the plurality of citation fields; set the most likely candidate to the matching record; categorize the most likely candidate into one or more predetermined categories, including instructions configured to cause the at least one processor to determine whether the most likely candidate was provided by a patent applicant or an examiner; and output the most likely candidate and a corresponding one or more categories. 9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the at least one processor to: compare the plurality of citation fields to a secondary trusted records list to calculate a second most likely candidate if the most likely candidate cannot be calculated, wherein the secondary trusted records list is generated based on redundant documents in a single application file_within the patent information system; and output the second most likely candidate.