Image Based Design Patent Retrieval with Classification and Indexing

As a new image retrieval technology, Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) has a broad application prospect. In a normal CBIR system, the mature technology is usually as follows.Firstly, the underlying features of the image in the database are extracted in the preprocessing process. Then, during the retrieval process, the feature is matched with the feature of the Query Image linearly [1], [2], [3]. As the existence of semantic gap, this technique does not perform well enough to satisfy users’ need.Compared with the general image on the network, the design patent images have some special properties. For example, the object in one image is singular, the images are fine categorized and little blurred, etc (e.g. Fig. 1). Based on these good properties, this paper presents an image retrieval method of design patent based on classification technology. When the retrieved image is correctly classified with a high probability, it is retrieved in the category; otherwise, it is retrieved in all images by using indexing technology to speed up the retrieval.