Structured Data & Schema Patents Reference

200+ patents across 20 schema categories — from entity recognition and Knowledge Graph to rich results, voice search, and AI Overview citation eligibility.

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200+ Patents Across 20 Categories

#	Category	Patent Count
1	Entity Recognition & Knowledge Graph	30+
2	Rich Snippet Generation	15+
3	FAQ/How-To Schema Processing	10+
4	Product Schema & Shopping	20+
5	Local Business Schema	15+
6	Event Schema	8+
7	Recipe Schema	5+
8	Video Schema / VideoObject	12+
9	Review/Rating Schema	10+
10	Breadcrumb Schema	5+
11	Article/NewsArticle Schema	10+
12	Organization Schema	8+
13	Person Schema	8+
14	Medical Schema	5+
15	Legal Schema	3+
16	Course/Education Schema	5+
17	Job Posting Schema	5+
18	Software/App Schema	5+
19	Speakable Schema	3+
20	Dataset Schema	5+

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Core Patents

Patent	Description
US20120158633A1	Knowledge Graph — entity-attribute-relationship database
US8594996B2	Entity disambiguation via NLP + knowledge repositories
US20150127617A1	Entity salience — importance via position, frequency, centrality, co-occurrence
EP3005168A1	Featured snippet eligibility (structured answers)

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Schema Implementation Priority Order

Implement in this order for maximum impact:

Priority	Schema Type	Impact
1	LocalBusiness / Organization	Entity establishment for Knowledge Graph
2	Article / BlogPosting	Author attribution, publish dates, headline
3	FAQPage	Rich results in SERP, voice search answers
4	BreadcrumbList	Navigation hierarchy signals
5	Product	Shopping carousel eligibility
6	Review / AggregateRating	Star ratings in SERP
7	VideoObject	Video carousel, key moments
8	HowTo	Step-by-step rich results
9	Speakable	Voice assistant answer selection

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Entity Schema Stack Template

The recommended JSON-LD graph structure for establishing entity relationships:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "@id": "https://example.com/#organization",
      "name": "Business Name",
      "url": "https://example.com",
      "logo": "https://example.com/logo.png",
      "telephone": "+1-555-555-5555",
      "address": {
        "@type": "PostalAddress",
        "streetAddress": "123 Main St",
        "addressLocality": "City",
        "addressRegion": "State",
        "postalCode": "00000",
        "addressCountry": "US"
      },
      "sameAs": [
        "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=XXXXXX",
        "https://www.linkedin.com/company/example",
        "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/QXXXXXX"
      ],
      "knowsAbout": ["Topic 1", "Topic 2", "Topic 3"]
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebSite",
      "@id": "https://example.com/#website",
      "url": "https://example.com",
      "name": "Site Name",
      "publisher": {"@id": "https://example.com/#organization"}
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://example.com/page/#webpage",
      "url": "https://example.com/page/",
      "isPartOf": {"@id": "https://example.com/#website"},
      "about": {"@id": "https://example.com/#organization"}
    },
    {
      "@type": "Person",
      "@id": "https://example.com/#author",
      "name": "Author Name",
      "jobTitle": "Title",
      "worksFor": {"@id": "https://example.com/#organization"},
      "sameAs": ["https://www.linkedin.com/in/author"]
    }
  ]
}

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Schema Best Practices

Format:
[ ] Use JSON-LD format (Google preferred over microdata/RDFa)
[ ] Include @id for every major entity (enables linkage)
[ ] Use @graph to nest related schemas
[ ] Use sameAs for cross-platform entity association

Accuracy:
[ ] Schema must accurately reflect visible page content
[ ] Do NOT mark up content not visible on the page
[ ] Validate with Google Rich Results Test before publishing
[ ] Check for errors in Search Console > Rich Results status

Entity Linking:
[ ] Nest related schemas (Organization > Person > Article)
[ ] Link WebPage to WebSite to Organization via @id references
[ ] sameAs includes GMB, LinkedIn, Wikidata, Wikipedia (if applicable)
[ ] Consistent @id structure across entire site

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FAQPage Schema (High-Value)

When to use: Pages that answer multiple related questions on the same topic.

SERP impact: Displays accordion-style Q&A directly in search results, increasing real estate and CTR.

{
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is [topic]?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Concise answer (40-60 words). Must match visible page content."
      }
    }
  ]
}

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VideoObject Schema (AI Overviews + Key Moments)

Critical for: YouTube videos, embedded videos, video content pages.

{
  "@type": "VideoObject",
  "name": "Video Title",
  "description": "Video description matching visible content",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://example.com/thumbnail.jpg",
  "uploadDate": "2025-01-15",
  "duration": "PT5M30S",
  "contentUrl": "https://example.com/video.mp4",
  "embedUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID",
  "hasPart": [
    {
      "@type": "Clip",
      "name": "Section Name",
      "startOffset": 30,
      "endOffset": 90,
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID&t=30"
    }
  ]
}

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Speakable Schema (Voice Search Optimization)

Marks the sections of a page most suitable for voice assistant responses:

{
  "@type": "WebPage",
  "speakable": {
    "@type": "SpeakableSpecification",
    "cssSelector": ["article h2", ".speakable-section"]
  }
}

Sections marked as speakable should be concise (1-3 sentences), directly answering a common question.

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Schema Category Explanations

Entity Recognition & Knowledge Graph (30+ patents): US20120158633A1 — The Knowledge Graph maps entities, their attributes, and relationships. Schema markup provides direct attribute data that feeds into the Knowledge Graph, reducing the cost of entity extraction from unstructured text.

Rich Snippet Generation (15+ patents): EP3005168A1 — Featured snippets require structured, extractable answers. Schema markup explicitly signals which content is eligible for rich result display.

Local Business Schema (15+ patents): LocalBusiness schema feeds directly into the Google Business Profile entity graph. Consistent NAP in schema + GMB = stronger entity confirmation.

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Related Learning Modules

• Module 16: Structured Data — Comprehensive — Full schema implementation guide
• Module 03: Entity & Knowledge Graph — Entity establishment
• Entity Extraction Audit — Entity validation methodology