USPTO Patent Grant for SAP SE - Hierarchical Data Encoding

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - AI & Computing (G06N)

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 24th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO has granted patent US12585262B2 to SAP SE for a method of encoding hierarchical data. The patent describes techniques for generating a flattened representation of hierarchical sets by assigning values based on hierarchy levels and element types.

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What changed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued patent US12585262B2 to SAP SE, effective March 24, 2026. This patent covers novel methods and systems for encoding information related to sets, particularly those with hierarchical structures. The core innovation involves defining values for different hierarchy levels and generating a flattened representation by multiplying element values by a level-specific multiplier, enabling efficient storage and retrieval of hierarchical data.

This patent grant is primarily of interest to technology companies involved in software development, database management, and data analytics. While it does not impose direct compliance obligations, it represents a significant intellectual property development in the field of data encoding and hierarchical data structures. Companies working with complex datasets or developing new data management solutions should be aware of this patent's scope, particularly concerning the methods described for flattening hierarchical representations.

Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Encoded hierarchy representation and method of generating same

Grant US12585262B2 Kind: B2 Mar 24, 2026

Assignee

SAP SE

Inventors

Mitchell Clark, Aseem Amitav Panda

Abstract

Techniques and solutions are provided for encoding information for sets, including sets whose elements are arranged in a hierarchy. Values are defined for different levels of a hierarchy, where the values increase or decrease from a root of the hierarchy. A flattened representation of the hierarchy is generated by multiplying element values by a level value for a level at which a respective element is located. Values for parent and leaf nodes are defined, and a flattened representation of the hierarchy is generated by multiple elements values by the parent value or the leaf node value, depending on whether a respective elements is a parent or leaf node. Quantity values for a set of elements are encoded by adding a quantity of a given element to a value assigned to elements of a set definition that are present in a set.