Two things to note in order to make it easier to understand what is being written: a "Source resource" is the source of a link, the page that points out. A "Target resource" is what is linked and ranked. This is what the patent says: "Group links can include explicit links, implicit links, or both. An explicit link. A hyperlink is a link included in a Cambodia Phone Number List source resource that a user can follow to navigate to a target resource. An implicit link is a reference to a target resource . A reference to the target resource, which is included in a source resource, but is not an explicit link to the target resource. Thus, a group resource can be the target of an implicit link without the user being able to navigate to the resource by following the implicit link.” the key to what an “implicit link” is is contained in the very first mention of the phrase, implied link.
Here it is again, with my emphasis: “an indirect link is a reference to a target resource it is clear that the use of the word "Reference" is the second part of what the patent is talking about, the reference questions. The patent talks about reference queries (or named search queries) from start to finish. In retrospect, it was a mistake by some in the seo industry to build an entire theory about brand name references from a single paragraph taken out of context of the entire patent. It is clear that “indirect links” do not refer to trademark references. But this is background information on how “brand references” spread.