A multi-user patent annual fee payment method and system

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of annual fee payment method, in particular to a multi-user patent annual fee payment method and system. The patent annual fee batch budget function, each budget is verified with the budget database and the payment database, to prevent the same patent from being paid by different patent right persons or the same patent right person from paying multiple times, the batch writing of the payment information function, the batch export of the patent payment information to form a standard format document which can be directly imported into the patent payment information online supplement system function, and the accurate entry of the payment information through the process handling system. Avoid the tediousness of manual filling of each patent fee, misfilling or loss of paper materials causing incomplete fee records. The fee records can be queried from multiple angles, and the annual fee to be spent in the future is estimated annually to facilitate the enterprise to make annual operating cost budget plan.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of annual fee payment methods, and more particularly to a multi-user patented annual fee payment method and system. Background Technology

[0002] After a patent is granted, an annual fee must be paid annually during the validity period, based on the State Intellectual Property Office's fee standards and the company's fee reduction approval status. When a company has many patents requiring fee payments, or when a group company has many subsidiaries, especially when a single patent may have multiple patent holders, it is easy for omissions, errors, or duplicate payments to occur. When patent management personnel change, new patent managers need to spend a significant amount of time understanding the patent fee situation, and group companies also lack comprehensive oversight of the fee payment status of multiple subsidiaries. Summary of the Invention

[0003] On the one hand, the present invention provides a multi-user patent annual fee payment method, including:

[0004] Step S1: Obtain the current user's permission information and unit information;

[0005] Step S2: Obtain the patentee information of the patent, wherein the patentee information is at least one;

[0006] Step S3: Based on the permission information, compare the unit information with the patentee information to determine whether to waive payment. If yes, do not display the current patent to the current user; otherwise, proceed to step S4.

[0007] Step S4: Obtain the annual fee record for the current year of the patent. If there is no annual fee record for the current year, calculate and display the patent budget information for the current patent and set it to an selectable state.

[0008] Preferably, it further includes:

[0009] Step S5: Based on the patent budget information selected by the current user and the unit information, generate a batch budget record set and a single patent budget record set, and generate a mapping relationship between the batch budget record set and the single patent budget record set;

[0010] Step S6: Send the batch budget record and the single patent budget record set to the financial interface, query whether the single patent has been requested for payment, and provide feedback on the payment request result;

[0011] Step S7: Based on the feedback payment request results, generate batch budget and payment information. The amount of the requested patent is deducted from the corresponding batch budget information. The requested information is automatically entered into the corresponding single-item budget record and payment record. Confirm payment for the batch budget record. Single budget records belonging to the batch cannot be paid separately.

[0012] Preferably, it further includes:

[0013] Step S8: Based on the mapping relationship between batch budget records and individual patent budget record sets, extract the patent information, unit information and cost information from the batch budget records to generate a batch budget record table.

[0014] Step S9: Receive the patent annuity invoice and upload the batch budget record according to the patent number.

[0015] Specifically, step S3 also includes:

[0016] If the user determines that payment has been waived, the current patent and its budget information will be displayed and set to an unselectable state for users who are not currently using the patent.

[0017] Specifically, step S4 also includes:

[0018] If there is an annual fee record for the current year that has not been paid, the budget information will be extracted and displayed as unselectable; if there is an annual fee record for the current year that has been paid, it will not be displayed.

[0019] On one hand, the present invention provides a multi-user patent annual fee payment system, comprising:

[0020] The user information acquisition module is used to acquire the current user's permission information and organization information.

[0021] A patent information acquisition module is used to acquire patentee information of a patent, wherein the patentee information is at least one.

[0022] The waiver of payment determination module is used to compare the unit information with the patentee information based on the permission information to determine whether to waive payment.

[0023] The payment record judgment module is used to obtain the annual fee record of the patent for the current year. If there is no annual fee record for the current year, it calculates and displays the patent budget information of the current patent and sets it to an selectable state.

[0024] Preferably, it includes:

[0025] The budget record generation module is used to generate a set of batch budget records and a set of single patent budget records based on the patent budget information currently selected by the user and the unit information, and to generate a mapping relationship between the set of batch budget records and the set of single patent budget records.

[0026] The payment request query module is used to send the batch budget record and the single patent budget record set to the financial interface, query whether the single patent has been requested for payment, and provide feedback on the payment request result.

[0027] The payment module is used to generate batch budgets and payment information based on the feedback payment request results. The amount of the requested patent is deducted from the corresponding batch budget information. The requested information is automatically entered into the corresponding single-item budget record and payment record. Payment is confirmed for the batch budget record. Single budget records belonging to the batch cannot be paid separately.

[0028] Preferably, it includes:

[0029] The table generation module is used to extract patent information, unit information and cost information from batch budget records based on the mapping relationship between batch budget records and single patent budget record sets, and generate batch budget record tables.

[0030] The upload module is used to receive patent annuity invoices and upload batch budget records according to the patent number.

[0031] On the one hand, the present invention provides a patent annual fee maintenance system, including an annual fee estimation system, an annual fee reminder system, an annual fee query system, a status update system, and an annual fee payment system as described above.

[0032] Specifically, this patent annuity maintenance system includes:

[0033] Patent basic information database, fee record database, batch information database, unit information and user database;

[0034] The annual fee estimation system is connected to the patent basic information database, the unit information database, and the user database.

[0035] The annual fee reminder system is connected to the patent basic information database, the fee record database, the unit information database, and the user database.

[0036] The annual fee payment system is connected to the patent basic information database, the fee record database, the unit information database, and the user database.

[0037] The annual fee inquiry system is connected to the fee record database, unit information, and user database.

[0038] This invention features automatic calculation of patent annuity payment deadlines and payment information reminders. It also includes a batch budgeting function for patent annuities, with each budget verified against budget and payment databases to prevent multiple payments by different patent holders for the same patent or multiple payments by the same patent holder. Furthermore, it includes a batch writing function for payment information and a batch export function to create standard format documents (including serial number, application number, receipt header, unified social credit code, fee type, fee amount, and invalid applicant) that can be directly imported into the online patent payment information supplement system. This streamlined process ensures accurate entry of payment information, avoiding the tediousness of manually filling out each patent fee entry, and preventing incomplete records due to errors or lost paper documents. The system allows for multi-faceted querying of fee records and annual estimation of future annuity expenses, facilitating annual cost budgeting for businesses. Attached Figure Description

[0039] Figure 1 This is the first flowchart of the multi-user patent annuity payment method in Embodiment 1;

[0040] Figure 2 This is the second flowchart of the multi-user patent annuity payment method in Embodiment 1;

[0041] Figure 3 This is the third flowchart of the multi-user patent annuity payment method in Implementation Example 1;

[0042] Figure 4 This is a block diagram of the patent annuity maintenance system in Embodiment 3. Detailed Implementation

[0043] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0044] The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," etc. (if present) in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this invention are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate so that embodiments of the invention described herein can be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described herein.

[0045] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present invention, the sequence number of each process does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0046] It should be understood that in this invention, "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, for example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units that are explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not explicitly listed or that are inherent to such process, method, product, or device.

[0047] It should be understood that in this invention, "multiple" refers to two or more. "And / or" is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, "and / or B" can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, and B existing alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. "Contains A, B, and C", "Contains A, B, and C" means that all three A, B, and C are contained; "Contains A, B, or C" means that one of A, B, and C is contained; "Contains A, B, and / or C" means that any one, two, or three of A, B, and C are contained.

[0048] It should be understood that in this invention, "B corresponding to A", "B corresponding to A", "A and B correspond", or "B and A correspond" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined based on A. Determining B based on A does not mean determining B solely based on A; B can also be determined based on A and / or other information. Matching A and B is defined as a similarity between A and B that is greater than or equal to a preset threshold.

[0049] Depending on the context, "if" as used here can be interpreted as "when," "when," "in response to determination," or "in response to detection."

[0050] The technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments. These specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described again in some embodiments.

[0051] Example 1

[0052] like Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment provides a multi-user patent annuity payment method, including:

[0053] Step S1: Obtain the current user's permission information and unit information;

[0054] Step S2: Obtain the patentee information of the patent, wherein the patentee information is at least one;

[0055] Step S3: Based on the permission information, compare the unit information with the patentee information to determine whether to waive payment. If yes, do not display the current patent to the current user; otherwise, proceed to step S4.

[0056] Step S4: Obtain the annual fee record for the current year of the patent. If there is no annual fee record for the current year, calculate and display the patent budget information for the current patent and set it to an selectable state.

[0057] It should be noted that in step S2, since a patent may have multiple patent holders, and this solution is designed to prevent issues such as duplicate or missed payments when paying annual fees in the case of multiple patent holders, the patent holder information obtained here may be multiple or only one.

[0058] In step S3, a cyclical verification process is initiated based on the patent basic information database. This process checks the current patent's legal status, patentee information, whether the user's affiliated entity has waived payment, and the user's permissions. The affiliated entity corresponds to the patentee table. If the affiliated entity has not waived payment, the verification is considered successful if the user has payment permissions based on the month and day of the application date. If the user has payment permissions, the verification is considered successful; otherwise, it is considered unsuccessful. If an entity has multiple users, and the affiliated entity waives payment, all users within that entity are considered unsuccessful. Another scenario involves multiple patentees. If one patentee waives payment, their payment permissions for that patent in the patent list are disabled. Other patentees who wish to make payments can see the payment information for that patent in the patent list and can then make payments.

[0059] In step S4, the patent annuity database is checked to see if there is an annual fee record for the current patent. There are three scenarios: Scenario 1: The payment record does not exist, which means that no annual fee was paid for the patent in that year. In this case, the patent is listed and set to be selectable. Scenario 2: The payment record exists but has not been paid, which means that other patent holders may have already paid for the patent. The current patent holder does not need to pay again to avoid duplicate payments. In this case, the patent annuity budget information is extracted but set to be unselectable. Scenario 3: The payment record exists and has been paid. In this case, it is skipped and not listed.

[0060] like Figure 2 As shown, preferably, the multi-user patent annuity payment method in this embodiment further includes:

[0061] Step S5: Based on the patent budget information selected by the current user and the unit information, generate a batch budget record set and a single patent budget record set, and generate a mapping relationship between the batch budget record set and the single patent budget record set;

[0062] Step S6: Send the batch budget record and the single patent budget record set to the financial interface, query whether the single patent has been requested for payment, and provide feedback on the payment request result;

[0063] Step S7: Based on the feedback payment request results, generate batch budget and payment information. The amount of the requested patent is deducted from the corresponding batch budget information. The requested information is automatically entered into the corresponding single-item budget record and payment record. Confirm payment for the batch budget record. Single budget records belonging to the batch cannot be paid separately.

[0064] It should be noted that in step S5, based on the patent budget record selected by the user and the information of the user's affiliated unit, a batch budget record and each individual patent budget record are generated, and a mapping relationship between the batch record and the set of individual patent budget records is generated, wherein the earliest date of payment deadline for all individual patents in the batch is taken as the payment deadline of the batch budget record.

[0065] In step S6, the batch budget record and budget record set are pushed to the finance interface, generating a financial remittance workflow based on invoicing unit information, budgeter, budgeted patent information, and collection information from the National Intellectual Property Administration. When finance personnel receive a request for payment of patent annuities, including offline requests, they can check whether the patent annuity has been requested based on the remittance workflow information in the finance system and provide feedback on the result.

[0066] In step S7, based on the payment information from the financial interface or offline feedback, the offline payment request records pushed by the financial system automatically generate batch budgets and payment information, and the payment confirmation operation for batch budget records is performed. Individual budget records belonging to the batch cannot be paid separately.

[0067] like Figure 3 As shown, preferably, the multi-user patent annuity payment method in this embodiment further includes:

[0068] Step S8: Based on the mapping relationship between batch budget records and individual patent budget record sets, extract the patent information, unit information and cost information from the batch budget records to generate a batch budget record table.

[0069] Step S9: Receive the patent annuity invoice and upload the batch budget record according to the patent number.

[0070] It should be noted that in step S8, based on the mapping relationship between batch records and budget record sets, the patent information, unit information, and expense information of the batch budget records are extracted to generate a batch budget record table, which can be exported as an Excel spreadsheet. This spreadsheet can be imported into the online patent payment information supplement system.

[0071] In step S9, the patent annuity invoice sent by the State Intellectual Property Office is received, uploaded to the batch budget record according to the patent number, and the batch budget record and corresponding budget record information are updated.

[0072] Specifically, step S3 of the multi-user patent annuity payment method in this embodiment further includes:

[0073] If the user determines that payment has been waived, the current patent and its budget information will be displayed and set to an unselectable state for users who are not currently using the patent.

[0074] Specifically, step S4 of the multi-user patent annuity payment method in this embodiment further includes:

[0075] If there is an annual fee record for the current year that has not been paid, the budget information will be extracted and displayed as unselectable; if there is an annual fee record for the current year that has been paid, it will not be displayed.

[0076] It should be noted that, for example, if there are three companies (A, B, and C) holding patent IP1, company A has user a, company B has user b, and company C has user c. If user a sets up the system so that company A will not renew patent IP1, then when user a logs in to the system to budget the annual fee, patent IP1 will not be displayed. When user b budgets the annual fee COST1 for patent IP1 through the system, and the system pushes the budget information to the financial system via the financial interface, when user c logs in to budget the annual fee, patent IP1 will be displayed and COST1 information will be extracted, but it will be unselectable. After the system receives and confirms the payment information for the budgeted COST1, when user a logs in to budget the annual fee, patent IP1 and COST1 information will not be displayed. When user b logs in to budget the annual fee, patent IP1 will be displayed and COST1 and payment information will be extracted, but it will be unselectable. When user c logs in to budget the annual fee, patent IP1 will be displayed and COST1 and payment information will be extracted, but it will also be unselectable.

[0077] The multi-user patent annuity payment method described in Example 1 utilizes a batch budgeting function for patent annuities. Each budget is verified against the budget and payment databases to prevent multiple payments by different patent holders for the same patent or multiple payments by the same patent holder. The batch writing of payment information and the batch export of patent payment information into a standard format document (including serial number, application number, receipt header, unified social credit code, fee type, fee amount, and invalid applicant) can be directly imported into the online patent payment information supplement system. This streamlined process ensures accurate entry of payment information, avoiding the tediousness of manually filling out each patent fee, errors, or incomplete fee records due to lost paper documents. Fee records can be queried from multiple perspectives, and annual estimates of future annuity expenses can be made to facilitate annual operating cost budgeting for enterprises.

[0078] Example 2:

[0079] This embodiment provides a multi-user patent annuity payment system, including:

[0080] The user information acquisition module is used to acquire the current user's permission information and organization information.

[0081] A patent information acquisition module is used to acquire patentee information of a patent, wherein the patentee information is at least one.

[0082] The waiver of payment determination module is used to compare the unit information with the patentee information based on the permission information to determine whether to waive payment.

[0083] The payment record judgment module is used to obtain the annual fee record of the patent for the current year. If there is no annual fee record for the current year, it calculates and displays the patent budget information of the current patent and sets it to an selectable state.

[0084] It should be noted that, for the patent information acquisition module, since a patent may have multiple patentees, and this solution is designed to prevent issues such as duplicate or missed payments when paying annual fees in the case of multiple patentees, the patentee information obtained here may be multiple or only one.

[0085] For the payment waiver judgment module, a loop verification is performed based on the patent basic information database. This checks the current patent's legal status, patentee information, whether the user's affiliated entity has waived payment, and the user's permissions. The affiliated entity corresponds to the patentee table. If the affiliated entity has not waived payment, the system sorts the applications by month and day in ascending order. If the current user has payment permissions, the verification is considered successful; otherwise, it fails. If an entity has waived payment, all users within that entity are considered to have failed the verification. Another scenario involves multiple patentees. If one patentee waives payment, their payment permissions for that patent in the patent list are disabled. Other patentees who wish to make payments can see the payment information for that patent in the patent list and can then make the payment.

[0086] For the payment record judgment module, it checks whether there is an annual fee record for the current patent in the patent annuity database. There are three scenarios: Scenario 1: The payment record does not exist, which means that no annuity was paid for the patent in that year. In this case, the patent is listed and set to selectable status. Scenario 2: There is a payment record for the current year but it has not been paid. This means that other patent holders may have already made payments for the patent. The current patent holder does not need to make payments again to avoid duplicate payments. In this case, the patent annuity budget information is extracted, but it is set to unselectable status. Scenario 3: There is a payment record for the current year and it has been paid. In this case, it is skipped and not listed.

[0087] Preferably, the multi-user patent annuity payment system provided in this embodiment further includes:

[0088] The budget record generation module is used to generate a set of batch budget records and a set of single patent budget records based on the patent budget information currently selected by the user and the unit information, and to generate a mapping relationship between the set of batch budget records and the set of single patent budget records.

[0089] The payment request query module is used to send the batch budget record and the single patent budget record set to the financial interface, query whether the single patent has been requested for payment, and provide feedback on the payment request result.

[0090] The payment module is used to generate batch budgets and payment information based on the feedback payment request results. The amount of the requested patent is deducted from the corresponding batch budget information. The requested information is automatically entered into the corresponding single-item budget record and payment record. Payment is confirmed for the batch budget record. Single budget records belonging to the batch cannot be paid separately.

[0091] It should be noted that, for the budget record generation module, based on the patent budget record selected by the user and the information of the user's affiliated unit, batch budget records and individual patent budget records are generated, and a mapping relationship between the batch records and the individual patent budget record set is generated, wherein the earliest date of payment deadline for all individual patents in the batch is the payment deadline of the batch budget record.

[0092] For the payment request query module, batch budget records and budget record sets are pushed to the finance interface. A financial payment request workflow is generated based on invoicing unit information, budgeter, budgeted patent information, and collection information from the National Intellectual Property Administration. When finance personnel receive payment requests, including offline patent annuity requests, they can check whether the patent annuity has been requested based on the payment request workflow information in the finance system and provide feedback on the result.

[0093] For the payment module, based on the payment information from the financial interface or offline feedback, the offline payment request records pushed by the financial system automatically generate batch budgets and payment information. The amount of the patent that has been requested is deducted from the corresponding information of the batch budget. The information of the requested payment is automatically entered into the corresponding single budget record and payment record. The payment confirmation operation of the batch budget record is performed. The single budget record belonging to the batch cannot be paid separately.

[0094] Preferably, the multi-user patent annuity payment system provided in this embodiment further includes:

[0095] The table generation module is used to extract patent information, unit information and cost information from batch budget records based on the mapping relationship between batch budget records and single patent budget record sets, and generate batch budget record tables.

[0096] The upload module is used to receive patent annuity invoices and upload batch budget records according to the patent number.

[0097] It should be noted that the table generation module extracts the patent information, unit information, and expense information of the batch budget records based on the mapping relationship between batch records and budget record sets, and generates a batch budget record table, which can be exported as an Excel spreadsheet. This table can be imported into the online patent payment information supplement system.

[0098] For the upload module, upon receiving the patent annuity invoice sent by the State Intellectual Property Office, it uploads the invoice to the batch budget record according to the patent number and updates the batch budget record and corresponding budget record information.

[0099] The multi-user patent annuity payment system in Example 2 features a batch budgeting function for patent annuities. Each budget is verified against the budget and payment databases to prevent multiple payments by different patent holders for the same patent or multiple payments by the same patent holder. The system also includes a batch writing function for payment information and a batch export function to create a standard format document (including serial number, application number, receipt header, unified social credit code, fee type, fee amount, and invalid applicant). This document can be directly imported into the online patent payment information supplement system. This streamlined process ensures accurate entry of payment information, avoiding the tediousness of manually filling out each patent fee, and preventing errors or incomplete records due to lost paper documents. The system allows for multi-faceted querying of fee records and annual estimation of future annuity expenses, facilitating annual cost budgeting for businesses.

[0100] Example 3:

[0101] like Figure 4 As shown, this embodiment provides a patent annual fee maintenance system, including an annual fee estimation system, an annual fee reminder system, an annual fee query system, a status update system, and an annual fee payment system as described above.

[0102] Specifically, this patent annuity maintenance system includes:

[0103] Patent basic information database, fee record database, batch information database, unit information and user database;

[0104] The annual fee estimation system is connected to the patent basic information database, the unit information database, and the user database.

[0105] The annual fee reminder system is connected to the patent basic information database, the fee record database, the unit information database, and the user database.

[0106] The annual fee payment system is connected to the patent basic information database, the fee record database, the unit information database, and the user database.

[0107] The annual fee inquiry system is connected to the fee record database, unit information, and user database.

[0108] It should be noted that the patent annuity maintenance system in this embodiment is based on a group enterprise architecture with multiple subsidiaries, and multiple users with various permissions. It consists of four parts: basic patent information, a fee record database, a batch information database, and an entity information and user database. It includes five functions: annuity estimation, annuity reminder, annuity payment, annuity inquiry, and status update. The annuity estimation function is connected to the basic patent information and entity information database; the annuity reminder function is connected to the basic patent information, entity information, and fee record database; the annuity payment function is connected to the basic patent information, entity information, and user database, and the fee record database; and the annuity inquiry function is connected to the fee record database, entity information, and user database. The basic patent information is the foundation for the entire system's data association, including basic information such as application number, patent name, patentee and whether payment has been waived, application date, legal status, and internal enterprise information such as management unit and manager. The fee record database records individual patent fee information for each transaction, including patent ID, fee type, official fee, late payment fee, agency fee, budgeter, budget date, payment deadline, payment date, batch, source of funds, and invoices. The batch information database is a collection of multiple expense records, including batch name, request date, payment date, total batch amount, source of funds and combination of fund amounts, attachments, etc. The unit information and user database manages the information and access permissions of departments, units, and personnel, including unit name, social credit code, whether fee reduction applies and the period, whether it belongs to a group subsidiary, patent administrator, patent management unit, patent permissions (none, browsing, editing, management), inventor, etc.

[0109] The annual fee estimation system estimates the total amount of valid patent annual fees for a given year. This estimate can be used to budget for annual fee expenditures in a future year, facilitating annual cost planning for businesses. The system offers annual fee estimation functions based on three dimensions: patent type, management unit, and budget year.

[0110] For the annual fee reminder system, when a user logs in, the system retrieves all patents whose management unit matches the user's unit in the corresponding patent basic information and whose patent status is "righted" and "not waiving payment." It then calculates the current year's annual fee payment deadline based on the patent application date and compares it with the payment date and fee type of the last payment record for that patent. If the budgeted date is within the expected A (e.g., 120 days) before the current payment deadline, and the fee type is consistent and already paid, the annual fee is considered paid and no reminder is given; otherwise, a reminder is issued. The system server performs a search on a fixed day each month. If any patents have a payment deadline less than expected B (e.g., 60 days), a list of patents within the expected A (e.g., 180 days) payment deadline is sent to the mobile phone and email address of the patent's unit manager, providing a reminder. If the current date is less than 30 days from the budgeted payment deadline, it is highlighted, and the same batch of budget information is sent to the mobile phone and email address of the patent's unit manager and financial manager.

[0111] The annual fee payment system has already been described in Example 2 and will not be repeated here.

[0112] For the annual fee inquiry system, patent fees can be queried by single fee records and batch fee information, categorized by application number, fee type, payment status, batch name, budgeter, fee source, and management unit. The patent fee page lists all fee records for the patent and calculates the total fee. Annual fee statistics show the actual amount of annual fees paid for valid patents during the current year. If the actual paid annual fee is less than or equal to the estimated annual fee, comparing the two figures can determine if there are any omissions or overpayments. The amount of a single fee budget already assigned to a batch cannot be modified, but other information can be modified. The amount of paid batch fee information or single fee information cannot be modified. When other batch information is modified, the corresponding single fee record information is automatically updated based on the batch-single record mapping relationship.

[0113] For the status update system, the system automatically updates the patent status once a month based on the annual fee payment status. If a patent has no payment record and payment made within its annual fee payment period, the system queries the current status and payment status of the patent through the public patent information interface. If the current status is found to be "Terminated / Expired / Invalid / Unauthorized" due to unpaid annual fees, the patent status in this system is directly updated to "Unauthorized - Unpaid Annual Fees". If the current status is found to be "Awaiting Late Fees", the patent status in this system is updated to "Unpaid Annual Fees with Late Fees", and a reminder message is sent to the patent administrator of the patent's unit and the group patent administrator. If the patent status is "Unpaid Annual Fees with Late Fees", the patent status is automatically updated to "Authorized" when the annual fee and late fees are budgeted and paid.

[0114] The patent annuity maintenance system in Example 3 features a batch budgeting function for patent annuities. Each budget is verified against the budget and payment databases to prevent multiple payments by different patent holders for the same patent or multiple payments by the same patent holder. The system also includes a batch writing function for payment information and a batch export function to create a standard format document (including serial number, application number, receipt header, unified social credit code, fee type, fee amount, and invalid applicant). This document can be directly imported into the online patent payment information supplement system. This streamlined process ensures accurate entry of payment information, avoiding the tediousness of manually filling out each patent fee, and preventing errors or incomplete records due to lost paper documents. The system allows for multi-faceted querying of fee records and annual estimation of future annuity expenses, facilitating annual cost budgeting for businesses.

[0115] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and not to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for paying patent annuities for multiple users, characterized in that, include: Step S1: Obtain the current user's permission information and unit information; Step S2: Obtain the patentee information of the patent, wherein the patentee information is at least one; Step S3: Based on the permission information, compare the unit information with the patentee information to determine whether to waive payment. If yes, do not display the current patent to the current user; otherwise, proceed to step S4. Step S4: Obtain the annual fee record for the current year for the patent. If there is no annual fee record for the current year, calculate and display the patent budget information for the current patent and set it to an selectable state. Step S5: Based on the patent budget information selected by the current user and the unit information, generate a batch budget record set and a single patent budget record set, and generate a mapping relationship between the batch budget record set and the single patent budget record set; Step S6: Send the batch budget record and the single patent budget record set to the financial interface, query whether the single patent has been requested for payment, and provide feedback on the payment request result; Step S7: Based on the feedback payment request results, generate batch budget and payment information. The amount of the requested patent is deducted from the corresponding batch budget information. The requested information is automatically entered into the corresponding single patent budget record and payment record. Confirm payment for the batch budget record. Single budget records belonging to the batch cannot be paid separately.

2. The multi-user patent annuity payment method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: Step S8: Based on the mapping relationship between batch budget records and individual patent budget record sets, extract the patent information, unit information and cost information of the batch budget records to generate a batch budget record table; Step S9: Receive the patent annuity invoice and upload the batch budget record according to the patent number.

3. The multi-user patent annuity payment method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Step S3 further includes: If the user determines that payment has been waived, the current patent and its budget information will be displayed and set to an unselectable state for users who are not currently using the patent.

4. The multi-user patent annuity payment method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Step S4 further includes: If there is an annual fee record for the current year that has not been paid, the budget information will be extracted and displayed as unselectable; if there is an annual fee record for the current year that has been paid, it will not be displayed.

5. A multi-user patent annual fee payment system, characterized in that, include: The user information acquisition module is used to acquire the current user's permission information and organization information. A patent information acquisition module is used to acquire patentee information of a patent, wherein the patentee information is at least one. The waiver of payment determination module is used to compare the unit information with the patentee information based on the permission information to determine whether to waive payment. The payment record judgment module is used to obtain the annual fee record of the patent for the current year. If there is no annual fee record for the current year, it calculates and displays the patent budget information of the current patent and sets it to an selectable state. The budget record generation module is used to generate a set of batch budget records and a set of single patent budget records based on the patent budget information currently selected by the user and the unit information, and to generate a mapping relationship between the set of batch budget records and the set of single patent budget records. The payment request query module is used to send the batch budget record and the single patent budget record set to the financial interface, query whether the single patent has been requested for payment, and provide feedback on the payment request result. The payment module is used to generate batch budgets and payment information based on the feedback payment request results. The amount of the requested patent is deducted from the corresponding batch budget information. The requested information is automatically entered into the corresponding single patent budget record and payment record. Payment is confirmed for the batch budget record. Single budget records belonging to a batch cannot be paid separately.

6. A multi-user patent annual fee payment system according to claim 5, characterized in that, include: The table generation module is used to extract patent information, unit information and cost information from batch budget records based on the mapping relationship between batch budget records and single patent budget record sets, and generate batch budget record tables. The upload module is used to receive patent annuity invoices and upload batch budget records according to the patent number.

7. A patent annual fee maintenance system, characterized in that, Includes annual fee estimation system, annual fee reminder system, The annual fee inquiry system and the status update system also include the annual fee payment system as described in any one of claims 5-6.

8. A patent annuity maintenance system as described in claim 7, characterized in that, include: Patent basic information database, fee record database, batch information database, unit information and user database; The annual fee estimation system is connected to the patent basic information database, the unit information database, and the user database. The annual fee reminder system is connected to the patent basic information database, the fee record database, the unit information database, and the user database. The annual fee payment system is connected to the patent basic information database, the fee record database, the unit information database, and the user database. The annual fee inquiry system is connected to the fee record database, unit information, and user database.

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