NFT processing method

Abstract

To provide a non-fungible token (NFT) processing method for facilitating collective handling of creative data in a relation of using and being used.SOLUTION: A method of processing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) causes a computer to execute: associating new creative data created using creative data associated with each of at least one NFT that has already been issued; issuing a new NFT that retains an identifier of the at least one NFT, at least once; and forming, among a plurality of NFTs associated with the creative data, a hierarchical structure of two or more layers of NFTs with an NFT associated with using creative data, defined as a high-order NFT, and an NFT associated with creative data to be used, defined as a low-order NFT, the hierarchical structure making it possible to identify the low-order NFT from the high-order NFT.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for processing NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). [Background technology]

[0002] NFTs are being used as a means of distributing creative data such as artworks, video content, and clothing designs while guaranteeing their uniqueness and authenticity (not being tampered with) (see Non-Patent Document 1). Purchasers of creative data pay a price to purchase NFTs to which the creative data is associated (i.e., linked). In conjunction with the transfer of NFTs, "smart contracts" are also being used, which enable automatic payment of the price. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6804073 [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] "NFT Business Introduction" by Miyuki Morikawa, published by Gijutsuhyoronsha Co., Ltd. on April 26, 2022 (ISBN978-4-297-12717-6 C0036) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Creative data may be newly created using other creative data, such as an adaptation of an original work. For example, in the field of clothing to which the applicant belongs, creative data such as white clothing data and pattern data are layered on top of each other to complete the creative data of the final product, which is clothing. If it were possible to record the relationship of use and use in multiple NFTs individually associated with creative data that are in a relationship of use and use with each other, it would be easy to handle those creative data collectively, and it would be easy to pay not only the creator of the creative data to be used, but also the creator of the creative data to be used, which would strengthen the motivation of the creators and help to stimulate creative activities, the inventor of the present application came to the conclusion. Patent Document 1 describes a form in which a second NFT has identification information of a first NFT as a method for managing borrowing and lending.

[0006] The present invention was made based on the above-mentioned considerations of the inventor of the present application, and aims to provide an NFT processing method that makes it easy to handle creative data that is in a using / used relationship all at once. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a first aspect of the present invention is a method for processing NFTs (non-fungible tokens), in which a computer associates new creative data created using creative data associated with each of at least one already issued NFT, and issues a new NFT holding an identifier of the at least one NFT, at least once, thereby forming a two or more hierarchical structure of NFTs among multiple NFTs associated with creative data, in which the NFT associated with the creative data to be used is placed at a higher level and the NFT associated with the creative data to be used is placed at a lower level, making it possible to identify lower-level NFTs from the higher-level NFT.

[0008] According to this configuration, by tracing the hierarchy from the top NFT, it is possible to trace the creative data that is in a relationship of using and being used. This makes it easy to handle creative data that is in a relationship of using and being used collectively, for example, by making it possible to pay royalties not only for the creative data to be used but also for the creative data that is used. "Creative data" is data of creative works, and includes, for example, design data for clothing, accessories, buildings, interiors of structures, and exteriors of buildings. "Using creative data" means incorporating, as a whole or part of the creative data to be used, the whole or part of the creative data to be used, either as is or with modifications. "Having an identifier held in an NFT" does not only mean recording the identifier in the NFT itself, but also includes associating the identifier with the NFT as off-chain data. Note that when issuing new NFTs multiple times, the computers that execute the operations may be different from each other.

[0009] A second aspect of the present invention is an NFT processing method according to the first aspect, in which a usage fee or usage rate of associated creative data is held in each of the plurality of NFTs, except for an NFT belonging to the highest hierarchy. The NFT processing method further includes a computer sequentially tracing the plurality of NFTs, starting from the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchy, based on the identifier, and paying a usage fee according to the usage fee or usage rate held in each of the NFTs from a wallet or deposit account of a person paying the usage fee to a wallet or deposit account of an owner of each of the NFTs.

[0010] According to this configuration, a person who uses a group of creative data associated with multiple NFTs in a hierarchical structure can pay a usage fee to the owner of each NFT to which the creative data used is associated, among the creative data that are in a mutual use-and-use relationship. The computer that pays the usage fee and the computer that issues new NFTs one or more times may be different from each other. In addition, this configuration does not exclude a form in which the usage fee is paid from the wallet or deposit account of the person paying the usage fee to the wallet or deposit account of the owner of multiple NFTs, including NFTs belonging to the highest hierarchy. The gist is that it is sufficient that the recipients of the usage fee include the owners of each NFT except for the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchy.

[0011] A third aspect of the present invention is an NFT processing method according to the first aspect, in which each of the multiple NFTs, except for the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchy, holds a usage fee or usage fee rate for associated creative data. The NFT processing method further includes, when issuing an NFT belonging to the highest hierarchy, implementing a usage fee payment program as a smart contract in a blockchain in which the multiple NFTs are recorded, which pays the usage fee according to the usage fee or usage fee rate held in each NFT from the wallet or deposit account of the person who pays the usage fee to the wallet or deposit account of the owner of each NFT by tracing the multiple NFTs in order from the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchy based on the identifier. In addition, the NFT processing method also includes having the computer send an instruction to execute the usage fee payment program to the blockchain, thereby having the smart contract pay the usage fee from the wallet or deposit account of the person who pays the usage fee to the wallet or deposit account of the owner of each NFT.

[0012] According to this configuration, a person who uses a group of creative data associated with multiple NFTs in a hierarchical structure can, for example, pay the usage fee to the owners of the NFTs associated with the creative data to be used among the creative data in a mutual use-used relationship, by issuing a transaction to the blockchain that executes a usage fee payment program. The computer that pays the usage fee and the computer that issues new NFTs one or more times may be different from each other. In addition, this configuration does not exclude a form in which the usage fee is paid from the wallet or deposit account of the person paying the usage fee to the wallet or deposit account of the owner of multiple NFTs, including the NFTs belonging to the highest hierarchy. The gist is that it is sufficient that the recipients of the usage fee include the owners of each NFT except the NFTs belonging to the highest hierarchy.

[0013] A fourth aspect of the present invention is an NFT processing method according to any of the first to third aspects, further comprising, when a computer managed by a manufacturer receives an NFT belonging to the highest tier among the plurality of NFTs in the manufacturer's wallet, providing creative data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest tier for the manufacture of a product based on the creative data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest tier.

[0014] According to this configuration, the owner of an NFT belonging to the highest hierarchy can have a manufacturer manufacture a product by moving his / her NFT to the manufacturer's wallet. The manufacturer manufactures the product based on the creation data associated with the highest-level NFT stored in his / her wallet, so the product can be manufactured based on creation data that is free from tampering. The owner of the NFT who has had the product manufactured can obtain an error-free product.

[0015] A fifth aspect of the present invention is an NFT processing method according to the fourth aspect, wherein when a computer managed by the manufacturer receives an NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level among the plurality of NFTs in the manufacturer's wallet, the computer provides creative data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level for manufacturing the product only if the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level was issued from a specific person's wallet.

[0016] According to this configuration, the manufacturer can provide the creation data for the manufacture of products only if the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchy received in the manufacturer's wallet is a trustworthy NFT issued from the wallet of a specific person who is in a cooperative relationship with the manufacturer and can be trusted. This makes it possible to avoid manufacturing based on requests from untrustworthy people.

[0017] A sixth aspect of the present invention is an NFT processing method according to the fourth or fifth aspect, further comprising: a computer issuing an NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level among the plurality of NFTs encrypting at least a portion of the creation data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level with a public key corresponding to the private key of the manufacturer's wallet.

[0018] This configuration makes it possible to prevent at least a significant portion of the creative data associated with an NFT belonging to the highest hierarchy from being used in the production of products by anyone other than the manufacturer who owns the wallet in which the NFT is stored.

[0019] A seventh aspect of the present invention is an NFT processing method according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, in which the computer that issues the new NFT refers to the usability information stored in at least one already issued NFT, which indicates whether or not the creative data associated with each NFT can be used, and issues the new NFT by storing an identifier only for NFTs that do not indicate that they are unusable, and storing the usability information indicating whether or not the creative data associated with the new NFT can be used. Furthermore, providing the computer managed by the manufacturer for the manufacture of a product based on the creative data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level includes providing the computer managed by the manufacturer for the manufacture of a product based on the creative data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level only if the acquired usability information does not indicate that they are unusable.

[0020] With this configuration, manufacturers can avoid manufacturing products using material data or product data that has been indicated as unusable in the NFT.

[0021] According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an NFT processing method according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, in which the computer that issues the new NFT holds encrypted data obtained by encrypting the permission to use creative data associated with at least one already issued NFT using the private key of the owner of the NFT, and issues the new NFT. In addition, the computer managed by the manufacturer providing the computer managed by the manufacturer for manufacturing a product based on the creative data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level includes the computer managed by the manufacturer decrypting the encrypted data included in any of the multiple NFTs using a public key corresponding to the private key by tracing the multiple NFTs in order from the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level based on the identifier, and the computer managed by the manufacturer providing the computer managed by the manufacturer for manufacturing a product based on the creative data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level within a range that conforms to the permission to use the creative data obtained by the decryption or its conditions.

[0022] With this configuration, when a manufacturer receives multiple NFTs that contain encrypted data, the manufacturer can avoid mistakenly proceeding with manufacturing a product in a form that does not comply with the permission to use the creative data represented by the encrypted data or its conditions. Effect of the Invention

[0023] As described above, according to the present invention, an NFT processing method is realized that makes it easy to handle creative data that is in a using / used relationship all at once. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] A block diagram illustrating the configuration of a system for implementing an NFT processing method according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] A block diagram illustrating the well-known data structure of an NFT. [Diagram 3]A block diagram showing an example of a hierarchical structure of NFTs realized by the system of Figure 1. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a procedure for advance preparation of material data production and product data production among the processing procedures performed by the system of FIG. 1. [Diagram 5] 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for producing material data from among the processing procedures performed by the system of FIG. 1. [Figure 6] 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for checking whether or not material data can be used, out of the processing procedures in FIG. 5. FIG. [Figure 7] 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for creating product data among the processing procedures performed by the system of FIG. 1. [Figure 8] 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure from product ordering to product manufacturing, among the processing procedures performed by the system of FIG. 1. [Figure 9] 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for calculating a usage fee from among the processing procedures in FIG. 8. FIG. [Figure 10] 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing procedure performed by the system of FIG. 1 when an untrustworthy person places an order for a product. FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating the contents of a material NFT in an NFT processing method according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing procedure for calculating and distributing usage fees by executing a smart contract. [Figure 13] A sequence diagram illustrating the procedure for calculating a usage fee in an NFT processing method according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] This is a sequence diagram illustrating the processing steps for calculating and distributing usage fees by executing a smart contract in an NFT processing method according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a system that realizes an NFT processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As an example of use in the field of clothing, this NFT processing system 101 supports the production of creative data (tentatively called "material data") that will be used as materials, such as white clothing data and pattern data, and the production of creative data (tentatively called "product data") for clothing that is the final product using the creative data, and issues NFTs corresponding to each creative data in the process of producing the creative data, and further uses the issued NFTs to manufacture the clothing, distribute usage fees to the creators, etc.

[0026] To realize this function, the components of the NFT processing system 101 include a production support server 1, a material data producer terminal 3, a product data producer terminal 5, a product orderer terminal 7, a blockchain 9, a distributed storage 11, an NFT management server 13, and a factory terminal 15. Each of these components 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 has a computer device including a CPU (central processing unit), a storage medium, an input / output device, a communication unit, etc., and is connected to each other via a network 17 such as the Internet.

[0027] The production support server 1 is a server provided by a production support company that supports the production of material data and product data. The material data producer terminal 3 is a terminal used by a person who produces material data (referred to as the "material data producer"). The product data producer terminal 5 is a terminal used by a person who produces product data (referred to as the "product data producer"). The product orderer terminal 7 is a terminal used by a person who orders the manufacture of clothing, which is a product (referred to as the "product orderer"). The blockchain 9 is a collection of miner nodes that continue to generate a data structure of blocks arranged in chronological order and provide platforms such as Ethereum. The mechanism of the blockchain 9 guarantees that data recorded in the blockchain 9 will not be tampered with.

[0028] Unlike the blockchain 9, the distributed storage 11 does not generate a data structure in which blocks are chained, but is a collection of multiple nodes that are similarly interconnected by a P2P network or the like and store data files. In FIG. 1, the blockchain 9 and the distributed storage 11 are depicted as if the node collections were interconnected by a network separate from the network 17, but the P2P network or the like that interconnects the node collections is also part of the network 17, such as the Internet, for example.

[0029] The NFT management server 13 is a server provided by an NFT management company that processes NFTs, such as issuing and transferring NFTs, on behalf of users such as material data producers, and an existing NFT marketplace (NFT exchange) is one example. The factory terminal 15 is a terminal managed by a company that receives an order for the manufacture of clothing, which is a product, and manufactures the clothing in exchange for payment.

[0030] The functions of the components 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 will be described in detail below with reference to the sequence diagrams in FIG.

[0031] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a well-known data structure of an NFT. The illustrated example shows a simplified data structure of an NFT that complies with ERC-721 (Ethereum Request for Comments 721), which can be handled by the blockchain 9 that realizes Ethereum. In the illustrated example, data such as a token ID 21, an owner address 23, and a metadata address 25 are recorded in the NFT 20. The token ID 21 is an identifier specific to the NFT 20. The token ID 21 guarantees the uniqueness of the NFT 20. The owner address 23 is the address (referred to as an "account") on the blockchain 9 of the owner of the NFT 20. A public key is generated from a private key held by the owner's wallet, and the owner address 23 is generated from the public key.

[0032] The metadata address 25 is a web address of metadata 27 stored outside the blockchain 9 (referred to as "off-chain"), for example, in the distributed storage 11. The metadata 27 records a data address 29, etc. The data address 29 is a web address of data 30, such as images and text, also stored in the distributed storage 11, etc. Creative data, such as material data and product data, can be associated (i.e., linked) to the NFT 20 via the metadata 27 while being stored off-chain as data 30.

[0033] 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a hierarchical structure of NFTs realized by the NFT processing system 101. As shown in the example, the NFT processing system 101 forms a hierarchical structure between NFTs (tentatively referred to as "material NFTs") that are individually associated with various material data and NFTs (tentatively referred to as "product NFTs") that are associated with product data.

[0034] As an example, template material data 35 is created by using material data 31 of white clothing (clothing without a pattern) and material data 41 of pattern B. Template material data 35 is material data that defines conditions such as the size and position of patterns when arranging various patterns on white clothing, and is a type of creative data like other material data. The token ID 21 (see FIG. 2) of white clothing NFT 33, which is a material NFT with which white clothing material data 31 is associated, and the token ID 21 of material NFT 49 with which pattern B material data 41 is associated are recorded in template NFT 37, which is a material NFT with which template material data 35 is associated.

[0035] Product data 43 is produced by combining material data 35 of the template with material data 39 of pattern A, for example. In addition to the token ID 21 of the template NFT 37, the token ID 21 of the material NFT 47 with which the material data 39 of pattern A is associated is recorded in the product NFT 45, which is an NFT with which the product data 43 is associated.

[0036] In this way, when new creative data is produced using creative data, the token ID 21 of the NFT to which the creative data to be used is associated is recorded in the NFT to which the creative data to be used is associated. This forms a hierarchical structure of two or more layers of NFTs, with the NFT to which the creative data to be used is associated at the top and the NFT to which the creative data to be used is associated at the bottom. Using the recorded token ID 21 as a clue, it is possible to trace the hierarchy from the top NFT and pick up all the creative data in a relationship of using and being used. This makes it easy to handle creative data in a relationship of using and being used collectively, for example, by making it possible to pay usage fees (royalties) not only for the creative data to be used but also for the creative data to be used.

[0037] Instead of recording the token ID 21 of the lower NFT in the higher NFT, the token ID 21 may be associated with the higher NFT, for example, by being recorded as metadata 27 or data 30 of the higher NFT. Even in this case, a hierarchical structure of NFTs is formed in the same manner.

[0038] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating the procedure of advance preparation for material data production and product data production among the processing procedures by the NFT processing system 101. The creator of material data or product data (collectively abbreviated as "creator") uses his / her own material data creator terminal 3 or product data creator terminal 5 (collectively abbreviated as creator terminal 3, 5) to first request an application from the production support server 1 (S1). The requested application is a wallet application provided by the production support server 1 and enables the use of the wallet 51 of the production support agent. Upon receiving the request, the production support server 1 transmits the wallet application to the creator terminal 3, 5 (S2). The creator installs the received application in the creator terminal 3, 5 (S3).

[0039] Next, the producer launches the installed application on the producer terminal 3, 5 (S4). Next, the producer selects the producer registration screen on the application (S5). Next, the producer inputs producer registration data on the producer registration screen. The producer registration data includes, for example, the producer's address, name, and email address. The input producer registration data is sent to the production support server 1 (S6). The production support server 1 registers the received producer registration data in a database (S7). When registration is complete, the producer closes the application (S8). This completes the advance preparations.

[0040] Figure 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating the procedure for creating material data among the processing procedures by the NFT processing system 101. In the procedure illustrated, the material data creator creates material data using the material data creator terminal 3. The material data creator first starts an application on the material data creator terminal 3 (S11). The application to be started is an installed wallet application (see S3 in Figure 4). The processing by the material data creator terminal 3 described below (S12 to S28) is performed on the application.

[0041] Next, the material data producer selects a login screen on the application (S12). When the material data producer inputs a registered user identifier, password, etc., a login request is sent to the production support server 1 (S13). If the input data is valid, the production support server 1 approves the login (S14). This allows the material data producer to proceed with work to produce material data on the application.

[0042] If the login is successful, the application prompts the material data creator to select whether or not to use existing material data (S15). If the material data creator selects to use the existing material data (Yes in S15), the existing material data can be viewed (S16). Viewing is made possible by sending a view request for the existing material data to the NFT management server 13, and receiving the material data back from the NFT management server 13 in response (S17). Based on the view request, the NFT management server 13 accesses the distributed storage 11, searches for and acquires the existing material data (S18).

[0043] In the illustrated example, each existing material data is associated with a material NFT, and the material NFT is recorded on the blockchain 9. As a browsing request sent by the application, a browsing request for a list of existing material data may be sent first, the list is returned, and when the material data creator selects the desired material data from the list, the application may send a browsing request for the selected material data.

[0044] Next, the material data creator checks whether the existing material data returned based on the viewing request can be used (S19). If multiple existing material data are requested to be viewed, a usability check is performed for each of them. The usability check is made possible when the application sends a viewing request for the material NFT with which the material data is associated to the NFT management server 13, and the NFT management server 13 returns the contents of the material NFT in response (S20). The NFT management server 13 accesses the blockchain 9 based on the viewing request, and searches for and acquires the contents of the material NFT that is the subject of the request (S21).

[0045] The application reads the usability data recorded in the returned material NFT, determines whether or not it can be used, for example automatically, and displays the result on the screen of the material data creator terminal 3. The usability data was recorded by the material data creator who created the existing material data when issuing the material NFT. The material data creator who creates new material data can recognize whether or not the existing material data they are viewing is usable by visually checking the display on the screen. Alternatively, the material data creator may determine whether or not it can be used by themselves, by directly visually checking the contents recorded in the material NFT on the screen.

[0046] The material data creator then creates new material data (S22). At this time, the material data creator can select one or more pieces of material data from the available material data among the existing material data viewed, and create new material data while using them. If the material data creator does not select the use of existing material data in step S15 (No in S15), the material data creator creates new material data in step S22 without using existing material data. The created new material data is stored in the distributed storage 11 via the NFT management server 13 (S23).

[0047] The material data creator can set whether the created material data can be made public and whether it can be used according to their own wishes (S24). The setting is performed, for example, by the application displaying a setting form on the screen and the material data creator selecting the option they desire. Next, the material data creator issues a material NFT to which the created new material data is associated (S25). For example, when the material data creator instructs the issuance of an NFT by clicking an NFT issue button on the screen, the application sends a request to the NFT management server 13 to issue a material NFT in a form associated with the material data already stored in the distributed storage 11 (S26).

[0048] If the created material data uses existing material data, the application requests that a material NFT be issued in a format that records the token ID21 of the material NFT to which the used material data is associated. Also, if the disclosure availability and use availability are set in step S24, the application requests that a material NFT be issued in a format that records this availability information.

[0049] The issuance request is made via the production support server 1, using the wallet 51 of the production support server 1. In response to the issuance request, the NFT management server 13 sends a transaction for issuing an NFT to the blockchain 9 (S27). As a result, the issuance of the NFT is recorded in the blockchain 9 (S28). Since the material NFT is issued using the wallet 51 of the production support server 1, the issued material NFT belongs to the wallet 51. In other words, the issued material NFT becomes the property of the administrator of the production support server 1.

[0050] [Table 1]

[0051] Table 1 shows an example of the contents recorded in the material NFT issued in step S25. The example contents include the unique identifier of the material NFT (token ID 21 shown in FIG. 2), the owner identifier (owner address 23), the material data identifier (metadata address 25 or data address 29), as well as disclosure availability information, usability information, usage fee rate (usage fee ratio) or usage fee (usage fee amount), the unique identifier of the lower-level material NFT (1), and the unique identifier of the lower-level material NFT (2). It is optional whether or not to include disclosure availability information and usability information in the material NFT. In the example, it is assumed that there are two lower-level material NFTs one level below itself. As shown in the example, the material NFT can specify that a user of the material NFT is required to pay a usage fee (royalty). The usage fee ratio and amount can be set in step S24 together with the usability information and the like.

[0052] The material data creator then moves the issued material NFT to the creator's own wallet (S29). In other words, the material NFT owned by the administrator of the production support server 1 is transferred to the ownership of the material data creator himself. This process is performed by an application sending an NFT transfer request to the NFT management server 13 based on the operation of the material data creator (S30). In response to the transfer request, the NFT management server 13 sends a transaction to transfer the NFT to the blockchain 9 (S31). As a result, the transfer of the corresponding NFT is recorded in the blockchain 9 (S32).

[0053] When the material data creator has completed the above processing, he or she logs off the application (S33), thereby completing the processing procedure illustrated in FIG.

[0054] FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating the detailed procedure of step S19 in the processing procedure of FIG. 5. As already described, if there are multiple existing material data requested for viewing, the availability check of step S19 is performed for each of them. When the processing of step S19 starts (S40), a request to view an existing material NFT is made by an application (S41). That is, the application transmits a request to view a material NFT to which the existing material data is associated to the NFT management server 13 (S42). Based on the viewing request (S42), the NFT management server 13 accesses the blockchain 9, searches for the contents of the material NFT that is the subject of the request (S43), acquires it (S44), and returns it to the material data creator terminal 3 (S45).

[0055] The application reads the usability data recorded in the returned material NFT and determines, for example automatically, whether or not it can be used. If it is determined in step S46 that it can be used (Yes in S46), the application determines whether or not a lower-level material NFT exists based on whether or not a lower-level token ID 21 is recorded in the viewed material NFT (S47). If a lower-level material NFT exists (Yes in S47), a request to view the lower-level material NFT is made by the application (S48). That is, the process returns to step S42, and the processes of steps S42 to S45 are performed on the lower-level material NFT. Next, the process of step S46 is performed again.

[0056] If it is determined in step S46 that the material data is not available (No in S46), the material data that is the subject of the usability determination in step S19, in other words, the material data associated with the material NFT requested to be viewed in step S41, is determined by the application to be not available (S50), and the processing of step S19 ends (S51). If there is no lower-level material NFT in step S47 (No in S47), the material data that is the subject of the usability determination in step S19 is determined to be available by the application (S49), and the processing of step S19 ends (S51). In steps S49 and S50, the application displays the determination result on the screen of the material data creator terminal 3. The material data creator can recognize whether the existing material data to be viewed is available by visually checking the display on the screen.

[0057] Fig. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating the procedure for creating product data among the processing procedures by the NFT processing system 101. In the procedure shown in the figure, a product data creator creates product data using the product data creator terminal 5. The processing by the product data creator terminal 5 described below (S12 to S59) is performed on an application. Also, in Fig. 7, the same reference numerals are used for processing equivalent to the processing by the material data creator terminal 3 illustrated in Fig. 5, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0058] The product data producer first launches an application on the product data producer terminal 5 (S11). The application to be launched is the already installed wallet application, as in the procedure of FIG. 5 (see S3 in FIG. 4). Next, the product data producer selects a login screen on the application (S12) and logs in. If the login is successful, the product data producer browses existing material data with the intention of using it for product data (S16). Next, the product data producer checks whether the browsed material data can be used (S19). The usability check in step S19 is performed, for example, according to the procedure in FIG. 6. If there are multiple material data to check, a usability check is performed for each of them according to the procedure in FIG. 6.

[0059] The product data creator then creates the product data (S52). At this time, the product data creator can select one or more pieces of material data from the available material data among the existing material data that he or she viewed, and create the product data while using them. The created product data is stored in the distributed storage 11 through the NFT management server 13 (S53).

[0060] The product data creator can set whether the created product data can be made public, whether it can be used, whether there is a limit on the number of copies, and if there is a limit, the number of copies, according to their own desires (S54). The settings are made, for example, by the application displaying a setting form on the screen and the product data creator selecting the option they desire. Next, the product data creator issues a product NFT to which the created product data is associated (S55). For example, when the product data creator instructs the issuance of an NFT by clicking an NFT issue button on the screen, the application sends a product NFT issue request to the NFT management server 13 in a form associated with the product data already stored in the distributed storage 11 (S56).

[0061] Because the created product data uses existing material data, the application requests that a product NFT be issued in a form that records the token ID 21 of the material NFT to which the used material data is associated. In addition, if conditions such as whether or not the data can be made public and whether or not it can be used are set in step S54, the application requests that a product NFT be issued in a form that records these conditions.

[0062] The issuance request is made via the production support server 1, using the wallet 51 of the production support server 1. In response to the issuance request, the NFT management server 13 sends a transaction for issuing an NFT to the blockchain 9 (S57). As a result, the issuance of the NFT is recorded in the blockchain 9 (S58). Since the product NFT is issued using the wallet 51 of the production support server 1, the issued product NFT belongs to the wallet 51. In other words, the issued product NFT becomes the property of the administrator of the production support server 1.

[0063] [Table 2]

[0064] Table 2 illustrates the contents recorded in the product NFT issued in step S55. The illustrated contents include the unique identifier of the product NFT (token ID 21 illustrated in FIG. 2), the owner identifier (owner address 23), the product data identifier (metadata address 25 or data address 29), disclosure availability information, usability information, usage fee rate (usage fee ratio) or usage fee (usage fee amount), the unique identifier of the lower-level material NFT (1), the unique identifier of the lower-level material NFT (2), as well as limited production number information or unlimited production number information, similar to the contents of the material NFT illustrated in Table 1.

[0065] In the example, it is assumed that there are two lower-level material NFTs one level below the product NFT itself. The production quantity limit information indicates how many products are to be produced based on the product data associated with the product NFT. The production quantity unlimited information indicates that the number of products to be produced is not limited. The usage fee rate and amount can be set in step S54 together with the availability information, etc.

[0066] The product data creator then moves the issued product NFT to the creator's own wallet (S59). In other words, the product NFT owned by the administrator of the production support server 1 is transferred to the product data creator's own ownership. This process is performed by an application sending an NFT transfer request to the NFT management server 13 based on the operation of the product data creator (S60). In response to the transfer request, the NFT management server 13 sends a transaction to transfer the NFT to the blockchain (S61). As a result, the transfer of the corresponding NFT is recorded in the blockchain 9 (S62).

[0067] When the above processing is completed, the product data creator logs off the application (S63), which ends the processing procedure illustrated in FIG.

[0068] FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating the procedure from product ordering to product manufacturing among the processing procedures by the NFT processing system 101. In the procedure illustrated, the product orderer uses the product orderer terminal 7 to order the manufacture of the product to the factory terminal 15. The product orderer first starts an application on the product orderer terminal 7 (S70). The application to be started is a wallet application that can use the product orderer's wallet 53. The processing by the product orderer terminal 7 described below (from S71 to "End App") is carried out on this application.

[0069] Next, the product orderer views the product data (S71). Viewing is made possible by the application sending a request to view the product data to the NFT management server 13 at the instruction of the product orderer, and the NFT management server 13 returning the product data in response (S72). The NFT management server 13 accesses the distributed storage 11 based on the view request, and searches for and acquires the product data (S73).

[0070] In the illustrated example, according to the procedure illustrated in Fig. 7, each product data is associated with a product NFT, and the product NFT is recorded in the blockchain 9. As a browsing request sent by the application, a browsing request for a list of product data may be sent first, the list is returned, and when the product orderer selects desired product data from the list, the application may send a browsing request for the selected product data.

[0071] Next, the product orderer selects the desired product data from among the product data returned based on the viewing request (S74). Next, the product orderer purchases the product NFT to which the selected product data is associated (S75). As an example, the product orderer pays the price required for purchase with virtual currency. The product NFT is purchased by the application sending an NFT transfer request together with a virtual currency transfer request to the NFT management server 13 (S76), and in response, the NFT management server 13 sends a specified transaction to the blockchain 9 (S77).

[0072] As a result of the transaction, the product NFT is transferred from the wallet of the original owner to the wallet 53 of the product orderer, and a predetermined amount of virtual currency paid by the product orderer is transferred from the wallet 53 of the product orderer to the wallet of the original owner of the product NFT. The fact of these transfers is recorded in the blockchain 9 (S78). In order to enable the product orderer to know the price of the product NFT prior to purchase, for example, an application may send a request to view the product NFT that the product orderer wishes to purchase to the NFT management server 13, and the contents of the product NFT may be returned from the NFT management server 13.

[0073] Next, the product orderer sends an order message to the factory terminal 15 (S79). The order message may be sent by e-mail or other information exchange platform, or by issuing an NFT. The factory terminal 15 receives the sent order message (S80).

[0074] [Table 3]

[0075] Table 3 illustrates the contents of an order message. The illustrated contents include an order message, contact information for the orderer (e.g., the address on the blockchain 9 of the product orderer), and a unique identifier for the product NFT (token ID 21 illustrated in FIG. 2).

[0076] Next, the product orderer moves the product NFT to the wallet 55 of the manufacturer that manages the factory terminal 15 (S81). That is, the product NFT owned by the product orderer is transferred to the ownership of the manufacturer. This process is performed by an application sending an NFT transfer request to the NFT management server 13 based on the operation of the product orderer (S82). In response to the transfer request, the NFT management server 13 sends a transaction to transfer the NFT to the blockchain (S83). As a result, the transfer of the corresponding NFT is recorded in the blockchain 9 (S34).

[0077] When the factory terminal 15 receives the order message (S80), it repeatedly checks whether the movement has been confirmed (S85) until the movement of the product NFT (S84) is performed (No in S85). The movement confirmation check (S85) is made possible by the factory terminal 15 sending a request to view the owner information of the product NFT to the NFT management server 13 (S86), and the NFT management server 13 accessing the blockchain 9 based on the viewing request, searching for and acquiring the owner information of the product NFT that is the subject of the request (S87), and returning it to the factory terminal 15 (S88).

[0078] When the factory terminal 15 confirms the transfer of the product NFT (Yes in S85), it judges whether the product NFT satisfies a predetermined condition (S89). The predetermined condition is, for example, that the product NFT originates from the production support server 1, is publicly available, is available, etc. This process is made possible by the factory terminal 15 sending a request to view the owner information, etc. of the product NFT to the NFT management server 13 (S90), and the NFT management server 13 accessing the blockchain 9 based on the viewing request, searching for and acquiring the owner information, etc. of the product NFT that is the subject of the request (S91), and returning it to the factory terminal 15 (S92). As an example, the factory terminal 15 automatically performs the judgment of step S89. "The product NFT originates from the production support server 1" means that the product NFT was issued from the wallet of the production support company.

[0079] When the factory terminal 15 determines that the product NFT satisfies the predetermined conditions (OK in S89), it transmits an order receipt message to the product orderer terminal 7 (S93).

[0080] [Table 4]

[0081] Table 4 shows an example of the contents of an order message. The example contents include an order message and a unique identifier of the product NFT (token ID 21 shown in FIG. 2).

[0082] The factory terminal 15 then transmits an invoice for the cost of manufacturing the product to the product orderer terminal 7 (S94). On the other hand, if the factory terminal 15 determines that the product NFT does not satisfy the predetermined conditions (NG in S89), it transmits an order rejection message to the product orderer terminal 7 (S95).

[0083] [Table 5]

[0084] Table 5 shows an example of the contents of an order rejection message. The example contents include the fact that it is an order rejection message, the unique identifier of the product NFT (token ID21 shown in FIG. 2), and the reason for rejection. The reason for rejection only needs to indicate which condition was not met in the judgment of step 89, for example, so the order rejection message can also be automatically created and sent by the factory terminal 15.

[0085] After transferring the product NFT to the manufacturer's wallet 55 (S81), the product orderer terminal 7 repeatedly checks whether an order message has been received (S96) and whether an order rejection message has been received (S97) until either an order message or an order rejection message is received (No in S96 and S97). When the product orderer terminal 7 receives an order message (Yes in S96), it repeatedly checks whether a bill has been received (S98) until a bill is received (No in S98).

[0086] When the product orderer terminal 7 receives the invoice (Yes in S98), it transfers the payment to the manufacturer based on the product orderer's instructions (S99). As an example, the product orderer pays the price with virtual currency. The payment of the price is made when the application sends a request to transfer the virtual currency to the NFT management server 13 (S121), and the NFT management server 13 responds by sending a specified transaction to the blockchain 9 (S122). As a result of the transaction, a specified amount of virtual currency paid by the product orderer is transferred from the product orderer's wallet 53 to the manufacturer's wallet 55. The fact of this transfer is recorded in the blockchain 9 (S123).

[0087] After sending the bill (S94), the factory terminal 15 repeats the check of the payment (S124) until the payment is received from the product orderer (No in S124). The check of the payment is made by the factory terminal 15 sending a payment confirmation request to the NFT management server 13 (S125), and the NFT management server 13 accessing the blockchain 9 based on the viewing request, searching for and acquiring the transfer history of the virtual currency, which is a fungible token (S126), and returning it to the factory terminal 15.

[0088] When the factory terminal 15 confirms the payment (Yes in S124), it calculates the usage fee for the product data and the material data (S127). The usage fee is calculated based on the data related to the usage fee recorded in the product NFT and the data related to the usage fee recorded in the material NFT subordinate to the product NFT. The factory terminal 15 transmits a request to view these NFTs to the NFT management server 13, and the NFT management server 13 returns the contents of the NFT in response (S128), thereby making it possible to calculate the usage fee. The NFT management server 13 accesses the blockchain 9 based on the viewing request and searches for the contents of the NFT that is the subject of the request, thereby acquiring the contents of the NFT (S129). Details of the usage fee calculation process (S127) will be described later.

[0089] After calculating the usage fee (S127), the factory terminal 15 distributes the usage fee to the owner of each NFT (S130). The usage fee is distributed, for example, in the form of virtual currency. For example, the factory terminal 15 transmits a request to transfer the virtual currency to the NFT management server 13 (S131), and the NFT management server 13 responds by sending a predetermined transaction to the blockchain 9 (S132). As a result of the transaction, a predetermined amount of virtual currency out of the product price paid from the product orderer's wallet 53 to the manufacturer's wallet 55 is transferred from the manufacturer's wallet 55 to the wallet of each NFT owner. The fact of this transfer is recorded in the blockchain 9 (S133).

[0090] The factory terminal 15 then determines whether or not a quantity limit is recorded in the product NFT (S134). This determination can be made, for example, by referring to the contents of the product NFT acquired in step S89. If the factory terminal 15 determines that there is no quantity limit in the product NFT ("None" in S134), it returns the product NFT to the wallet 53 of the product orderer (S135). This process is performed by the factory terminal 15 sending an NFT transfer request to the NFT management server 13 (S136). In response to the transfer request, the NFT management server 13 sends a transaction to transfer the NFT to the blockchain (S137). As a result, the transfer of the corresponding NFT is recorded in the blockchain 9 (S138).

[0091] Thereafter, the factory terminal 15 transfers the product data associated with the product NFT to the manufacturing line, thereby enabling the manufacturing of the product based on the product data (S139). Thereafter, the processing of the factory terminal 15 regarding the product order from the product orderer terminal 7 is completed.

[0092] When the factory terminal 15 determines in step S134 that there is a number limit ("Yes" in S134), it requests that the product NFT be burned (destroyed) (S140). The request is sent to the NFT management server 13 (S141), and the NFT management server 13 sends a transaction to burn the NFT to the blockchain 9 in response to the request (S142). As a result, the product NFT is burned (S138). In step S138, depending on the content of the transaction, the product NFT is either moved or burned. In this way, the number limit is achieved by issuing a limited number of product NFTs and burning each product NFT when the product is manufactured. After the burn request (S140), the factory terminal 15 moves the process to step 139 and transfers the product data to the manufacturing line.

[0093] After sending an order rejection message to the product orderer terminal 7 in step S95, the factory terminal 15 returns the product NFT to the product orderer's wallet 53 (S143), similar to step S135. After that, the processing of the factory terminal 15 regarding the product order from the product orderer terminal 7 ends.

[0094] When the remittance (S99) is completed, the application of the product orderer terminal 7 determines whether or not a quantity limit is recorded in the product NFT (S144). This process can be performed, for example, by the application of the product orderer terminal 7 sending a request to view the contents of the product NFT to the NFT management server 13, as the factory terminal 15 did in step S89 (not shown).

[0095] When the application determines that there is no quantity limit ("None" in S144), it repeats the confirmation check (S146) until it confirms (S145) the return of the product NFT from the factory terminal 15 (No in S146). This process (S145) is made possible by the application sending a request to view the owner information of the product NFT to the NFT management server 13 (S151), and the NFT management server 13 accessing the blockchain 9 based on the viewing request, searching for and acquiring the owner information of the product NFT that is the subject of the request (S152), and returning it to the factory terminal 15 (S153).

[0096] When the application confirms the return of the product NFT (Yes in S146), the product orderer terminates the application (S147). If the application determines in step S144 that there is a quantity limit (Yes in S144), the product NFT cannot be returned, so the product orderer terminates the application (S147). If the application receives an order rejection message (Yes in S97), the application proceeds to step 145.

[0097] Fig. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating the procedure for calculating the usage fee (S127) from the processing procedure in Fig. 8. When the factory terminal 15 starts the data usage fee calculation process in step S127 (S160), it determines the amount of capital from the sales amount (S161). The sales amount is the amount of income expected to be obtained by selling the product manufactured using the product data, for example, the sales price. The amount of capital is set to, for example, 10% of the sales amount.

[0098] Next, the factory terminal 15 acquires data regarding the usage fee recorded in the product NFT (S162). For this process, the factory terminal 15 transmits a request to view the product NFT to the NFT management server 13 (S163), and in response, the NFT management server 13 returns the contents of the product NFT (S164). Based on the viewing request, the NFT management server 13 accesses the blockchain 9 and searches for the contents of the product NFT (S165) to acquire the contents of the product NFT (S166).

[0099] Next, the factory terminal 15 determines the usage fee based on, for example, the usage fee rate recorded in the product NFT (see Table 2: "Usage Fee Ratio") (S167). In this case, the usage fee is calculated according to the following formula (1).

[0100] (Usage fee) = (Capital amount) x (Usage fee rate) Formula (1)

[0101] Next, the factory terminal 15 updates the current capital amount so as to change it to the capital amount that is the basis for calculating the usage fee of the material data associated with the one-level lower-level material NFT (S168). The updated capital amount corresponds to the amount obtained by subtracting the usage fee determined in step S167 from the capital amount determined in step S161. Next, the factory terminal 15 determines whether or not there is a material NFT one level lower than the product NFT (S169). This determination can be made, for example, depending on whether or not a material NFT identifier (see Table 2) is recorded in the contents of the product NFT acquired in step 162.

[0102] When the factory terminal 15 determines that there is a material NFT one level lower than the product NFT ("Yes" in S169), it acquires data on the usage fee recorded in the material NFT (S170). For this process, the factory terminal 15 transmits a request to view the material NFT to the NFT management server 13 (S171), and in response, the NFT management server 13 returns the contents of the material NFT (S172). Based on the viewing request, the NFT management server 13 accesses the blockchain 9 and searches for the contents of the product NFT (S173) to acquire the contents of the material NFT (S174).

[0103] Next, the factory terminal 15 determines the usage fee based on, for example, the usage fee rate recorded in the material NFT (see Table 1: "Usage Fee Ratio") (S175). In this case, the usage fee is calculated according to the above formula (1). If there are multiple material NFTs in the same layer, the processing of steps 170 to S175 is performed for each material NFT. When the processing of step 175 is completed, the factory terminal 15 updates the current capital amount to the capital amount that is the basis for calculating the usage fee for the material data associated with the material NFT at a lower level (S176). The updated capital amount corresponds to the amount obtained by subtracting the usage fee determined in step 175 (however, if there are multiple material NFTs in the same layer, the sum of the determined amounts) from the capital amount updated in step S168.

[0104] Thereafter, the factory terminal 15 returns the process to step S169 and determines whether or not there is a further lower-level material NFT. When the factory terminal 15 determines in the determination of step S169 that there is no lower-level material NFT any more ("None" in S169), it ends the data usage fee calculation process of step S127 (S177).

[0105] In the usage fee distribution process (S130) of FIG. 8, the usage fee may be distributed only to the owner of the material NFT, not to the owner of the product NFT. In this case, the processing of steps S162 to S168 can be omitted in the processing procedure illustrated in FIG. 9. The distribution of the usage fee to the owner of the product NFT may be omitted because it is equivalent to returning to the manufacturer a portion of the price (S124) that the manufacturer received from the product orderer who was the owner of the product NFT. In addition, if the total amount of the calculated usage fee (S127) is smaller than the initially set capital amount (FIG. 9; S161), resulting in a surplus in the capital amount, the surplus amount is returned to the manufacturer, for example.

[0106] Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating the processing procedure when a product is ordered by an untrustworthy person, among the processing procedures by the NFT processing system 101. In the processing procedure illustrated in Fig. 10, the processing of steps S71, S74, and S75 by the product orderer terminal 7 in the processing procedure illustrated in Fig. 8 is replaced with processing of steps S181, S184, and S187, and accordingly, the processing of step S78 by the blockchain 9 is replaced with processing of step S190.

[0107] The product orderer first starts an application on the product orderer terminal 7 (S70). As in the processing procedure of FIG. 8, the application to be started is a wallet application that can use the wallet 53 of the product orderer. Next, the product orderer browses the material data (S181). The application transmits a request to browse the material data to the NFT management server 13, and the NFT management server 13 returns the material data in response to the request (S182). The NFT management server 13 accesses the distributed storage 11 based on the request to browse, searches for and acquires the material data (S183). As the request to browse sent by the application, a request to browse a list of material data may be sent first, and when the list is returned and the product orderer selects the desired product data from the list, the application may send a request to browse the selected product data. There may be multiple product data to be requested to browse.

[0108] Next, the product orderer selects one or more desired material data from the material data returned based on the browsing request, and creates product data using the selected product data (S184). The created product data is stored in the distributed storage 11 through the NFT management server 13 (S185).

[0109] Next, the product data creator issues a product NFT to which the created product data is associated (S187). For example, when the product data creator instructs the issuance of an NFT by clicking an NFT issuance button on the screen, the application transmits a request to issue a product NFT to the NFT management server 13 in a form associated with the product data already stored in the distributed storage 11 (S188). Because the created product data uses existing material data, the application requests the issuance of a product NFT in a form recording an identifier (token ID 21) of a material NFT to which the used material data is associated.

[0110] The issuance request is made using the wallet 53 of the product orderer. In response to the issuance request, the NFT management server 13 sends a transaction for issuing an NFT to the blockchain 9 (S189). As a result, the issuance of the NFT is recorded in the blockchain 9 (S190). Since the product NFT is issued using the wallet 53 of the product orderer, the issued product NFT belongs to the wallet 53. In other words, the issued product NFT is owned by the product orderer. The following processing procedure is the same as the processing procedure exemplified in FIG. 8.

[0111] Unlike the example of FIG. 8, the product NFT transferred to the manufacturer's wallet 55 in step S81 does not originate from the production support server 1. As a result, the result of the judgment by the factory terminal 15 in step 89 is always "NG", and an order rejection message is sent from the factory terminal 15 to the orderer terminal 7 (S95). The process thereafter proceeds along the bold line shown in FIG. 10, and the product NFT transferred to the manufacturer's wallet 55 is returned to the product orderer's wallet 53 (S143).

[0112] In this way, if the product NFT transferred to the wallet 55 of the manufacturer is not an NFT issued from the wallet 51 of a production support provider that is in a cooperative relationship with the manufacturer and is trustworthy, the order is rejected. On the other hand, as illustrated in step S75 of FIG. 8, if the product orderer purchases a product NFT from the wallet 51 of the production support provider, or if the product orderer issues a product NFT on an application provided by the production support server 1 as illustrated in step S55 of FIG. 7, the order is not rejected in step S89 of FIG. 8 for the reason that the product NFT is not from the production support server 1. In this way, only manufacturing requests from reliable parties are accepted, and manufacturing based on requests from unreliable parties is avoided.

[0113] (Another embodiment 1) In the processing procedure illustrated in Fig. 5, the availability information of the material data associated with the material NFT newly issued in step S25 was set in step S24. In contrast, information on the usage conditions such as availability information of the material NFT at a lower level whose identifier is recorded in the newly issued material NFT may be recorded in the newly issued material NFT. Fig. 11 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating the contents of a material NFT newly issued in this manner.

[0114] Example contents include the unique identifier of the material NFT (token ID 21 shown in Figure 2), the owner identifier (owner address 23), the material data identifier (metadata address 25 or data address 29), as well as the name or title of the rights owner (e.g., the original copyright holder) of the material data associated with the lower-level material NFT, information defining the scope of purpose of use of the material data, information defining the period during which use is permitted, and the official license authentication phrase.

[0115] The official license authentication phrase includes a hash value of the contents of the newly issued material NFT (excluding the official license authentication phrase itself), as well as, for example, the identifier and name of the rights holder (e.g., the original copyright holder) of the material data associated with the lower-level material NFT. The official license authentication phrase is encrypted with the private key of the owner of the lower-level material NFT.

[0116] Anyone who wishes to use the material data associated with the newly issued material NFT can obtain proof of the authenticity of the contents of the newly issued material NFT by decrypting the official license authentication phrase recorded in the newly issued material NFT with the public key corresponding to the private key of the owner of the lower-level material NFT, hashing the content recorded in the newly issued material NFT (excluding the official license authentication phrase itself), and verifying that the obtained hash value matches the hash value contained in the decrypted official license authentication phrase.

[0117] For example, in the material data usage availability check in step S19 illustrated in Fig. 5, the application on the material data producer terminal 3 can confirm the authenticity of the information on the usage conditions of the lower-level material data by executing decryption of the official license authentication phrase included in the material NFT. This allows the material data producer to decide whether or not to use the lower-level material data.

[0118] In step S54 illustrated in Fig. 7, the newly issued product NFT can be set with the same contents as those illustrated in Fig. 11, just like the newly issued material NFT. Also, in the material data usage check in step S19 illustrated in Fig. 7, the application of the product data producer terminal 5 can confirm the authenticity of the information on the usage conditions of the lower-level material data by decrypting the official license authentication phrase included in the material NFT. This allows the product data producer to decide whether or not to use the material data.

[0119] 8, the factory terminal 15 can confirm the authenticity of the information on the terms of use of the material data associated with the material NFT by decrypting the official license authentication phrase included in the product NFT. This allows the factory terminal 15 to decide whether to accept or reject the product manufacturing request.

[0120] It is also possible to adopt a processing procedure that does not exclude the use of material data determined to be unusable in the material data usability check in step S19 illustrated in Fig. 5. Similarly, it is also possible to adopt a processing procedure that does not exclude the use of material data determined to be unusable in the material data usability check in step S19 illustrated in Fig. 7. In this case, in checking the usability etc. in step S89 illustrated in Fig. 8, the factory terminal 15 follows the procedure illustrated in Fig. 6 from the product NFT to the lower-level material NFTs, and determines whether any NFT has unusable information or what the strictest usage conditions are, and can decide whether to accept or reject the product manufacturing request accordingly.

[0121] (Another embodiment 2) In the processing procedure illustrated in Fig. 8, the processing of calculating the usage fee (S127) and distributing the usage fee (S130) was performed by the factory terminal 15 based on the usage fee or usage fee rate recorded in the product NFT or material NFT. In contrast, if the blockchain 9 provides a smart contract function, such as in the case of the Ethereum specification, a program that calculates the usage fee for the product or material data associated with each NFT when a product NFT is issued and distributes the calculated usage fee to the owner of each NFT can be implemented in the blockchain 9 as a smart contract.

[0122] In this case, the factory terminal 15 can perform the processes of calculating the usage fee (S127) and distributing the usage fee (S130) simply by executing the smart contract. To execute the smart contract, the factory terminal 15, for example, needs to send a predetermined request to the NFT management server 13 to issue a transaction to the blockchain 9 for causing the blockchain 9 to execute the smart contract. The smart contract may be associated with each NFT and stored in the distributed storage 11.

[0123] FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing procedure for equivalently performing the usage fee calculation (S127) and the usage fee distribution (S130) by executing a smart contract. In the illustrated example, first, a message call (transaction on Ethereum) and a predetermined amount of crypto assets (virtual currency) are sent from the account (address on the blockchain 9) 61 of the manufacturer (manager of the factory terminal 15) to the smart contract 62 of the product NFT on the blockchain 9 (S301). As a result, the crypto assets of the distribution amount are transferred from the wallet 55 of the manufacturer (see FIG. 8) to the smart contract 62 of the product NFT. The amount of the distributed crypto assets corresponds to the amount of the original capital determined in step S161 illustrated in FIG. 9, for example. As in steps S131 and S132 illustrated in FIG. 8, the transaction may be issued to the blockchain 9 through the NFT management server 13, but for simplicity, FIG. 12 illustrates a form that does not go through the NFT management server 13.

[0124] The smart contract 62 of the product NFT is activated by the message call and calculates the distribution amount of the usage fee to be distributed to the account 63 of the owner of the product NFT (S302). The smart contract 62 then distributes the calculated distribution amount of crypto assets from the smart contract 62 to the account 63 of the owner of the product NFT (S303). In other words, the distributed amount of crypto assets is transferred from the smart contract 62 to the wallet of the owner of the product NFT. Next, the smart contract 62 sends the amount of crypto assets obtained by subtracting the amount of crypto assets lost by distribution (S303) from the amount of distributed crypto assets (S301) to the smart contract 64 of the top-level material NFT together with the message call (S304). The difference sent corresponds to the amount of capital after being updated in step S168 illustrated in FIG. 9, for example.

[0125] The smart contract 64 of the top-level material NFT is activated by the message call and calculates the distribution amount to be distributed to the account 65 of the owner of the top-level material NFT (S305). The smart contract 64 then distributes the calculated distribution amount of crypto assets from the smart contract 64 to the account 65 of the owner of the top-level material NFT (S306). That is, the distribution amount of crypto assets is transferred from the smart contract 64 to the wallet of the owner of the top-level material NFT. Next, the smart contract 64 sends the amount of crypto assets obtained by subtracting the amount of crypto assets lost by distribution (S306) from the amount of distributed crypto assets (S304) to the smart contract of the second-level material NFT together with the message call (S307). The difference sent corresponds to the amount of capital after the initial update, for example, in step S176 illustrated in FIG. 9. The cryptocurrency is distributed in the same manner up to account 67, the owner of the lowest-level material NFT (S308).

[0126] (Another embodiment 3) Figure 13 is a sequence diagram showing another example of the procedure for calculating the usage fee (S127) in the processing procedure of Figure 8. In the procedure shown in the figure, unlike the procedure shown in Figure 9, after grasping all the usage fee rates recorded in each of the NFTs forming a hierarchical structure from the top product NFT to the bottom material NFT, the usage fee to be distributed to each NFT owner is determined so that the total amount of the usage rates matches the amount of capital initially set. The specific procedure is as follows.

[0127] When the factory terminal 15 starts the data usage fee calculation process of step S127 (S401), it determines the amount of capital from the sales amount (S161). Next, the factory terminal 15 acquires data on the usage fee recorded in the product NFT (S162). For this process, the factory terminal 15 transmits a request to view the product NFT to the NFT management server 13 (S163), and in response, the NFT management server 13 returns the contents of the product NFT (S164). Based on the view request, the NFT management server 13 accesses the blockchain 9 and searches for the contents of the product NFT (S165) to acquire the contents of the product NFT (S166). The process of these steps S161 to S166 is equivalent to the same process of steps S161 to S166 illustrated in FIG. 9.

[0128] Next, the factory terminal 15 determines whether or not there is a material NFT one level lower than the product NFT (S169). This determination can be made, for example, depending on whether or not a material NFT identifier (see Table 2) is recorded in the contents of the product NFT acquired in step 162. When the factory terminal 15 determines that there is a material NFT one level lower than the product NFT ("Yes" in S169), it acquires data regarding the usage fee recorded in the material NFT (S170). For this process, the factory terminal 15 transmits a request to view the material NFT to the NFT management server 13 (S171), and in response, the NFT management server 13 returns the contents of the material NFT (S172). Based on the viewing request, the NFT management server 13 accesses the blockchain 9 and searches for the contents of the product NFT (S173), thereby acquiring the contents of the material NFT (S174). The processing in steps S169 to S174 is equivalent to the processing in steps S169 to S174 illustrated in FIG.

[0129] Thereafter, the factory terminal 15 returns the process to step S169 and determines whether there is a lower-level material NFT. When the factory terminal 15 determines in step S169 that there are no lower-level material NFTs ("None" in S169), it calculates the sum of the usage rates of each acquired NFT (S402). Next, the factory terminal 15 determines the usage fee for each NFT so that the sum of the usage fees matches the initially determined capital amount (S161) and so that the usage fee for each NFT (i.e., the amount of the usage fee) is proportional to the usage fee rate of the corresponding NFT (S403). In this case, the usage fee is calculated according to the following formula (2).

[0130] (Usage fee) = (Amount of capital) x (Usage fee rate) / (Sum of usage fee rates) Formula (2) For example, if the initial capital amount is 10,000 yen, the total usage fee rate is 25%, and the usage fee rate for a certain NFT is 10%, the usage fee for this NFT is determined by the following formula (3). (Usage fee) = 10,000 yen x 10% / 25% = 4,000 yen... Formula (3) When the process of step S403 ends, the factory terminal 15 ends the data usage fee calculation process of step S127 (S404).

[0131] According to the process illustrated in FIG. 13, the total amount of the calculated usage fee (S127) is neither less than nor more than the initially set capital amount (FIG. 9; S161), and matches the capital amount. As already mentioned, in the usage fee distribution process (S130) of FIG. 8, the usage fee may be distributed only to the owner of the material NFT, not to the owner of the product NFT. In this case, the processes of steps S162 to S166 can be omitted in the process procedure illustrated in FIG. 13.

[0132] (Another embodiment 4) The processing of the usage fee calculation (S127) illustrated in Fig. 13 and the processing of the usage fee distribution (S130) illustrated in Fig. 8 can be performed by the smart contract function of the blockchain 9, similar to the processing illustrated in Fig. 12, instead of being performed by the factory terminal 15. Fig. 14 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing procedure for equivalently performing the processing of the usage fee calculation (S127) illustrated in Fig. 13 and the processing of the usage fee distribution (S130) illustrated in Fig. 8 by executing a smart contract implemented in advance in the blockchain 9.

[0133] In the illustrated example, first, a predetermined amount of crypto assets (virtual currency) is sent from the account (address on the blockchain 9) 61 of the manufacturer (administrator of the factory terminal 15) to the manufacturer's smart contract 60 on the blockchain 9 (S501). As a result, the distributed amount of crypto assets is transferred from the manufacturer's wallet 55 (see FIG. 8) to the manufacturer's smart contract 60. The amount of distributed crypto assets corresponds to the amount of original funds determined in step S161 illustrated in FIG. 13, for example. As in steps S131 and S132 illustrated in FIG. 8, the transaction may be issued to the blockchain 9 through the NFT management server 13, but in FIG. 14, as in FIG. 12, for simplicity, an example is illustrated in which the transaction does not go through the NFT management server 13.

[0134] Around step S501, the product NFT smart contract 62 is activated by a message call (S502) from the manufacturer's account 61, and acquires the usage rate recorded in the product NFT (S503). The product NFT smart contract 62 communicates the acquired usage rate to the manufacturer's smart contract 60 by a message call (S505). Around step S505, the top-level material NFT smart contract 64 is activated by a message call (S504) from the product NFT smart contract 62, and acquires the usage rate recorded in the top-level material NFT (S506). The top-level material NFT smart contract 64 communicates the acquired usage rate to the manufacturer's smart contract 60 by a message call (S508). The smart contract 64 of the top-level material NFT sends a message call (S507) to the smart contract of the second-level material NFT around the time of step S508.

[0135] Similarly, the smart contract 66 of the lowest-level material NFT is activated by a message call from the smart contract of the next higher-level material NFT and obtains the usage rate recorded in the lowest-level material NFT (S509). The smart contract 66 of the lowest-level material NFT communicates the obtained usage rate to the manufacturer's smart contract 60 by a message call (S510).

[0136] Next, the manufacturer's smart contract 60 calculates the distribution amount (S511). As an example, the calculation of the distribution amount (S511) is performed according to steps S402 and S403 illustrated in FIG. 13. That is, the usage fee rates of each NFT sent to the manufacturer's smart contract 60 are tallied, and the usage fee to be distributed to each NFT is determined according to formula (2). Next, the manufacturer's smart contract 60 distributes the determined amount of usage fee as crypto assets to the owner accounts 63, 65, and 67 of each NFT (S512, S513, S514). That is, the crypto assets of the distribution amount are transferred from the manufacturer's smart contract 60 that has received the original capital amount to the wallets of the owners of each NFT. The total amount of the distribution amount is equal to the original capital amount.

[0137] (Another embodiment 5) In the processing procedure illustrated in Fig. 7, the product data producer terminal 5 may encrypt the product data created in step S52 with a public key corresponding to the private key of the wallet 55 of the manufacturer (the administrator of the factory terminal 15) and then upload it to the distributed storage 11 (S53). In this case, in step S139 of the processing procedure illustrated in Fig. 8, the factory terminal 15 can decrypt the product data with its own private key and then transfer it to the manufacturing line. By adopting such encryption and decryption procedures, it is possible to prevent the product data from being used for the manufacture of products by anyone other than the manufacturer (the administrator of the factory terminal 15). The encryption may be applied to all of the product data, or only to the part that requires secrecy.

[0138] (Other embodiments) (1) In the processing procedure exemplified in Fig. 8, the factory terminal 15 may receive a remittance (S99) from the manufacturing orderer, and after confirming the receipt of payment (Yes in S124), pay a predetermined amount of remuneration to the production support provider (the administrator of the production support server 1). For example, in the processing of the usage fee distribution (S130), a process of transferring a predetermined amount of virtual currency from the wallet 55 of the manufacturer to the wallet 51 of the production support provider may be additionally executed. Also, in the processing procedure exemplified in Fig. 8, the factory terminal 15 may determine the total amount of the usage fee by the usage fee calculation (S127) and then perform the payment invoice (S94), thereby invoicing the product orderer for the fee that takes into account the determined total amount of the usage fee.

[0139] (2) In the above-described embodiment, an example was shown in which payment of a price, a usage fee, etc. was made by transferring crypto assets (virtual currency), which are convenient for using the blockchain 9, from a payer's wallet to a recipient's wallet. In contrast, payment of a price, a usage fee, etc. may be made by transferring legal tender from a payer's bank account to a recipient's bank account through a settlement server (not shown) connected to the network 17.

[0140] (3) In the above-exemplified embodiments, except for the form illustrated in FIG. 12, access to the blockchain 9 and distributed storage 11 for issuing NFTs, transferring NFTs, viewing the contents of NFTs, etc., was performed through the NFT management server 13. In contrast, as illustrated in FIG. 12, the production support server 1, the material data creator terminal 3, the product data creator terminal 5, and the factory terminal 15 may directly access the blockchain 9 and distributed storage 11 without the intervention of the NFT management server 13. In addition, the production support server 1 may perform the functions of the NFT management server 13 for registered users of the material data creator terminal 3, the product data creator terminal 5, and the factory terminal 15.

[0141] (4) In the above-described embodiment, clothing is taken as an example of a product. However, the product is not limited to clothing and may be, for example, an ornament, a building, the interior of a structure, a building, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0142] 1 Production support server, 3 Material data producer terminal, 5 Product data producer terminal, 7 Product orderer terminal, 9 Blockchain, 11 Distributed storage, 13 NFT management server, 15 Factory terminal, 17 Network, 20 NFT, 21 Token ID (unique identifier, NFT identifier), 23 Owner address (owner account, owner identifier), 25 Metadata address, 27 Metadata, 29 Data address, 30 Data, 31 White clothing material data, 33 White clothing NFT, 35 Template material data, 37 Template NFT, 39 Pattern A material data, 41 Pattern B material data, 43 Clothing (product) data, 45 Clothing (product) NFT, 51, 53, 55 Wallet, 60 Manufacturer smart contract, 61 Manufacturer account, 62 Product NFT smart contract, 63 product NFT owner account, 64 top-level material NFT smart contract, 65 top-level material NFT owner account, 66 bottom-level material NFT smart contract, 67 bottom-level material NFT owner account, 101 NFT processing system.

Claims

1. 1. A method of processing non-fungible tokens (NFTs), comprising: The computer performs at least one process of associating new creative data created using creative data associated with each of at least one previously issued NFT and issuing a new NFT that holds an identifier of the at least one NFT, An NFT processing method that forms a two or more layer hierarchical structure of NFTs among multiple NFTs associated with creative data, in which an NFT associated with the creative data to be used is placed at a higher level and an NFT associated with the creative data to be used is placed at a lower level, making it possible to identify lower NFTs from the higher-level NFT.

2. Each of the plurality of NFTs, except for an NFT belonging to a highest hierarchical level, holds a usage fee or a usage rate for associated creative data; The NFT processing method of claim 1, further comprising: a computer sequentially tracing the multiple NFTs based on the identifier, starting with the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchy, and paying a usage fee from a wallet or deposit account of a person paying the usage fee to a wallet or deposit account of an owner of each NFT according to the usage fee or usage fee rate stored in each NFT.

3. Each of the plurality of NFTs, except for an NFT belonging to a highest hierarchical level, holds a usage fee or a usage rate for associated creative data; The NFT processing method includes: When a computer issues an NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level, the computer implements, as a smart contract, a usage fee payment program in a blockchain in which the multiple NFTs are recorded, which pays a usage fee according to the usage fee or usage fee rate stored in each NFT from the wallet or deposit account of a person paying the usage fee to the wallet or deposit account of the owner of each NFT by tracing the multiple NFTs in order from the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level based on the identifier; The NFT processing method of claim 1, further comprising: a computer sending an instruction to the blockchain to execute the usage fee payment program, thereby causing the smart contract to pay the usage fee from a wallet or deposit account of a person paying the usage fee to a wallet or deposit account of the owner of each NFT.

4. The NFT processing method of any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: when a computer managed by a manufacturer receives an NFT belonging to the highest tier among the plurality of NFTs in the manufacturer's wallet, providing creative data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest tier for manufacturing a product based on the creative data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest tier.

5. The NFT processing method of claim 4, wherein when a computer managed by the manufacturer receives an NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level among the plurality of NFTs in the manufacturer's wallet, the computer provides creation data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level for manufacturing the product only if the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level was issued from a specific person's wallet.

6. The clothing production support method of claim 4, further comprising: a computer that issues an NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level among the plurality of NFTs, encrypting at least a portion of the creation data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level with a public key corresponding to the private key of the manufacturer's wallet.

7. The computer that issues the new NFT refers to the availability information stored in each of at least one already issued NFT, which indicates whether or not the creative data associated with each NFT can be used, and causes only those NFTs for which availability is not indicated to be available to be stored with their identifiers, and causes the new NFT to store availability information indicating whether or not the creative data associated with the new NFT can be used, and issues the new NFT; The computer managed by the manufacturer is used to manufacture a product based on the creation data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest tier, The NFT processing method of claim 4, further comprising: a computer managed by the manufacturer acquiring usability information held in the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level, and only if the acquired usability information does not indicate unusability, providing the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level for the manufacture of a product based on the creative data associated with the NFT.

8. The computer that issues the new NFT holds encrypted data obtained by encrypting, with a private key of each owner of the at least one already issued NFT, permission to use creative data associated with the NFT or conditions of such permission, and issues the new NFT; The computer managed by the manufacturer is used to manufacture a product based on the creation data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest tier, A computer managed by the manufacturer sequentially tracks the NFTs, starting from the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level, based on the identifier, and decrypts the encrypted data contained in any one of the NFTs using a public key corresponding to the private key; The NFT processing method of claim 4, further comprising: a computer managed by the manufacturer using the creative data obtained by decryption to manufacture a product based on the creative data associated with the NFT belonging to the highest hierarchical level, within the scope of a license or conditions for use of the creative data obtained by decryption.

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