Program, method, and information processing apparatus

A program assists non-legal experts in generating contracts by answering user-friendly questions, supported by a system of servers and terminals, addressing the challenge of creating appropriate contracts without legal expertise.

JP2025157857APending Publication Date: 2025-10-16弁護士ドットコム株式会社
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2024060155
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2024-04-03
Publication Date
2025-10-16

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Individuals lacking legal expertise find it challenging to create appropriate contracts due to unfamiliarity with contract procedures and legal terminology, and businesses without dedicated legal personnel face difficulties in obtaining necessary contracts.

Method used

A program that presents questions about contract terms without legal terminology, accepts user answers, and generates document data defining contract terms based on those answers, supported by a system of servers and terminals for contract creation, management, and document review.

Benefits of technology

Facilitates the creation of contracts for those unfamiliar with legal procedures, enabling easy and accurate contract generation and management, including document review and credibility assessment.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

To demand the need for a technology that enables a user to obtain necessary contracts more easily even without having sufficient legal expertise to perform legal operations exclusively and even if the user is unfamiliar with legal terminology.SOLUTION: A program is provided to cause a computer processor to execute: the step of presenting, to a user, a question about contract conditions, the question including one composed without legal terminology; the step of receiving, from the user, an answer to the presented question; the step of generating, on the basis of the answer, document data defining a contract condition corresponding to the question; and the step of presenting, to the user, the document data generated in the generating step.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12
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Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a program, a method, and an information processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] In conducting business activities, various contracts are concluded and the concluded contracts are managed. Electronic contract services are also used to approve document data between the parties, and the approved document data is managed on the service. For example, there are witness and party-based electronic signature methods.

[0003] Patent Document 1 addresses the issue of "ensuring the conclusion and cancellation of a contract and storing electronic contracts," and describes a technology that "includes a contract application client that sends contract application information to a contract acceptance server via a communications network and receives contract information from the contract acceptance server, a contract acceptance server that receives application information from the client via the communications network, generates contract information from the contract application information, and sends the contract information to the client, and a contract storage server that obtains communication messages between the client and the contract acceptance server, attaches electronic signatures to the communication messages, and stores the communication messages and the electronic signatures."

[0004] According to the technology of Patent Document 1, this has the effect of "ensuring the conclusion and cancellation of a contract, allowing the storage of the contract, and also making it possible to detect any misconduct by the contract recipient in the conclusion of an electronic contract." [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-046590 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] When contract procedures are required in business activities, it is necessary to prepare a contract. However, for those unfamiliar with contract procedures, creating an appropriate contract is not easy. For example, although there are websites that collect contract templates, those who want to create a contract may not be familiar with the wording, and may not have any criteria for deciding which contract to choose. In addition, business companies may not have a person dedicated to legal affairs.

[0007] Therefore, there is a need for technology that allows people who do not have the legal expertise to perform full-time legal work and are unfamiliar with legal terminology to more easily obtain the necessary contracts. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a program for operating a computer having a computer processor, the program causing the computer processor to execute the following steps: presenting questions about contract terms to a user, the questions including questions that do not contain legal terminology; accepting answers to the presented questions from the user; generating document data that defines contract terms corresponding to the questions based on the answers; and presenting the document data generated in the generating step to the user. A program is provided to execute the above. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The present disclosure makes it easier for people who do not have the legal expertise to perform full-time legal work and are unfamiliar with legal terminology to obtain the necessary contracts. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the system 1. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the server 20. As shown in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the terminal 10. As shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the data structure of the user database 211. As shown in FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the data structure of the fastening management database 212. As shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the data structure of the document management database 213. As shown in FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the data structure of the review history database 214. As shown in FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the data structure of the approval request database 215. As shown in FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the data structure of the question clause database 216. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the data structure of the prepared contract database 217. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the flow of processing for generating document data defining contract conditions by presenting questions and receiving answers. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 shows an operation screen for receiving answers to questions and generating document data defining contract conditions. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. The names and functions of the components are also the same. Therefore, detailed descriptions thereof will not be repeated.

[0012] <Outline of embodiment> <1.1 Overall system configuration> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the system 1.

[0013] 1 includes a server 20 for a contract creation, contract conclusion, and document management service, a user terminal 10, a server 93 for a document review service, a server 94 for a business information provision service, a large-scale language model service server 95, a server 96 for an accounting processing service, a server 98 for a book and precedent viewing service, a server 99 for an approval application service, and a user terminal 10A. These devices are connected for communication via a network 80.

[0014] In the illustrated example, terminals such as terminal 10 and terminal 10A are shown as terminals used by users of the contract conclusion and document management service provided by server 20, and each user operates their own terminal.

[0015] In this embodiment, each device (terminal device, server, etc.) can also be considered as an information processing device. That is, a collection of devices can be considered as one "information processing device," and system 1 can be formed as a collection of multiple devices. The way in which multiple functions required to realize system 1 according to this embodiment are allocated to one or multiple pieces of hardware can be determined appropriately in consideration of the processing capacity of each piece of hardware and / or the specifications required for system 1.

[0016] The terminal 10 is a device operated by a user. The terminal 10 is realized, for example, as follows. · Handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets Desktop PCs (Personal Computers), laptop PCs Wearable devices worn by users (wristwatches, glasses, etc.) The terminal 10 includes a communication IF (Interface) 12 , an input device 13 , an output device 14 , a memory 15 , a storage 16 , and a processor 19 .

[0017] The communication IF 12 is an interface for inputting and outputting signals so that the terminal 10 can communicate with an external device.

[0018] The input device 13 is a device for receiving input operations from a user (for example, a touch panel, a touch pad, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, etc.).

[0019] The output device 14 is a device (such as a display or speaker) for presenting information to the user.

[0020] The memory 15 is for temporarily storing programs and data to be processed by the programs, and is a volatile memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).

[0021] The storage 16 is for storing data, and is, for example, a flash memory or a hard disk drive (HDD).

[0022] The processor 19 is hardware for executing an instruction set written in a program, and is composed of an arithmetic unit, a register, a peripheral circuit, and the like.

[0023] The server 20 provides a service for creating contracts. The server 20 manages contract templates, accepts user searches, and returns a contract template corresponding to the search results.

[0024] The server 20 also presents questions to the user in an interactive format, selects clauses of the contract based on the user's answers to the questions, and provides the user with a draft of the contract. These questions include questions to the user that do not contain legal terms. In other words, the server 20 generates a draft of the contract based on the user's answers, triggered by the questions presented by the server 20.

[0025] On the other hand, the server 20 may generate a draft contract in accordance with the input of the user's request in response to the input from the user, rather than from the service side of the server 20. For example, the user's terminal 10 transmits information indicating the content of requests received from the legal department, a sales destination, etc. (for example, information such as "We received feedback from the legal department that we would like you to reflect this in the contract") to the server 20.

[0026] The server 20 analyzes the information received from the user and reflects it in the draft contract. For example, the server 20 may send a prompt to the large-scale language model service server 95 to generate a draft contract, and the prompt may include information on the content of the request received from the user and an instruction to create sample clauses or a contract template that corresponds to the content of the request.

[0027] In addition, the server 20 may analyze the information received from the user by breaking down the information indicating the requested content into words (for example, a request such as "Please make a specific clause advantageous to our company," or a request such as "Please add a specific clause such as non-refundability") and generating a draft contract by calling up clauses associated with the words (for example, adding a clause in response to the request in response to the word "add").

[0028] Server 20 is a device that provides a service for electronically concluding contracts and a service for managing document data concluded through electronic contracts. In system 1, the contract conclusion service provided by server 20 and the document data management service may be provided by different devices or different businesses. For example, server 20 may provide a document management service and, in addition to data on electronically signed contracts, optically read paper contracts with stamps to extract information such as the contract period and whether the contract is automatically renewed, and manage this information together with the scanned data on the contract as management information. This allows users to be notified when the contract period expires.

[0029] The server 20 includes a communication IF 22 , an input / output IF 23 , a memory 25 , a storage 26 , and a processor 29 .

[0030] The communication IF 22 is an interface for inputting and outputting signals so that the server 20 can communicate with external devices.

[0031] The input / output IF 23 functions as an interface with an input device for receiving input operations from the user and an output device for presenting information to the user.

[0032] The memory 25 is for temporarily storing programs and data to be processed by the programs, and is a volatile memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).

[0033] The storage 26 is for storing data, and is, for example, a flash memory or a hard disk drive (HDD).

[0034] The processor 29 is hardware for executing an instruction set written in a program, and is composed of an arithmetic unit, registers, peripheral circuits, and the like.

[0035] The document review service server 93 is a service that supports document data reviews by accepting document data such as contracts and term sheets that specify contract terms and providing users with information such as whether each clause is favorable or unfavorable to the company, whether there are any missing clauses, and the importance of review items. The document review service server 93 provides a service that supports the above review using a rule base or a trained model. For example, a rule base may be used to review document data by previously associating specific wording or expressions with favorable or unfavorable conditions and explanations. Furthermore, the above review service can be provided by using data obtained by experts reviewing contracts, term sheets, etc. as training data to generate a trained model that responds with review results in response to input document data. The document review service server 93 can also summarize the contents of contracts and generate review comments using a large-scale language model and provide the results to users.

[0036] The business information service server 94 is a service that collects information on organizations and groups such as business companies and provides information related to the credibility of these organizations. Information related to the credibility of organizations is accumulated by collecting publicly available information such as news articles and IR information, and also by the operator of the business information service independently collecting information through interviews, etc. Server 94 provides the following information related to the credibility of organizations. Whether the organization is (or may be) a party that falls under the conditions for contract termination, such as being an anti-social force. For example, there may be publicly available information, such as a database or news article, that indicates that the organization falls under the above conditions. The reputation of a business company or other organization, such as when consumers have a negative reaction and the information is spread in the news, on social media, etc. For example, information may be spread on social media with a certain number of impressions along with negative keywords. Information about business performance, such as sales, revenue (profit amount, profit margin, etc.), and assessment results regarding business continuity (continued losses, possibility of bankruptcy, bond ratings, etc.). The large-scale language model service server 95 is a server that executes language processing tasks using a language model constructed by a learning process including artificial intelligence (AI). An LLM (Large Language Model) is a server that has previously learned a large amount of large-scale data (text data, etc.), for example, web content on the Internet, or a large amount of data stored in a specified database, and can execute various language processing tasks by giving the model a task.

[0037] The large-scale language model service server 95 accepts prompt inputs such as text, images, and voice, and generates and responds to the prompts. Examples of LLMs include GPT-3 and GPT-4 developed by OpenAI, and BERT developed by Google.

[0038] The accounting processing service server 96 provides services that support accounting and bookkeeping operations, such as a service that allows you to create and send invoices, estimates, delivery notes, etc., and a service that acquires deposit and withdrawal data and performs automatic accounting journal entries, etc.

[0039] The book and precedent viewing service server 98 is a service that allows users to view electronic content such as magazines and books. For example, by paying a fixed fee periodically, users can view electronic books in the legal field, etc. The book and precedent viewing service server 98 also accumulates court precedents in a database and provides precedents in response to user search operations.

[0040] The approval request application service server 99 is a server that provides a service to support operations such as approval requests in an organization (such as a business company) that conducts business activities. The approval request application service server 99 provides a service to a user that enables the user to design a workflow for obtaining budget approval among multiple users, for example.

[0041] <1.2 Functional configuration of server 20> 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the server 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the server 20 functions as a communication unit 201, a storage unit 202, and a control unit 203.

[0042] The communication unit 201 performs processing for the server 20 to communicate with external devices.

[0043] The storage unit 202 stores various databases such as a user database 211, a contract management database 212, a document management database 213, a review history database 214, an approval application database 215, a question clause database 216, and a prepared contract database 217.

[0044] The user database 211 is a database for managing users.

[0045] The user database 211 contains information such as the user's name, employee number, etc., for using the services provided by the server 20. Details will be described later.

[0046] The contract conclusion management database 212 is a database that manages the contract conclusion process carried out by the electronic contract service provided by the server 20. Details will be described later.

[0047] The document management database 213 is a database for managing document data, and includes information for managing document data concluded through the electronic contract service provided by the server 20. Details will be described later.

[0048] The review history database 214 is a database that manages the history of reviews of document data such as contracts, etc. Details will be described later.

[0049] The approval request database 215 is a database that manages approval requests for concluding contracts, etc. Details will be described later.

[0050] The question clause database 216 is a database of questions about contract terms that are presented to the user. The presented questions include questions that do not contain legal terms. Details will be described later.

[0051] The created contract database 217 is a database of contracts created by the server 20. Details will be described later.

[0052] The control unit 203 is realized by the processor 29 reading a program stored in the storage unit 202 and executing instructions included in the program. By operating in accordance with the program, the control unit 203 exhibits functions shown as a reception control module 2041, a transmission control module 2042, a user management module 2043, a conclusion processing module 2044, a document management module 2045, a contract creation module 2046, and an approval application processing module 2047.

[0053] The reception control module 2041 controls the process by which the server 20 receives signals from external devices in accordance with a communication protocol.

[0054] The transmission control module 2042 controls the process in which the server 20 transmits signals to external devices in accordance with a communication protocol.

[0055] The user management module 2043 is a module for managing information about each user who uses the system 1. Specifically, the user management module 2043 accepts registration of information about each user and updates the user database 211.

[0056] The conclusion processing module 2044 controls the process of the parties approving document data as a process for concluding a contract by electronic contract. Specifically, the conclusion processing module 2044 notifies each user who approves the document data, and updates the conclusion management database 212 in response to the operation of approving the document data.

[0057] The document management module 2045 controls the process of managing document data by referring to the document management database 213. Specifically, the document management module 2045 notifies the user whether to renew the contract when the contract period expires, based on the information about the contract period set in the document data, and updates the document management database 213 in response to the user's operation (such as renewal).

[0058] The contract creation module 2046 refers to the question clause database 216 to present questions to the user, and in accordance with the answers to the questions, generates document data defining contract conditions corresponding to the questions, and updates the created contract database 217. Details will be described later.

[0059] The approval request processing module 2047 receives an operation to apply for approval from a user and controls the process in which the approver approves the approval. Specifically, the approval request processing module 2047 notifies each user who approves the approval request, and updates the approval request database 215 in response to the operation to approve the approval.

[0060] <1.3 Configuration of Terminal 10> FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the terminal 10. As shown in FIG.

[0061] As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal 10 includes multiple antennas (antenna 111, antenna 112), communication units (first communication unit 120, second communication unit 121) corresponding to the respective antennas, an input device 130 (including a touch-sensitive device 131), a display 132, an audio processing unit 140, a microphone 141, a speaker 142, a position information sensor 150, a camera 160, a motion sensor 170, a memory unit 180, and a control unit 190. The terminal 10 also has functions and configurations (e.g., a battery for storing power, a power supply circuit for controlling the supply of power from the battery to each circuit, etc.) that are not specifically shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the blocks included in the terminal 10 are electrically connected by a bus or the like.

[0062] The antenna 111 emits a signal emitted by the terminal 10 as a radio wave. The antenna 111 also receives a radio wave from space and provides the received signal to the first communication unit 120.

[0063] The antenna 112 emits a signal emitted by the terminal 10 as a radio wave. The antenna 112 also receives a radio wave from space and provides the received signal to the second communication unit 121.

[0064] The first communication unit 120 performs modulation / demodulation processing and the like for transmitting and receiving signals via the antenna 111 so that the terminal 10 can communicate with other wireless devices. The second communication unit 121 performs modulation / demodulation processing and the like for transmitting and receiving signals via the antenna 112 so that the terminal 10 can communicate with other wireless devices. The first communication unit 120 and the second communication unit 121 are communication modules including a tuner, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) calculation circuit, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) calculation circuit, a high-frequency circuit, and the like. The first communication unit 120 and the second communication unit 121 perform modulation / demodulation, frequency conversion, and the like for wireless signals transmitted and received by the terminal 10, and provide the received signals to the control unit 190.

[0065] Input device 130 has a mechanism for accepting input operations by a user. Specifically, input device 130 is configured as a touch screen and includes touch-sensitive device 131. Touch-sensitive device 131 accepts input operations by a user of terminal 10. Touch-sensitive device 131 detects the user's touch position on the touch panel, for example, by using a capacitive touch panel. Touch-sensitive device 131 outputs a signal indicating the user's touch position detected by the touch panel to control unit 190 as an input operation.

[0066] The display 132 displays data such as images, videos, and text under the control of the control unit 190. The display 132 is realized by, for example, an LCD, an organic EL display, or the like.

[0067] The audio processing unit 140 modulates and demodulates audio signals. The audio processing unit 140 modulates a signal provided from the microphone 141 and provides the modulated signal to the control unit 190. The audio processing unit 140 also provides the audio signal to the speaker 142. The audio processing unit 140 is realized, for example, by a processor for audio processing. The microphone 141 accepts audio input and provides an audio signal corresponding to the audio input to the audio processing unit 140. The speaker 142 converts the audio signal provided from the audio processing unit 140 into audio and outputs the audio to the outside of the terminal 10.

[0068] The location information sensor 150 is a sensor that detects the location of the terminal 10, and is, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) module. The GPS module is a receiving device used in a satellite positioning system. The satellite positioning system receives signals from at least three or four satellites, and detects the current location of the terminal 10 equipped with the GPS module based on the received signals.

[0069] The camera 160 is a device that receives light with a light receiving element and outputs the received light as a captured image. The camera 160 is, for example, a depth camera that can detect the distance from the camera 160 to a subject being photographed.

[0070] The motion sensor 170 includes an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor, etc., and detects the movement of the terminal 10 .

[0071] The storage unit 180 is configured with, for example, a flash memory, and stores data and programs used by the terminal 10. The various types of information stored in the storage unit 180 will be described later.

[0072] The control unit 190 controls the operation of the terminal 10 by reading a program stored in the storage unit 180 and executing instructions included in the program. The control unit 190 is, for example, an application processor. By operating in accordance with the program, the control unit 190 fulfills the functions of an operation reception unit 191, a transmission / reception unit 192, a data processing unit 193, a notification control unit 194, and a storage control unit 195.

[0073] Operation acceptance unit 191 performs processing to accept a user's input operation to an input device such as touch-sensitive device 131. Operation acceptance unit 191 determines the type of operation, such as whether the user's operation is a flick operation, a tap operation, or a drag (swipe) operation, based on information about the coordinates where the user has touched touch-sensitive device 131 with a finger or the like.

[0074] The transmitting / receiving unit 192 performs processing for the terminal 10 to transmit and receive data to and from an external device such as the server 20 in accordance with a communication protocol.

[0075] The data processing unit 193 performs calculations on the data that the terminal 10 has received as input in accordance with a program, and outputs the calculation results to a memory or the like.

[0076] The notification control unit 194 performs processing for displaying a display image on the display 132, processing for outputting sound from the speaker 142, and processing for generating vibrations.

[0077] The storage control unit 195 controls the storage of data in the storage unit 180 .

[0078] A description will be given of various types of information stored in storage unit 180. In one aspect, storage unit 180 stores various types of information such as user information 181.

[0079] The user information 181 is information about a user who uses the services of the server 20. The user information 181 includes, for example, information such as the employee number and name of the user.

[0080] <2 Data Structure> 4 is a diagram showing the data structure of the user database 211. The user database 211 includes the following items: "User ID," "Business Operator ID," "Name," "Email Address," "Department," "Position," "Date of Employment," "Date of Resignation," and "Qualifications."

[0081] The item "user ID" is information that identifies each user.

[0082] The item "business operator ID" is information that identifies each business operator.

[0083] The item "Name" is information about the user's name.

[0084] The item "email address" is information that serves as the user's contact information.

[0085] The item "department" is information about the user's department.

[0086] Specifically, the item "department" may include the following as information about the department to which the user belongs: - Business departments, sales departments, etc. that do not primarily handle legal affairs Departments that primarily handle legal affairs, such as the legal department and intellectual property department The item "position" is information about the position of the user.

[0087] The item "Date of joining" is information about the date on which a user joined an organization.

[0088] The item "Retirement Date" is information about the date on which the user retired from the organization.

[0089] The item "Qualifications held" is information about qualifications held by the user.

[0090] Specifically, the item "Qualifications held" includes the following information as qualifications held by the user: Qualifications that are expected to give the knowledge to review contracts, such as a lawyer Qualifications that are expected to show knowledge of business activities, such as small and medium-sized enterprise management consultants Qualifications that are expected to have the necessary knowledge in accounting, tax, etc., such as certified public accountants and tax accountants 5 is a diagram showing the data structure of the agreement management database 212. The agreement management database 212 includes an item "agreement ID," an item "sender ID," an item "recipient ID," an item "data to be agreed upon," an item "first email address," an item "second email address," an item "sent date and time," an item "user signature date and time," an item "agreement completion date and time," and an item "status."

[0091] The item "contract ID" is information that identifies each contract conclusion procedure.

[0092] Specifically, the item "Conclusion ID" includes identification information issued by the server 20 when a new registration of a process for concluding an electronic contract by specifying an approver is accepted for document data to be approved by the parties.

[0093] The item "sender ID" is information for identifying the party who will be the sender when the party approves document data.

[0094] Specifically, the item "sender ID" may be associated with information about the business (business ID) or information about the user (user ID) managed in the user database 211.

[0095] The item "recipient ID" is information for identifying the party who will be the recipient when the party approves document data.

[0096] Specifically, the item "Receiver ID" is information that identifies the party designated by the sender's user as the receiver, and like the sender ID, may be associated with information about the business (business ID) or the user (user ID) managed in the user database 211.

[0097] The item "data to be concluded" is document data to be approved by the parties.

[0098] Specifically, the item "data to be concluded" indicates data (files such as PDF) of transaction documents such as contracts, applications, and estimates.

[0099] The item "primary email address" is an email address that serves as a contact point for the user who will be the sender in the process of concluding a contract by approving document data.

[0100] Specifically, the item "first email address" is the email address of the user who performs the operation to send document data as the sender.

[0101] The item "secondary email address" is an email address that serves as the contact address of the user who approves as a recipient in the process of concluding a contract by approving document data.

[0102] Specifically, the item "second email address" is the email address of the user who will approve the document data as the recipient. Note that there may be multiple users who approve the document data among the parties, and if the user who sends the document data specifies the email addresses of multiple users who will approve the document data, the specified email addresses are also managed in the agreement management database 212.

[0103] The item "transmission date and time" is information on the date and time when an operation to transmit document data was accepted from a user who will be the sender in order to request approval of the document data from each user.

[0104] The item "user signature date and time" is information on the date and time when the user performed an operation to approve the document data.

[0105] Specifically, the item "User Signature Date and Time" includes information on the timing when a user who has been requested to approve document data checks the document data, performs an operation to approve, and then digitally signs the document data by having the operation accepted by the server 20. The server 20 digitally signs the document data each time a user performs an operation to approve, and stores the timing information in the agreement management database 212.

[0106] The item "conclusion completion date and time" is information about the date and time when the conclusion of the contract was completed.

[0107] Specifically, when a contract is concluded using the electronic contract service provided by server 20, the item "Date and time of conclusion completion" stores the date and time information in the conclusion management database 212, assuming that the conclusion of the contract is completed when all users designated to approve the document data perform the approval operation.

[0108] The item "status" is information indicating the stage at which the contract conclusion work is currently underway.

[0109] Specifically, the item "status" may include the following as the stage of the contract conclusion process: Before sending: Indicates that the document data has been registered on the server 20 by the sender, but has not yet been sent to the recipient. - In Progress: Indicates that the document data has been sent and approval by each user has not yet been completed. Completed: Indicates that the contract has been concluded Rejected, returned: Indicates that the contract was not completed due to reasons such as the user not approving the document data, or a timeout occurring after a certain period of time had passed without approval being completed. 6 is a diagram showing the data structure of the document management database 213. The document management database 213 includes an item "document management ID," an item "contract ID," an item "document title," an item "contract start date," an item "contract expiration date," and an item "automatic renewal status."

[0110] The item "document management ID" is information for identifying each document data being managed.

[0111] The item "contract ID" is information that identifies each contract conclusion procedure that the parties have performed to approve the document data.

[0112] Specifically, the item "contract ID" may be associated with information (contract ID) that identifies each contract conclusion, which is managed in the contract management database 212.

[0113] The item "document title" is information about the title of the document data being managed.

[0114] Specifically, the item "document title" may be a word used as a type or name of a contract, such as a confidentiality agreement, a sales contract, or a license agreement.

[0115] The item "contract start date" is information indicated as the start date of the contract in the document data.

[0116] Specifically, the value of the item "contract start date" may be set as follows. When the contract is concluded, the server 20 reads the start date of the contract from the contract data. - Information entered by the user as the contract start date The same applies to the following items "Contract Expiration Date" and "Automatic Renewal Enabled."

[0117] The item "contract expiration date" is information indicated as the contract expiration date in the document data.

[0118] The item "automatic renewal" is information indicating whether the contract period is automatically extended (automatic renewal) when the contract period expires in the document data without the parties having to re-enter the contract.

[0119] 7 is a diagram showing the data structure of the review history database 214. The review history database 214 includes an item "review ID," an item "document data," an item "document management ID," an item "review date and time," an item "review user," an item "review content," and an item "review requester's evaluation."

[0120] The item "review ID" is information that identifies each review performed on document data.

[0121] The item "Document Data" is information about the document data to be reviewed.

[0122] The item "document management ID" is information for identifying each document data being managed.

[0123] Specifically, the item "document management ID" may be associated with information (document management ID) that identifies each piece of document data, which is managed in the document management database 213.

[0124] The item "review date and time" is information about the date and time when the review was performed.

[0125] The item "reviewer user" is information about the user who reviewed the item.

[0126] The item "review content" is information indicating the results of the review.

[0127] Specifically, the item "review content" may include the following as review results: - Review results by the document review service server 93 (advantages and disadvantages of the conditions, importance, proposed revisions, etc.) Comments and suggested corrections entered by users (including information about users who enter review comments) The item "rating of review requester" is information indicating the rating of the user who requested the review on the review content of the reviewer.

[0128] Specifically, the item "review requester's evaluation" includes the result of the user who requested the review evaluating the reviewer based on the operation performed on the review result, and the following are possible. The user who requested the review can set a score for the review result. The number of reactions, such as "likes," added to posts sent via messaging tools to contact users for reviews 8 is a diagram showing the data structure of the approval request database 215. The approval request database 215 includes an item "approval request ID," an item "applicant ID," an item "approver ID," an item "application date," an item "approval date," an item "application content," and an item "conclusion ID."

[0129] The item "approval request ID" is information that identifies each approval request.

[0130] The item "Applicant ID" is information that identifies the user who is the applicant for the approval request.

[0131] Specifically, the item "applicant ID" may be associated with user information (user ID) managed in the user database 211.

[0132] The item "Approver ID" is information that identifies the user who approves the approval request.

[0133] Specifically, the item "approver ID" may be associated with user information (user ID) managed in the user database 211.

[0134] The item "application date" is information about the date and time when an operation to transmit the approval request data was accepted from the applicant user in order to request each user to approve the approval request data.

[0135] The item "approval date" is information about the date and time when the user performed an operation to approve the data of the approval request.

[0136] The item "application content" is information indicating the content of the approval request.

[0137] Specifically, the item "application content" includes the content of the approval request, such as: Conclusion of contracts Budget approval Expense claim The item "contract ID" is information that identifies each contract conclusion procedure.

[0138] Specifically, the item "conclusion ID" may be associated with information (conclusion ID) that identifies each contract conclusion procedure, which is managed in the conclusion management database 212. This associates the data of the approval request in the approval request database 215 with the data of the contract conclusion in the conclusion management database 212.

[0139] 9 is a diagram showing the data structure of the question clause database 216. The question clause database 216 includes an item "question ID," an item "question category," an item "question content," an item "example sentence of clause," and an item "contract form proposal."

[0140] The item "Question ID" is information that identifies each question.

[0141] The item "Question Category" is information indicating the category of the question.

[0142] Specifically, the item "question category" includes the following categories: "Warranty liability": Questions defining specific credits and debts "Sales Channels": Question about whether or not you will conduct business activities overseas "Contract Form": Questions about the type of contract "Rights clause": Questions about ownership of rights · "Parties": Question about the parties to the contract "Risk Reduction": Question about including clauses on issues that are likely to become contentious "Conditions": Questions about conditions such as inspection period · The item "Question Content" is information indicating the content of the question.

[0143] Specifically, the item "Question Content" may include the following questions depending on the category of the question: (Warranty liability) "If there is a defect after delivery, would you like it fixed?" · (Rights clause) "Do you want to retain the rights to the software created?" · (Type of contract) "Do you want to enter into a contract based on deliverables or services?" → Contract for work, quasi-agency contract (Sales Channel) "Do you sell overseas?" (If the user answers YES, the server 20 generates clauses regarding overseas sales.) (Party) "Is there a possibility of joint research?" (If the user answers "NO," there is no need for a clause regarding rights.) "Who would you like to contract with?" (The user's answer will be the contracting party's information) (Preventing disputes) "Disputes often arise with software. Should we include this clause?" (Condition) "How many days would you like for inspection?" The item "Example sentence of clause" is information showing an example sentence of a clause according to the user's answer to the question.

[0144] The item "Proposal of contract type" is information on the content of a proposal that suggests a contract type in response to the user's answer to the question.

[0145] Specifically, in the illustrated example, the item "Proposed contract type" determines the type of contract depending on the user's answer to a question. For example, the user is asked, "Do you want to enter into a contract based on deliverables or services?" and the type of contract is responded to the user depending on the user's answer. At this time, the server 20 may present the user with reference information such as "up to this point is a quasi-agency contract" and "from here to here is a contract for work" as the business progresses.

[0146] 10 is a diagram showing the data structure of the created contract database 217. The created contract database 217 includes the items "contract ID", "creator ID", "review ID", "contract conditions", "creation date", "reference information", "revision history", and "conclusion ID".

[0147] The item “contract ID” is information that identifies each contract generated by the server 20.

[0148] The item "creator ID" is information that identifies the user who creates the contract.

[0149] Specifically, the item "creator ID" may be associated with the identification information of the user (user ID) managed in the user database 211.

[0150] The item "review ID" is information that identifies each review that has been conducted on the created contract.

[0151] Specifically, the item "review ID" may be associated with information (review ID) that identifies a review and is managed in the review history database 214.

[0152] The item “contract conditions” is information on the contract conditions generated by the server 20.

[0153] Specifically, the item "Contract conditions" includes information on clauses that are generated in response to the user's answers to questions that the server 20 presents to the user by referring to the question clause database 216.

[0154] The item "Date of Creation" is information about when the contract was created.

[0155] The item "reference information" is information about the clause generated by the server 20 that serves as a reference for the user.

[0156] Specifically, the item "Reference Information" includes the following information: - Review results of the generated clauses by the document review service server 93 Comments on the generated clauses from legal departments and other departments that handle legal matters Books containing explanations of the generated clauses (for example, search results for books provided by the book and case law browsing service server 98) - Information on any changes in the creditworthiness of the parties (including information provided by the business information service server 94, which may include information on the continuity of transactions, such as deterioration of business performance, and other information) The item "revision history" is a history of revisions made by the user to the generated contract.

[0157] Specifically, the item "revision history" may include information about users who add comments to the generated contract or who modify clauses, and information about the content of their posts.

[0158] The item "contract ID" is information that identifies each contract conclusion procedure.

[0159] <3 operations> FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the flow of processing for generating document data defining contract conditions by presenting questions and receiving answers.

[0160] In step S1121, the server 20 refers to the question clause database 216 and presents questions about the contract terms to the user. The server 20 presents questions that do not contain legal terms. Specifically, the server 20 presents questions about at least one of the following clauses: warranty liability, ownership of rights, contract type, sales channel, parties, and prevention of disputes.

[0161] The server 20 presents each question of the plurality of questions to the user in units of contract conditions.

[0162] The server 20 presents questions regarding at least one of the status of business progress or the purpose of business development (such as questions in the question category "contract type" in the question clause database 216), and presents questions to the user that suggest contract types based on the user's answers to those questions.

[0163] In step S1111, the terminal 10 accepts an answer to the question from the user.

[0164] In step S1123, the server 20 generates document data defining contract terms corresponding to the question based on the user's answer, for example by referring to the question clause database 216 or by sending a prompt to the large-scale language model that includes the question and the user's answer and generates clauses that reflect the user's answer.

[0165] The server 20 may generate document data based on the results of the user's answers to questions suggesting contract forms. Specifically, depending on the user's answers, the server 20 generates a certain type of contract (e.g., a quasi-agency contract) or a different type of contract (e.g., a contract for work).

[0166] The server 20 generates document data defining the contract conditions, and generates document data in the form of a contract or a term sheet that defines the contract conditions as clauses.

[0167] In step S1125, the server 20 acquires the results of evaluation of the contract conditions of the generated document data by the review function provided by the server 93 of the document review service.

[0168] The server 20 also acquires information indicating that there has been a change in the information relating to the credit of the parties defining the contract terms.

[0169] In step S1127, the server 20 presents the generated document data to the user.

[0170] The server 20 presents to the user the results of evaluation of the acquired contract conditions using a review function or the like provided by the document review service server 93. At this time, the server 20 presents to the user the results of evaluation of the contract conditions and also presents the user with a question asking whether or not to review the contract conditions.

[0171] The server 20 presents the user with information indicating that there has been a change in the credit information for the party.

[0172] In step S1113, the terminal 10 receives from the user an answer to a question as to whether or not to review the generated contract conditions. The subsequent processing is performed assuming that the user has performed an operation to review the contract conditions.

[0173] In step S1129, the server 20 generates document data in which the contract terms have been amended based on the user's answer to the question asking whether or not to revise them. For example, in the review function provided by the document review service server 93, proposed amendments to clauses are also included in the review results. The server 20 generates document data in which the contract terms have been amended based on the proposed amendments.

[0174] In step S1131, the server 20 proceeds with the process of proceeding with the contract in response to the user's operation. For example, the server 20 starts the process of concluding a contract using the revised contract, starts the process of requesting approval, etc.

[0175] <4 Screen example> FIG. 12 shows an operation screen for receiving answers to questions and generating document data defining contract conditions.

[0176] A screen 1200 is an operation screen for accepting the creation of a contract.

[0177] The account display area 1210 is an area for displaying information about the account of a user who has logged in to a service provided by the server 20.

[0178] The new creation acceptance unit 1211 is an operation member that accepts the creation of a new contract.

[0179] The operation reception area 1220 is an area for receiving user operations to generate contract conditions and for receiving operations such as concluding a contract using the generated contract conditions.

[0180] The contract conditions display area 1221 is an area for displaying the results of generating contract conditions by presenting questions to the user and accepting input of answers.

[0181] In the illustrated example, the file name is displayed in the contract conditions display area 1221. The server 20 may preview the details of the document data in response to a user's operation on the related data receiving section 1231.

[0182] The edit receiving unit 1222 is an operation member that receives edits by the user on the draft clause generated by the server 20.

[0183] The proposed agreement receiving unit 1223 is an operation member that receives an operation by the user as to whether or not the user agrees to the type of contract proposed by the server 20.

[0184] The proposal consent receiving unit 1223 updates the prepared contract database 217 in response to the user's operation.

[0185] The review details display area 1224 is an area that displays the review results of the generated clauses by the document review service server 93, feedback from the legal department, and the like.

[0186] The party information confirmation unit 1225 is an operating member that notifies the party when there is a change in information relating to the party's credit and accepts an operation to confirm the details.

[0187] The document data output unit 1226 is an operation member that accepts an operation to output document data according to the generated contract conditions.

[0188] The workflow execution receiving unit 1227 is an operating member that receives an operation to start a workflow for requesting approval and concluding a contract (sending a request for approval of document data from the sender to the receiver) for the contract defined by the generated contract conditions.

[0189] In the illustrated example, the workflow execution reception unit 1227 sets a circulation route based on data (for example, data on past approval requests) acquired by the server 20 in the explanation of FIG.

[0190] <Modification> In addition to the aspects described in the above embodiment, the following may be adopted.

[0191] In the above embodiment, it has been described that each business provides a service using each device, such as the business support system service server 92, the document review service server 93, and the large-scale language model service server 95. However, it is also possible for a single business to provide multiple services. For example, it is possible for a single business to provide a contract conclusion service, a document management service, and a business support (approval application) service.

[0192] Although several embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, these embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications are intended to be included in the scope of the inventions and their equivalents as defined in the claims, as well as in the scope and spirit of the inventions.

[0193] The functions performed by the components described herein may be implemented in circuitry or processing circuitry, including general-purpose processors, application-specific processors, integrated circuits, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), a CPU (a Central Processing Unit), conventional circuits, and / or combinations thereof, programmed to perform the described functions. A processor includes transistors and other circuits and is considered to be circuitry or processing circuitry. A processor may also be a programmed processor that executes programs stored in memory.

[0194] In this specification, a circuitry, unit, or means is hardware that is programmed to realize or performs the described functions, which may be any hardware disclosed herein or any hardware known to be programmed to realize or perform the described functions.

[0195] If the hardware is a processor considered to be a type of circuitry, the circuitry, means, or unit is a combination of the hardware and software used to configure the hardware and / or processor.

[0196] <Additional Notes> The matters explained in the above embodiment will be supplemented below.

[0197] (Appendix 1) A program for operating a computer having a computer processor, the program causing the computer processor to execute the following steps: presenting questions about contract terms to a user, the questions including questions that do not contain legal terminology; accepting answers to the presented questions from the user; generating document data that defines contract terms corresponding to the questions based on the answers; and presenting the document data generated in the generating step to the user.

[0198] (Appendix 2) The program according to Appendix 1, wherein in the step of presenting a question, the content of the question is presented as a question regarding at least one of the following clauses: warranty liability, ownership of rights, type of contract, sales channel, parties, and prevention of disputes.

[0199] (Appendix 3) A program according to any one of appendices 1 to 2, wherein in the step of presenting questions, each question of the plurality of questions is presented to the user in units of contract terms.

[0200] (Appendix 4) A program described in any of Appendices 1 to 3, wherein in the step of presenting a question, at least one of a question about the status of business progress or the purpose of business development is presented as the content of the question, and a question proposing a form of contract is presented to the user based on the user's answer to the question, and in the generation step, document data is generated based on the result of the user's answer to the question proposing a form of contract.

[0201] (Appendix 5) A program described in any of Appendices 1 to 4, which further causes a computer processor to execute the steps of obtaining the results of an evaluation of the contract terms of the document data generated in the generating step, and presenting the results of the evaluation of the obtained contract terms to a user.

[0202] (Appendix 6) A program as described in Appendix 5, in which, in a step of presenting the results of an evaluation of the contract conditions to the user, the evaluation results are presented while a question is presented to the user asking whether or not to review the contract conditions, and in a generating step, document data with the contract conditions revised is generated based on the user's answer to the question asking whether or not to review them.

[0203] (Appendix 7) A program described in any of Appendices 1 to 6, wherein, in the step of presenting document data, a question is presented to the user regarding the contract conditions of the generated document data, asking whether or not to review the contract conditions; and, in the step of generating, document data with modified contract conditions is generated based on the user's answer to the question asking whether or not to review them.

[0204] (Appendix 8) The program further causes a computer processor to execute the steps of acquiring information indicating that there has been a change in credit information for the party defining the contract terms, and presenting the acquired information indicating the change to the user, wherein in the step of presenting the document data, a question is presented to the user regarding the contract terms of the generated document data, asking whether or not to review the contract terms, and in the generating step, document data with revised contract terms is generated based on the user's answer to the question asking whether or not to review them.

[0205] (Appendix 9) A program according to any one of appendices 1 to 8, wherein in the step of generating document data, document data defining contract terms is generated in the form of a contract defining the contract terms as clauses or in the form of a term sheet.

[0206] (Appendix 10) A method for operating a computer having a computer processor, the method comprising the steps of: presenting questions about contract terms to a user, the questions including questions that do not contain legal terminology; accepting answers from the user to the presented questions; generating document data that defines contract terms corresponding to the questions based on the answers; and presenting the document data generated in the generating step to the user.

[0207] (Appendix 11) An information processing device having a control unit, the control unit executing the steps of: presenting questions about contract terms to a user, the questions including questions that do not contain legal terminology; accepting answers to the presented questions from the user; generating document data that defines contract terms corresponding to the questions based on the answers; and presenting the document data generated in the generating step to the user.

Claims

1. A program for operating a computer having a computer processor, the program causing the computer processor to: presenting the user with questions about the terms of the contract, the questions including questions that do not include legalese; receiving an answer from the user to the presented question; generating document data defining contract terms corresponding to the question based on the answer; and a step of presenting the document data generated in the generating step to a user.

2. In the step of presenting the question, the content of the question is 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein questions are presented regarding at least one of the following clauses: warranty liability, ownership of rights, type of contract, sales channel, parties, and prevention of disputes.

3. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein in the step of presenting questions, each of the plurality of questions is presented to the user in units of contract conditions.

4. In the step of presenting the questions, at least one question about the progress of the business or the purpose of business development is presented as the content of the questions, and a question proposing a form of contract is presented to the user based on the user's answers to the questions; 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein in the generating step, the document data is generated based on the results of a user's answers to questions suggesting the form of the contract.

5. The program further causes the computer processor to: obtaining a result of evaluating the contract conditions of the document data generated in the generating step; The program according to claim 1 , further comprising: a step of presenting to a user a result of evaluation of the acquired contract conditions.

6. In the step of presenting the evaluation result of the contract conditions to the user, a question is presented to the user while presenting the evaluation result, asking whether or not to review the contract conditions; 6. The program according to claim 5, wherein in the generating step, the document data is generated with the contract conditions amended based on a user's response to the question asking whether or not to revise the contract conditions.

7. In the step of presenting the document data, a question is presented to the user regarding the contract conditions of the generated document data, asking whether or not the user wishes to review the contract conditions; 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein in the generating step, the document data is generated with the contract conditions amended based on a user's response to the question asking whether or not to revise the contract conditions.

8. The program further causes the computer processor to: obtaining information indicating a change in credit information for the party defining the contract terms; and presenting the acquired information indicating the occurrence of the change to a user; In the step of presenting the document data, a question is presented to the user regarding the contract conditions of the generated document data, asking whether or not the user wishes to review the contract conditions; 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein in the generating step, the document data is generated with the contract conditions amended based on a user's response to the question asking whether or not to revise the contract conditions.

9. In the step of generating the document data, the document data defining the contract conditions is generated, The program according to claim 1 , wherein the document data is generated in the form of a contract that defines the contract conditions as clauses or in the form of a term sheet.

10. 1. A method of operating a computer having a computer processor, the method comprising: presenting the user with questions about the terms of the contract, the questions including questions that do not include legalese; receiving an answer from the user to the presented question; generating document data defining contract terms corresponding to the question based on the answer; presenting the document data generated in the generating step to a user.

11. An information processing device including a control unit, the control unit presenting the user with questions about the terms of the contract, the questions including questions that do not include legalese; receiving an answer from the user to the presented question; generating document data defining contract terms corresponding to the question based on the answer; and presenting the document data generated in the generating step to a user.

Citation Information

Patent Citations

  • Contract document storage device and system and its method

    JP2004046590A