Program, method, information processing apparatus, and method for producing system

Abstract

To provide a technology for further facilitating confirmation of contents in a document to be submitted to a government office or the like, for example, a legal document related to intellectual property or the like.SOLUTION: In a program for operating a computer for providing a service for supporting creation of document data including a document related to an intellectual property right, the computer stores information of a manuscript of a document to be submitted to a government office in a storage part. Causing execution of a step of receiving, from a user, input of first information relating to a statement of the patent scope of the patent application and second information relating to a summary of a portion in which the first information is described in the manuscript on the basis of information on the manuscript, and a step of displaying the first information and the second information in association with each other, and accepting, from the user, an operation of specifying the first information or the second information displayed in association with each other; And presenting details of the description related to the second information in response to an operation of a user designating the first information or the second information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 34

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] There are technologies that support the creation of documents to be submitted to government agencies and the like.

[0003] The following Patent Document 1 describes a technology that aims to address the risk of human error, such as pasting the wrong figure or using the wrong format, occurring when inserting figures into a document when filing a patent application with the Japan Patent Office via the Internet.

[0004] The following Patent Document 2 describes a technology that aims to assist users in creating documents such as patent specifications by allowing them to efficiently understand the content of sentences in order to determine whether sentences contained in previously created documents can be reused. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-24670 [Patent Document 2] International Publication No. 2017 / 061253 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] As mentioned above, documents submitted to government agencies, such as legal documents like patent applications, are often subject to various legal requirements. For example, patent application-related documents include the scope of claims and patent specifications, and these documents undergo examination by the Japan Patent Office based on the provisions of the Patent Act, after which a notice of refusal or other such notice is issued.

[0007] Therefore, when proceeding with a patent application, the agent and applicant must confirm the contents before proceeding with the patent application procedure.

[0008] However, reviewing a patent application manuscript is not easy. For example, when trying to confirm whether an invention intended for patent protection as an intellectual property right is described in the patent specification and drawings, the reviewer must review the entire patent specification and drawings in order to confirm that the description is not included, placing a heavy burden on the reviewer. Furthermore, as the volume of patent specifications and drawings increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to find descriptions related to the invention desired for patent protection (the invention described in the patent claims). For example, even if a reviewer attempts to add or revise descriptions related to a specific claimed invention while reviewing them, as the number of patent specifications and drawings increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to find the paragraph containing the description.

[0009] Therefore, the present disclosure provides a technology that makes it easier to check the contents of documents to be submitted to government agencies, such as legal documents related to intellectual property. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a program for operating a computer to provide a service for supporting the creation of document data including documents related to intellectual property rights. The computer has a storage unit storing account information of multiple users who use the service, and the storage unit stores, for each of the multiple users, a setting indicating whether the user has authority to approve the validity of the content of document data related to intellectual property rights to be submitted to a government agency. The program causes a processor of the computer to execute the following steps: accepting input of document data related to intellectual property rights to be submitted to the government agency; presenting the document data to a first user who is an authorized user and accepting an input operation approving the document data from the first user; and, in response to accepting the input operation approving the document data, managing the document data in the storage unit as having been approved by the user who has been set as having approval authority. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to more easily confirm the contents of documents to be submitted to government agencies, such as legal documents related to intellectual property. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a system 1. FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of a server 20. [Figure 3] 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a terminal device 10. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of a user database 281. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of a case management database 282. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of a patent specification management database 283. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of a feedback management database 284. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a conflict database 285. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a dictionary database 286. [Figure 10] 10 is a diagram showing a process flow for accepting registration of user information and updating user database 281 in system 1 provided by server 20. FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 accepts registration of information on a client in a conflicting relationship and updates the conflict database 285. [Figure 12] 10 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 accepts registration of a matter from a user and updates the matter management database 282. FIG. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 prompts the proxy user to assign a case for which an approver user has not been set. [Figure 14] 10 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 accepts an operation to input the contents of a case from a user and updates the patent specification management database 283. FIG. [Figure 15] 10 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 accepts an operation for requesting another user to check document data and updates the case management database 282. FIG. [Figure 16] 10 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 receives an operation of approving the contents of an item from a user who will be an approver, and delivers the item to a client. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a processing flow for the server 20 to deliver a project to a client and to receive feedback from a user on the client side. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a series of processing steps performed by the server 20 to submit document data to a government agency. [Figure 19] 10 shows an example of a screen for the server 20 to accept registration of user information, which corresponds to the description of the processing flow in FIG. [Figure 20] 10 shows an example of a screen that the server 20 uses to accept registration of information on customers with whom the server 20 has a conflict from a user. [Figure 21] 10 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 accepts registration of information on a case related to a request to an agent from a user on the requester side. [Figure 22] 10 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 accepts registration of information on a case requested by a client from a user on the agent side. [Figure 23] An example of a screen on which the server 20 prompts the user (a patent attorney) to set the user who will be in charge of approving the contents of the case is shown. [Figure 24] 10 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 displays to a person in charge the status of each case assigned to that person. [Figure 25] 10 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 accepts input of the contents of a case from a user. [Figure 26]An example of a screen for accepting an operation from a user to request a checker to review the contents of a project is shown below. [Figure 27] 10 shows an example of a screen for the server 20 to refer to the dictionary database 286 and accept an operation to extract a description to be reflected in the contents of the case based on a word or sentence input by the user. [Figure 28] 10 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 receives feedback such as comments from a checker or the like regarding the contents of a case. [Figure 29] An example of a screen that the server 20 displays to a user who will be the approver to accept an operation for approving the contents of a case is shown. [Figure 30] 10 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 accepts an operation from a user to deliver to a client an item created by the user who is the person in charge. [Figure 31] 10 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 displays, to the agent user, comments added by the client regarding a case created by the user in charge. [Figure 32] An example of a screen is shown in which the server 20 accepts an operation by the user who is the person in charge to modify the contents of the case based on the client's comments. [Figure 33] An example of a screen is shown in which the server 20 presents the content of the corrections made by the agent's staff to the client user, and accepts an operation to request corrections or an instruction to submit to a government agency from the client user. [Figure 34] An example of a screen is shown for the server 20 to accept an operation to submit (file) a case to a government agency from a proxy user. [Figure 35] An example of a screen displaying a comparison table summarizing the outline of a patent application manuscript is shown below. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] 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.

[0014] <Outline of the first embodiment> In the first embodiment, a service that supports the creation of document data related to intellectual property rights (for example, document data for patent applications) will be described. In the following system 1, in order to support the creation of document data related to patent applications and their submission to the Patent Office, a technology that supports the creation of patent specifications by agents, checking of patent specifications, and communication between agents and clients will be described.

[0015] In System 1, the contents of the document data to be submitted to the Patent Office are created by a user who is capable of acting on behalf of a patent attorney or approved by a user who is a patent attorney, and then the process of delivering the data to the client and the process of submitting it to the Patent Office (for example, converting it into a file format (e.g., HTML format) for submission to the Patent Office, accepting work requests to the person in charge of the work to be submitted to the Patent Office (e.g., administrative staff)) can be performed.

[0016] This makes it possible to ensure a certain level of quality in the content of document data relating to intellectual property rights, and to provide a certain level of benefit to the client (user of the patent system).

[0017] <1.1 Overall system configuration> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a system 1.

[0018] System 1 is a system for supporting the creation of document data related to intellectual property rights to be submitted to the Patent Office as documents to be submitted to government agencies. For example, System 1 can be used by the following businesses: Agents (individual business owners and corporations) acting on behalf of others in procedures related to intellectual property rights A client (such as a business company) who requests an agent to carry out the procedure The system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of terminal devices 10, a server 20, and a server 95 for a large-scale language model service. 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.), such as web content on the Internet, or a large amount of data stored in a specified database, and can execute various language processing tasks by providing the task. 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, GPT-4, and GPT-4o developed by OpenAI, and BERT developed by Google.

[0019] In the illustrated example, a plurality of terminals are shown, such as terminal devices 10A, 10B, etc. Hereinafter, the plurality of terminals may be collectively referred to as "terminal device 10."

[0020] The terminal device 10 and the server 20 are connected for communication via a network 80 .

[0021] 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.

[0022] The terminal device 10 is a device operated by a user. The terminal device 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 device 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.

[0023] The communication IF 12 is an interface for inputting and outputting signals so that the terminal device 10 can communicate with an external device.

[0024] 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.).

[0025] The output device 14 is a device (such as a display or speaker) for presenting information to the user.

[0026] 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).

[0027] The storage 16 is for storing data, and is, for example, a flash memory or a hard disk drive (HDD).

[0028] 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.

[0029] The server 20 is a device for creating documents relating to procedures related to intellectual property rights and managing communication such as texts of each user based on the documents.

[0030] The server 20 includes a communication IF 22 , an input / output IF 23 , a memory 25 , a storage 26 , and a processor 29 .

[0031] The communication IF 22 is an interface for inputting and outputting signals so that the server 20 can communicate with external devices.

[0032] 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.

[0033] 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).

[0034] The storage 26 is for storing data, and is, for example, a flash memory or a hard disk drive (HDD).

[0035] 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.

[0036] <1.2 Functional configuration of server 20> 2 is a diagram showing the functional 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.

[0037] The communication unit 201 performs processing for the server 20 to communicate with external devices.

[0038] The storage unit 202 stores various databases such as a user database 281, a case management database 282, a patent specification management database 283, a feedback management database 284, a conflict database 285, and a dictionary database 286.

[0039] The user database 281 is a database for managing information about each user, as will be described in detail later.

[0040] The case management database 282 is a database for managing each "case," which is a unit of work for creating documents.

[0041] In the following example, we will assume that the documents to be submitted to government agencies and other organizations are intellectual property-related documents, more specifically, documents related to patent applications. Therefore, a "case" is typically a single candidate patent application that is the subject of an order from a client to an agent. Note that even if a document is treated as a "case," it does not necessarily mean that it will be submitted to a government agency and may include cases where the application is abandoned or the case management is terminated (closed). More details will be provided below.

[0042] The patent specification management database 283 is a database for managing the contents of documents that make up each case. In the following example, documents related to patent applications (such as "claims" and "specifications") will be specifically described. As shown below, the server 20 stores the contents of each document for each item (such as "background art") in the patent specification management database 283. The server 20 may also store the contents of each paragraph that makes up a document (in the example of a document related to a patent application, a four-digit consecutive paragraph number is inserted) in the patent specification management database 283. Details will be described later.

[0043] The feedback management database 284 is a database for managing feedback such as comments given by each user on the content that constitutes a document, as will be described in detail later.

[0044] The conflict database 285 is a database for managing conflict relationships when an agent accepts a case from a client. Different staff members may be assigned to different agents on the agent's side depending on the client. The server 20 can set document viewing permissions according to the settings in the conflict database 285. For example, the server 20 may set a setting such that staff members in charge of a first client and a second client in a conflict relationship cannot view the contents of the other client's case until the case meets certain conditions, such as publication of the application or issuance of a patent gazette. Details will be described later.

[0045] The dictionary database 286 is a database for receiving input of sentences or keywords, etc. from the user when creating documents such as specifications that constitute a case, and for managing information on literature to be referenced when creating sentences, etc. corresponding to the input content.

[0046] For example, the server 20 receives input of sentences or keywords indicating the contents of the invention from a user. The server 20 extracts words by morphologically analyzing the sentences received from the user. The server 20 uses the extracted words or keywords to extract related descriptions (paragraphs containing the descriptions) from a database of patent documents that has been constructed in advance.

[0047] The server 20 accepts operations to reflect the extracted descriptions in the specifications the user is preparing, and updates the patent specification management database 283. In other words, when the server 20 accepts input of an invention description, it can supplement the description of the specification to a certain extent without the user having to input the main text of the specification, etc., by referencing past patent documents or prepared specification manuscripts (including unpublished documents managed by the attorney). For example, if there are multiple cases for a specific client, if there are previously filed specifications (including unpublished specifications before the publication of the application), the user can proceed with drafting the manuscript while receiving suggestions from these contents. On the other hand, it may be better not to refer to the main text of specifications filed by other companies with which there is a conflict when preparing the specification. In particular, it is necessary not to refer to unpublished specifications filed by other companies with which there is a conflict.

[0048] As described above, the dictionary database 286 can be used to provide support such as suggesting descriptions based on the recorded literature list when a user creates a document such as a specification, while also ensuring that the reference literature list is appropriately scoped. Details will be described later.

[0049] 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 case management module 2044, a specification creation management module 2045, a feedback management module 2046, a workflow management module 2047, and a validation check module 2048.

[0050] The reception control module 2041 controls the process by which the server 20 receives signals from external devices in accordance with a communication protocol.

[0051] The transmission control module 2042 controls the process in which the server 20 transmits signals to external devices in accordance with a communication protocol.

[0052] The user management module 2043 is a module for managing information about each user who uses the system 1.

[0053] Specifically, the user management module 2043 accepts registration of information about each user and updates the user database 281, which will be described later.

[0054] The case management module 2044 is a module for managing each "case," which is a unit of work for creating documents to be submitted to government agencies and the like.

[0055] Specifically, the case management module 2044 acquires information such as bibliographical items of the case (for example, the submitter of the document) and updates the case management database 282, which will be described later.

[0056] The specification creation management module 2045 is a module for managing the contents of documents to be submitted to government agencies and the like (such as patent specifications to be submitted to the Patent Office).

[0057] Specifically, the specification creation management module 2045 updates the patent specification management database 283 (described later) by accepting an input operation from the user to input the contents of the document.

[0058] The feedback management module 2046 is a module for managing feedback such as comments given by each user on documents to be submitted to government agencies (for example, patent specifications to be submitted to the Patent Office).

[0059] Specifically, the feedback management module 2046 updates the feedback management database 284 (described later) by accepting an input operation from the user to input a comment on the document.

[0060] The workflow management module 2047 is a module for managing transactions such as communications between users.

[0061] Specifically, the workflow management module 2047 manages at least the following transactions such as communications between users. Communication between a user who is the subject of a document to be submitted to a government agency (for example, a user who is the applicant for a patent application) and a user who is acting on behalf of the user in preparing said document (for example, a patent application attorney). (This communication may be in the form of text, voice, etc. This communication may also include sending a push notification (mention) to the designated user.) Communication between users who are acting on behalf of others to create the document (for example, if the agent is a team of multiple people, there may be communication between the person who creates the document and the checker who checks the document) The validation check module 2048 is a module for checking whether documents to be submitted to government agencies and the like have been created based on preset requirements.

[0062] Specifically, the validation check module 2048 performs the following checks as validation checks on documents to be submitted to government agencies, etc. (for example, documents for patent applications) by performing morphological analysis, etc., and notifies the user of errors, etc. depending on the check results.

[0063] (1) Japanese Expressions Is the subject of the sentence missing? Variations in spelling

[0064] (2) Requirements for the format to be submitted to government agencies, etc. Whether the description of the patent application or other application fulfills the prescribed requirements (such requirements may be stipulated by law, etc.). Whether the applicant, inventor, etc. are included, whether the description of the International Patent Classification fulfills the requirements, etc.) - Whether "background art" and paragraph numbers are properly inserted in the specification, claims, etc.

[0065] (3) Requirements that affect the results of examinations by government agencies, etc. - Requirements that affect the examination by the Patent Office (subject to a notice of reasons for refusal), such as whether the scope of patent claims contains so-called multiple citation relationships. <1.3 Configuration of the terminal device 10> FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the terminal device 10. As shown in FIG.

[0066] As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device 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 device 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 device 10 are electrically connected by a bus or the like.

[0067] The antenna 111 emits a signal emitted by the terminal device 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.

[0068] The antenna 112 emits a signal emitted by the terminal device 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.

[0069] 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 device 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 device 10 can communicate with other wireless devices. The first communication unit 120 and the second communication unit 121 are communication modules including a tuner, an RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) calculation circuit, a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) calculation circuit, a high-frequency circuit, and the like. The first communication unit 120 and the second communication unit 121 perform modulation / demodulation and frequency conversion of wireless signals transmitted and received by the terminal device 10, and provide the received signals to the control unit 190.

[0070] 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 device 10. Touch-sensitive device 131 detects the position of a user's touch 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.

[0071] Display 132 displays data such as images, videos, and text under the control of control unit 190. Display 132 is realized by, for example, an LCD or an organic EL display.

[0072] 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 device 10.

[0073] The location information sensor 150 is a sensor that detects the location of the terminal device 10, and is, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) module. A GPS module is a receiving device used in a satellite positioning system. A satellite positioning system receives signals from at least three or four satellites, and detects the current location of the terminal device 10 equipped with a GPS module based on the received signals. For example, in the system 1, the user allows the server 20 to refer to the user's location, and the terminal device 10 transmits location information to the server 20. The server 20 determines whether the user is within a certain distance from the delivery destination (whether the user is about to complete delivery) based on the location information of the terminal device 10 and the location information (coordinates) of the delivery destination.

[0074] 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.

[0075] The motion sensor 170 includes an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor, etc., and detects the movement of the terminal device 10.

[0076] The storage unit 180 is configured with, for example, a flash memory, and stores data and programs used by the terminal device 10. The various types of information stored in the storage unit 180 will be described later.

[0077] The control unit 190 reads a program stored in the storage unit 180 and executes instructions included in the program to control the operation of the terminal device 10. 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.

[0078] 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.

[0079] The transmitting / receiving unit 192 performs processing for the terminal device 10 to transmit and receive data to and from external devices such as the server 20 and the terminal device 10 in accordance with a communication protocol.

[0080] The data processing unit 193 performs a process of performing calculations on data that the terminal device 10 has received as input, in accordance with a program, and outputting the calculation results to a memory or the like.

[0081] 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.

[0082] The storage control unit 195 controls the storage of data in the storage unit 180. For example, the storage control unit 195 stores various data in the storage unit 180 based on the operation of the user information 181.

[0083] A description will be given of various types of information stored in storage unit 180. In one aspect, storage unit 180 stores user information 181.

[0084] The user information 181 is information about a user who uses the service provided by the server 20.

[0085] <2 Data Structure> Figures 4 to 9 are diagrams showing the data structures of databases stored in the server 20. Note that Figures 4 to 9 are merely examples, and do not exclude data not shown.

[0086] 4 is a diagram showing the data structure of the user database 281. The user database 281 includes an item "user ID," an item "name," an item "affiliation ID," an item "job type," an item "license held," an item "checking skills," an item "range of follow-up required," an item "conflict setting," an item "technical field," an item "business area," and an item "email address."

[0087] The item "user ID" is information for identifying each user.

[0088] Specifically, the item "User ID" includes the user's identification information for each of the following attributes: Identification information of the user of the subject of documents to be submitted to government agencies, etc. (patent applicant in the case of a patent application; client in the case of an agent) Identification information of the user who is creating the document on behalf of the other party (agent) The item "Name" is information about the name of each user.

[0089] Specifically, the item "Name" includes the following: Each user's name The item "affiliation ID" is information indicating the affiliation of each user.

[0090] Specifically, the item "affiliation ID" includes the following as information about the affiliation of each user: Identification information assigned to each legal entity if the agent is a legal entity Identification information assigned to each representative if the agent is a sole proprietorship (a sole proprietorship agent may employ employees) Identification information assigned to each entity (patent applicant in the case of a patent application) of a document submitted to a government agency. This can be a legal entity or an individual.

[0091] The item "occupation" is information indicating the occupation of the user.

[0092] Specifically, the item "occupation" may include the following as the occupation of each user: - A job that involves creating documents to be submitted to government agencies (technical staff who draft patent specifications for patent applications) · Occupation in charge of submitting documents to government agencies, etc. (Administrative staff) Other positions in charge of work within the organization (e.g., drawing drawings for patent applications, accounting, and other back office work) The item "license held" is information indicating the license held by the user.

[0093] Specifically, the item "license held" may include the following licenses that each user may hold: Qualifications recognized by law to represent the preparation of documents to be submitted to government agencies, etc. (e.g., patent attorney) Qualifications recognized by law for the representation of certain businesses (lawyer, certified public accountant, etc.) Qualifications such as qualification exams and certification courses that are offered to measure abilities and skills apart from those required by law (including qualification exams such as the Information Processing Engineer Examination) The item "checking skills" is information indicating each user's level of proficiency in checking documents to be submitted to government agencies and the like.

[0094] Specifically, the item "checking skills" may include the following as skills possessed by each user: The scope of checks that can be performed on documents submitted to government agencies, etc. (For example, for patent application documents, can only the "claims" be checked, or can the entire "specification" be checked?) The scope of what can be checked based on the check items (for example, is it possible to check the "scope of claims" based on the provisions that are the basis for examination of novelty, inventive step, etc.? Is it possible to check whether the claims include the content that should be included in light of the patent applicant's business activities? Is it possible to check Japanese expressions that are easy to translate, etc., with foreign applications in mind, apart from the requirements of the Patent Act?) For example, the server 20 accepts settings for each user's skill from any user of the organization to which each user belongs. For example, it may be possible to set a plurality of levels (such as level 1) for checking skills in advance, and to what extent each user's checking skill corresponds to each of these levels.

[0095] The item "extent of necessary follow-up" is information indicating the extent to which a user who is in charge of creating a document needs to be followed up (checked) by other users regarding the creation of the document.

[0096] Specifically, the item "extent of need for follow-up" includes the following as the degree to which other users need to follow up: For example, the person in charge may set in advance the degree to which other users need to follow up in multiple stages, and the server 20 may store information on the stage of the degree to which follow-up is required for each user.

[0097] The extent to which such other users need to be followed may be linked to the employee evaluation system in the organization to which these users belong. Therefore, for example, the server 20 may identify the extent to which other users need to be followed by acquiring information on the user's evaluation as an employee (for example, if the user is graded according to the extent to which follow-up is required, the server 20 may acquire information on such grade). At the opportunity for an invention hearing, whether or not the person in charge of preparing the documents and the user in charge of follow-up are required to be present · Whether or not the documents prepared by the person in charge need to be checked Regarding documents prepared by the person in charge, do some documents need to be checked? (For example, in the case of documents for patent applications, the "claims" need to be checked, but the "description" does not.) Regarding documents prepared by the person in charge, whether the scope of checking is limited to a part of the document (for example, in the case of documents for a patent application, whether checking is required for all claims listed in the "claims" section, or whether checking is required for only some claims (for example, only independent claims)) The item "conflict setting" is information indicating the range of submitters who are represented by an agent who prepares a document on behalf of the document submitter.

[0098] Specifically, the item "Conflict Settings" includes information for managing the information of client(s) (e.g., patent applicants) for whom each user can represent the procedure and the information of client(s) for whom the user cannot represent the procedure, in accordance with the conflict database 285 described below.

[0099] The item "Technical Field" is information indicating a technical field in which the user who is in charge of creating the document has knowledge.

[0100] Specifically, the item "Technical Field" may include at least the following as information on technical areas in which each user has knowledge: Electrical and Electronic Information and Communications ·Organic chemistry / Inorganic chemistry Bio ·Physics ·machine ·Daily necessities The server 20 may define information about technical areas in which each user has knowledge (technical areas that each user can handle) so that the information matches the information about technical classifications used by government agencies, etc., such as the International Patent Classification.

[0101] The item "business area" is information indicating the business area in which the user who is the person in charge of creating the document has knowledge.

[0102] Specifically, the item "business domain" includes at least information on categories such as "construction" and "electronic commerce" as information on business domains in which each user has knowledge.

[0103] The server 20 may define information about business areas that each user has knowledge of so as to match the information about business areas classified in a service that disseminates economic information, etc. (for example, a database of business areas defined by each company and the companies included in those business areas, such as an "industry map").

[0104] The item "email address" is the contact information of each user, and is information about the email address that identifies each user when they log in.

[0105] 5 is a diagram showing the data structure of the case management database 282. The case management database 282 includes the following items: "Case ID," "Client ID," "Applicant ID," "Inventor ID," "Client Reference Number," "Attorney Reference Number," "Invention Title," "Scheduled Hearing Date and Time," "Manuscript Sending Deadline," "Application Deadline," "Customer Person in Charge ID," "Attorney Person in Charge ID1," "Attorney Person in Charge ID2," "Status," "Approved Patent Attorney ID," and "Approval Version."

[0106] The item "case ID" is information that identifies each case.

[0107] The item "customer ID" is information that identifies the requester (client) who requests the matter.

[0108] Specifically, the "Customer ID" item may be associated with one "Applicant ID" (described later) or with multiple "Applicant IDs." For example, a business company may manage the patent application work of its subsidiaries and other affiliated companies, and the business company may be responsible for contacting agents, but the applicant for the patent application may be in the name of the affiliated company.

[0109] The item "applicant ID" is information that identifies the right holder (patent applicant) of documents related to the case (documents related to the patent application).

[0110] The item "inventor ID" is information that identifies the inventor in the patent application.

[0111] The item "customer reference number" is information indicating the reference number of the requester (client) related to the case.

[0112] The item "Agent reference number" is information indicating the reference number of the agent involved in the case.

[0113] The item "invention title" is information indicating the title of the invention given by the client or attorney for convenience as a summary of the contents of the case.

[0114] The item "Scheduled hearing date and time" is information about the date and time of a meeting to explain the "invention" that is the content of the case, when the meeting is set up.

[0115] Specifically, the item "Scheduled hearing date and time" includes the following: Note that, since meetings to explain the contents of the invention may be held multiple times, multiple dates may be managed in the item "Scheduled hearing date and time". The date and time specified by the requesting party to the agent The date and time when the client and the agent discussed and coordinated the matter The item "manuscript sending deadline" is information on the deadline for sending documents related to a patent application (such as a manuscript for a patent application) from an agent to a client.

[0116] Specifically, the item "manuscript sending deadline" may include the following as deadlines for sending manuscripts, etc. Deadline set by the requester A deadline that is automatically set based on the date and time the requester makes the request (e.g., a certain number of days after the request is made) Deadlines set in consultation between the client and the attorney A deadline based on the information on the date and time of the announcement or the planned date and time of the announcement provided by the requester, etc. (for example, within a certain number of days from the date of the announcement, or by the day before the planned announcement, etc.) The item "application deadline" is information on the date and time set as the deadline for submitting documents related to a patent application to the Patent Office.

[0117] Specifically, the item "Application Deadline" may include the following as deadlines for submitting documents to the Patent Office: Deadline set by the requester A deadline that is automatically set based on the date and time the requester makes the request (e.g., a certain number of days after the request is made) Deadlines set in consultation between the client and the attorney A deadline based on the information on the date and time of the announcement or the planned date and time of the announcement provided by the requester, etc. (for example, within a certain number of days from the date of the announcement, or by the day before the planned announcement, etc.) The item "customer person in charge ID" is information that identifies the person in charge on the requester's side for the case.

[0118] Specifically, the item "customer representative ID" may include the following as the representative on the requester's side: The person in charge of making decisions regarding the contents of the case (such as the patent specification, scope of claims, etc., to be submitted to government agencies for review, etc.) Person in charge of administrative tasks such as billing procedures The item "proxy person in charge ID1" is information for identifying the person in charge (first person in charge) on the proxy side for the case.

[0119] Specifically, the item "proxy person in charge ID1" may include the following: · Person responsible for creating the case The item "proxy person in charge ID2" is information for identifying the person in charge on the proxy side (second person in charge) for the case.

[0120] Specifically, the item "proxy person in charge ID2" may include the following: · Person responsible for creating the case · Person in charge of checking the case · Person in charge of managing the progress of the project (delivery date, etc.) The number of people who can be assigned to each project is not limited to two. Multiple people can be assigned to each project.

[0121] The item "status" is information indicating the progress of the case.

[0122] Specifically, the item "status" may include the following as the progress of the case: "Before request": The requester has registered the case information (serial number, etc.), but has not yet requested an agent. "Not started": The request has been communicated from the client to the attorney, but the attorney has not yet confirmed it or begun work such as drafting the manuscript. Typically, the next step is to confirm the contents of the request, such as an invention hearing, in order to proceed with drafting the manuscript for the patent application. "Waiting for additional documents / pending": The client and the attorney have had an opportunity to discuss the invention, but the attorney has not yet proceeded to preparing a specification. Typically, the client may be planning to add additional documents. "Manuscript in preparation": The agent is currently preparing the manuscript for the patent application. "In-house check": A user (sometimes called a "checker") who can provide feedback on a patent application draft prepared by a person in charge at the agent's side is currently reviewing and providing feedback on the draft. "Checked internally": The agent's user in charge of checking the project has checked the contents of the manuscript. "Manuscript sent, pending client review": The agent has completed the manuscript and sent it to the client. Typically, the agent is waiting for instructions from the client regarding the manuscript (such as revision instructions, filing instructions, etc.). "Client's revision instructions": The client has provided feedback such as comments on the manuscript sent by the agent, and has requested the agent to make revisions. "Preparing for submission to the Patent Office": The client has completed the manuscript review and has instructed the agent to submit it to the Patent Office. "Application completed": The agent has completed the submission of documents to the Patent Office based on the client's instructions. "Unacceptable": The agent is unable to accept the case. For example, due to a conflict, the agent is unable to accept the case, and the client is re-selecting an agent. Here, the progress of the case may include the following: "Waiting for patent attorney approval": The content of the manuscript is being reviewed and approved by a person licensed to represent the applicant in proceedings with the Patent Office (e.g., a patent attorney). "Patent attorney approved": The content of the manuscript for the case has been reviewed and approved by a licensee.

[0123] For example, the server 20 may accept settings from each user of a business company or agent to obtain approval for the manuscript of a case from a patent attorney who is a licensed person, at times such as before the manuscript is sent from the agent to the client or before the application procedure is submitted to the Patent Office.

[0124] Here, the timing at which approval of the licensee regarding the contents of the manuscript is required may be set as follows. The client sets the timing for the agent to require approval from the license holder. On the agent side, set the timing when approval from the license holder is required regardless of the client. The agent sets the timing for requiring approval from the licensee depending on the requester (for example, multiple timings for requiring approval from the licensee may be set for a specific requester, and different timings may be set for other requesters). The agent may set the timing for when the licensee's approval is required depending on the person in charge of creating the manuscript (for example, for manuscripts created by experienced people, approval may be required only before the first manuscript is sent to the client, while for other people, approval may be required from the licensee each time a revised manuscript is sent to the client). The item "approved patent attorney ID" is information that identifies a user who is qualified to supervise the contents of the case (for example, a user who is a patent attorney who is qualified to represent in procedures related to industrial property rights, such as patent applications).

[0125] The item "approved version" is a version of the contents of the case that has been approved by a user who is qualified to supervise the contents of the case.

[0126] Specifically, the item "approval version" may include the following as version information in order to distinguish between versions of the case: - Version number set by the user Version numbers updated according to certain rules The date and time the version was updated The server 20 may update the version of the case automatically (for example, whenever the contents of a document such as a patent specification related to the case are updated) without user operation. The server 20 may also assign a version number to the case in response to receiving an operation from the user to assign a version. At this time, the user may arbitrarily assign a name to the version. For example, by assigning an arbitrary name such as "corrections reflected" in addition to the version number, the patent attorney who approves the version may be able to recognize the characteristics of each version.

[0127] The server 20 may manage the versions of each document that constitutes a case (for example, in the case of documents for a patent application, the "patent specification," "claims," ​​"abstract," etc.) as a version of the case. For example, a user who is a patent attorney may approve the "abstract" but not the "claims." The server 20 may also manage each document that constitutes a case collectively as a version. For example, the server 20 manages the versions of each document, such as the "patent specification" and "claims," ​​as if they were a single entity.

[0128] The server 20 may update the version information when the version of the case becomes available for other users to refer to, such as user reviews, delivery processing to the client, etc. For example, the server 20 may manage the content of the request as a version by accepting an input operation from a technical staff member to request a check from a checker in charge of checking the case (or an input operation to request approval from a patent attorney user who will be the approver).

[0129] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the data structure of the patent specification management database 283. The patent specification management database 283 is a database for managing the contents of documents that make up each case. In the following example, documents related to patent applications (such as "claims" and "specifications") will be specifically described. As shown below, the server 20 stores the contents of each document for each item (such as "background art") in the patent specification management database 283. The server 20 may also store the contents in the patent specification management database 283 for each paragraph that makes up a document (in the example of a document related to a patent application, a four-digit consecutive paragraph number is inserted).

[0130] The item "case ID" is information for identifying each case.

[0131] The item "version" is information for managing the versions of documents that constitute a case.

[0132] The item "Claim 1" is information indicating the content of a specific claim (Claim 1) in the document "Claims."

[0133] Specifically, the section "Claim 1" contains a sentence to define the invention.

[0134] The server 20 may store a sentence for defining a claimed invention, divided into a plurality of constituent elements (for example, "an apparatus comprising first means and second means").

[0135] In the illustrated example, the content of two claims, claims 1 and 2, is included, but as the number of claims increases, the content of each claim may be stored in the server 20.

[0136] The item "Claim 2" is information indicating the content of a specific claim (Claim 2) in the document "Claims."

[0137] The item "abstract" is information indicating the contents of a document called "abstract."

[0138] The item "Specification / Technical Field" is information that indicates the content of the item "Technical Field" in the "Detailed Description of the Invention" of the "Specification."

[0139] The item "Specification / Background Art" is information showing the contents of the "Background Art" item in the "Detailed Description of the Invention" of the "Specification."

[0140] The item "Specification / Problem" is information that indicates the content of the item "Problem that the invention aims to solve" in the "Detailed description of the invention" of the "Specification."

[0141] The item "Specification / Solution" is information that indicates the content of the item "Means for solving the problem" in the "Detailed description of the invention" of the "Specification."

[0142] The item "Specification and Effect" is information indicating the content of the item "Effect of the Invention" in the "Detailed Description of the Invention" of the "Specification."

[0143] The item "Specification - Example 1" is information indicating the content of a specific part of the item "Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention" in the "Detailed Description of the Invention" of the "Specification."

[0144] Specifically, the item "Specification / Example 1" may be used to manage any range of description set by the user in the explanation of the "Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention" as the "First Embodiment."

[0145] The item "Specification - Example 2" is information indicating the content of a specific part of the item "Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention" in the "Detailed Description of the Invention" of the "Specification."

[0146] The item "Drawing 1" is information indicating the contents of Figure 1 included in "Drawing."

[0147] Specifically, the item "Drawing 1" indicates the contents of "Drawing 1" when multiple drawings are included.

[0148] If a document relating to a patent application includes multiple drawings, the server 20 stores the contents of each drawing.

[0149] 7 is a diagram showing the data structure of the feedback management database 284. The feedback management database 284 includes an item "case ID," an item "version," an item "thread ID," an item "comment location," an item "comment ID," an item "reply target ID," an item "comment poster ID," an item "check item tag," an item "comment content," an item "solved flag," an item "resolution judge," and an item "comment attribute."

[0150] The item "case ID" is information for identifying each case.

[0151] The item "version" is information for managing the versions of documents that constitute a case.

[0152] Specifically, the item "version" holds the version of the document to which each user has added a comment.

[0153] The item "Thread ID" is information for identifying each thread when multiple users can post comments on a specific part (e.g., a paragraph number) of a document that makes up a case, by defining a series of comments as a thread.

[0154] The item "comment location" is information indicating the location where a comment is added to a document that constitutes a case.

[0155] Specifically, the item "comment location" may include the following as locations where a user can add a comment:

[0156] (1) Association with the document body - By paragraph number in the "specification" or by item such as "means for solving the problem" Claim unit of "Claim" Specific locations in the text of documents such as the "specification" and "claims" that are entered by the user (the user who adds a comment can select any location in the text and then add the comment).

[0157] (2) Reply to a comment already posted The server 20 may accept a comment from a user in the form of, for example, a reply, in association with a comment already added by the user. For example, the server 20 may accept comments from multiple users with the same thread ID.

[0158] The item "comment ID" is information for identifying each comment added by each user.

[0159] The item "Reply target ID" is information for identifying the comment from which a reply is made when each user enters a comment in the form of a reply to another comment.

[0160] The item "comment poster ID" is information for identifying the user who posted the comment.

[0161] The item "check item tag" is information indicating the category of the comment content.

[0162] Specifically, the item "check item tag" may include the following as categories of comment content:

[0163] (1) Writing-related matters - Are expressions natural in the language used in each country, such as Japanese expressions? Typographical errors, which can be detected with a text checking tool. When translating from Japanese to English, is it easy to translate? For example, clearly stating the subject in the Japanese expression, or clearly stating the direct object and indirect object corresponding to the verb, etc., and there are points to consider such as whether it is easy for the translator to translate, and whether the accuracy can be improved by machine translation. There may be things that can be detected by a sentence check tool (for example, a missing subject).

[0164] (2) Legal requirements In the case of patent applications, clarity requirements, support requirements, inventive step requirements, enablement requirements, etc.

[0165] (3) Issues specific to the technical field Issues specific to software-related inventions (e.g., implementation by multiple parties), etc. The item "comment content" is information indicating the content of the comment entered by the user.

[0166] Specifically, the item "Comment Content" may include the following as comments entered by the user: · Policy for editing text and specific edits Basis for amendment (articles, precedents, review standards, etc.) The item "Resolved Flag" is information that indicates, based on the comment entered by the user, a flag indicating whether the content of the comment has been resolved (for example, whether it has been reflected in the main text of the document, whether it has been confirmed that there are no problems with the original draft, etc.).

[0167] Specifically, the item “resolved flag” accepts an input operation to set a resolved flag from each of the following users, and reflects this in the feedback management database 284. The person who posted the comment Users other than the user who posted the comment The item "resolution judge" is information indicating the user who flagged the comment as resolved.

[0168] Specifically, the item "resolution judge" accepts input of a resolved flag for a comment from the user in the following situations:

[0169] (1) Communication between the client and the agent - The requester's user judges that there is no problem based on the content of the agent's reply to the comment entered by the requester's user. - The requesting user determines that there is no problem by modifying the document body in response to a comment entered by the requesting user.

[0170] (2) Communication between proxy users On the agent side, both the person creating the document and the person checking the document's contents may enter comments. For example, the person checking may specify paragraph numbers in the document body, set categories for check items, and enter comments. The person creating the document may reply to the comments or correct the document body, and the checker may determine that there are no problems and flag the document as resolved.

[0171] The item "comment attribute" is information indicating an attribute to be set for a comment.

[0172] Specifically, the item "comment attribute" may include the following as attributes to be set for a comment: Attributes related to the viewing authority of the comment. For example, while the proxy user is entering a comment, the server 20 accepts the setting of an attribute for the comment that allows only the proxy user to view the comment. The comment may be viewed by users with viewing authority but not displayed to users without viewing authority, or may be recognized as having been entered but may be prohibited from viewing.

[0173] Note that viewing authority may be set for an organization or department, etc., so that users of that organization or department can view the document. For example, it may be possible to allow any user who belongs to the agent's organization to view the document, or to allow only users of a specific department (such as the Patent Department 1) of the agent's organization to view the document.

[0174] Although not shown, the server 20 may accept a deadline setting from each user in association with the comment added by each user. For example, the server 20 may accept a deadline setting from a user along with a comment requesting correction.

[0175] Although not shown, the server 20 may accept, in association with a comment posted by each user, the designation of a user to be notified of the comment. For example, if the comment body contains user identification information (such as an account name), the server 20 may assume that the comment is posted for that user and notify the user that a comment has been posted.

[0176] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the conflict database 285. As shown in Fig. 8, the conflict database 285 includes an item "conflict ID," an item "agent ID," an item "first customer," an item "second customer," an item "time when conflict was established," an item "time when conflict was resolved," an item "business area," an item "technical field," an item "person in charge ID for first customer," and an item "person in charge ID for second customer."

[0177] The item "conflict ID" is identification information for distinguishing and managing information on clients in a conflicting relationship.

[0178] The item "agent ID" is information for identifying each agent.

[0179] Specifically, the item "proxy ID" may include the following as information for identifying each proxy: · The organization of the agent (patent attorney as a sole proprietor, patent attorney corporation as a legal entity) Personal representative For example, in the case of representation in patent applications, etc., information for identifying each agent may be set based on the unit indicated as agent in the application.

[0180] The item "First Customer" is information that defines one of multiple customers in a conflicting relationship. Note that there may be two companies in a conflicting relationship, or there may be three or more companies in a conflicting relationship in a specific business area, etc. In that case, the item "First Customer" is information that indicates one of these customers.

[0181] The item "second customer" is information that defines the other of multiple customers in a conflicting relationship.

[0182] The item "conflict setting time" is information indicating the time when it was set that there was a conflict relationship.

[0183] The item "conflict resolution time" is information indicating the time when the conflict relationship was set to be resolved.

[0184] The item "business area" is information indicating the business area that has been set as being in a conflict relationship.

[0185] The item "Technical field" is information indicating the technical field that is set as being in a conflict relationship.

[0186] The item "person in charge ID for first customer" is information indicating the person in charge who is in charge of the first customer among multiple customers in a conflicting relationship.

[0187] The item "Person in Charge for Second Customer ID" is information indicating the person in charge of the second customer among multiple customers in a conflicting relationship. Note that the number of customers in a conflicting relationship is not limited to two; if there are three or more companies, i.e., a third customer, etc., a person in charge can be set for each customer so that they do not overlap. The item "Person in Charge for Second Customer" is information about a user who can be set so that they do not overlap with the person in charge of the first customer.

[0188] 9 is a diagram showing the dictionary database 286. The dictionary database 286 includes an item "dictionary ID," an item "field tag," an item "literature information," an item "search formula," an item "number of entries," an item "presence or absence of unpublished cases," and an item "available customer ID."

[0189] The item "Dictionary ID" is information for identifying each document list recorded for reference.

[0190] The item "field tag" is information indicating the field of each document list.

[0191] Specifically, the item "field tag" may include the following as fields for each of the literature lists: · Business area Technical field This makes it easier for a user who wishes to utilize a document list to select a document list.

[0192] The item "Document Information" is information indicating each document included in the document list.

[0193] Specifically, the item "literature information" may include the following as documents to be included:

[0194] (1) Documents in which the text is separated in a prescribed format, such as paragraph numbers Published patent documents (such as patent publications, patent bulletins, and bulletins relating to international publications of international patent applications) Cases that have not yet been published (applications have not been published and patent gazettes have not been issued) that have been represented by an attorney (PDF data of the case, HTML data used for submission to the Patent Office, etc.)

[0195] (2) Technical literature Papers, etc. The item "search formula" is information indicating the setting of a search formula for extracting documents to be included in the document list.

[0196] Specifically, the item "search formula" may include the following as search formulas: Search formulas for searching patent documents This allows newly published patent documents and the like to be included in the literature list. The search formula for the case handled by the agent, including the address of the storage where the document is stored.

[0197] This allows us to include applications (including unpublished applications) in our literature list whenever they are filed for a particular client.

[0198] The search formula can be set arbitrarily, and it may be possible to choose not to include newly released documents.

[0199] The item "Number of documents included" is information indicating the number of documents to be included in the document list.

[0200] Specifically, the item "Number of documents included" may include at least one of an upper limit and a lower limit for the number of documents included in the document list.

[0201] For example, when new documents are added to the document list according to the "Search Formula" item, the number of documents added will continue to increase, but the upper limit of the number of documents can be set in the "Number of documents added" item. When setting an upper limit of the number of documents, it is also possible to extract documents to be excluded from the document list as follows. Prioritize new publications and exclude older publications from the list. In the case of patent documents, documents with high citation counts are prioritized and kept in the reference list based on parameters that are presumed to have influenced the examination of other patent applications, such as the number of citations. In the case of patent documents, documents that are likely to attract the attention of businesses other than the patent applicant or patent owner, such as the number of times they have been requested for access, the number of times they have been opposed, the number of times they have been requested for invalidation, and the number of times they have been used in litigation, are prioritized in the document list. In the case of patent applications, documents that are likely to have incurred high costs for the patent applicant or patent holder in obtaining or maintaining rights, such as divisional applications and trial requests (trials against decisions of refusal, trials for correction, etc.), are prioritized and kept in the reference list. The item "presence or absence of unpublished documents" is a flag indicating whether or not the documents included in the document list include unpublished documents.

[0202] Specifically, the item "Whether there are any unpublished cases" is updated by the server 20 determining whether or not there are any unpublished documents based on the application date, publication date, patent gazette publication status, etc. of each document recorded in the document list.

[0203] The item "Available Customer ID" is information indicating a customer who can use the document list to prepare a specification of a case, etc.

[0204] <Operation of the First Embodiment> Next, the operation of each device constituting the system 1 will be described.

[0205] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the flow of processing for accepting registration of user information and updating the user database 281 in the system 1 provided by the server 20.

[0206] In step S1001, the terminal device 10C accepts registration of user information.

[0207] In step S1003, the server 20 updates the user database 281 based on the received user information.

[0208] In step S1005, the server 20 acquires the staff list and updates the user database 281. For example, the server 20 may update each item in the user database 281 by reading a file of an employee list managed by the business operator.

[0209] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 accepts registration of information on a client in a conflicting relationship and updates the conflict database 285.

[0210] In step S1101, the terminal device 10C accepts registration of information on a client that will cause a conflict from the user.

[0211] In step S1103, the server 20 updates the conflict database 285 based on the conflict information received from the user.

[0212] In step S1105, the server 20 notifies the user if no new case is accepted from the client for a certain period of time after the conflict setting time, thereby providing the user with an opportunity to review the setting of the client with whom the conflict is established.

[0213] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 accepts registration of a matter from a user and updates the matter management database 282.

[0214] In step S1201, the terminal device 10D accepts registration of an item and designation of a proxy to be requested from a client user.

[0215] In step S1203, the server 20 updates the case management database 282 based on the case information received from the client side, and notifies the proxy user designated by the client that the case has been registered.

[0216] In step S1205, the terminal device 10C displays information about the case requested by the client. The terminal device 10C accepts the designation of the person in charge from the user. The person in charge with a conflict is displayed in a distinguishing manner. This allows the assignment of the case requested by the client to proceed.

[0217] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 prompts the proxy user to assign a case for which no approver user has been set.

[0218] In step S1301, the server 20 refers to the case management database 282 and notifies the agent user of a case to which a license holder (patent attorney) has not been assigned, based on the timing of a predetermined deadline for the case.

[0219] In step S1303, the terminal device 10B displays a screen for assigning a license holder (patent attorney) to the case.

[0220] When displaying a screen for assigning license holders to the user of terminal device 10B, server 20 may set the priority of the license holders based on the following criteria and display each license holder so that they can be designated as an approver. - A situation in which each approver is assigned document data to approve. For example, to distribute the approval load, the amount of document data to be approved assigned to each approver may be equalized. The approval history of each approver. For example, priority may be given to users with a large number of approval records, or to users who have not yet accumulated sufficient approval records. Furthermore, priority may be given to users who act as approvers frequently, or to users who act as approvers less frequently. - The technical classification of the document data approved by each approver user. For example, based on the technical classification of the document data to be approved, approver users may be prioritized depending on whether they have a track record of approving document data of that technical classification. - The technical classification of the case in which each approver created document data or checked the contents of document data. For example, based on the technical classification of the document data to be approved, approvers may be prioritized depending on whether they have created document data in the relevant technical field or have experience checking the contents.

[0221] In response to receiving the designation of an approver (license holder) for a case, the server 20 updates the case management database 282. As a result, the server 20 may grant the user set as the approver the right to view the contents of the case.

[0222] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 accepts an operation to input the contents of a case from a user and updates the patent specification management database 283.

[0223] In step S1401, the terminal device 10A accepts an input operation for logging in by a user who will be a drafter.

[0224] In step S1403, upon receiving the user's login, the server 20 refers to the case management database 282 and returns information about the cases that the user is in charge of to the user.

[0225] In step S1405, the terminal device 10A accepts an operation to specify a case from the user.

[0226] In step S1407, the server 20 responds with a screen for creating a specification or the like for the item designated by the user.

[0227] In step S1409, the terminal device 10A accepts input operations for creating claims, specifications, and the like from the user.

[0228] In step S1411, the server 20 updates the patent specification management database 283 based on the information received from the user.

[0229] In step S1413, the terminal device 10A refers to the dictionary database 286 and accepts the input of "invention" for creating a document.

[0230] In step S1415, the server 20 extracts candidate descriptions to be reflected in the document from each document included in the dictionary database 286 based on the dictionary data specified by the user and the input of "invention," and updates the patent specification management database 283 based on the extracted descriptions.

[0231] In step S1417, the terminal device 10A accepts an operation to save the version of the specification from the user.

[0232] In step S1419, the server 20 stores the case in the patent specification management database 283 with a version number assigned to the case.

[0233] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 accepts an operation to request another user to check document data and updates the case management database 282.

[0234] In step S1501, the terminal device 10A receives an input from a user to request another user to check document data. The terminal device 10A performs a check process to determine whether the text of the document data satisfies predetermined requirements. If the requirements are not met, the check request is invalidated. If the requirements are met, the terminal device 10A accepts the check request.

[0235] In step S1503, the server 20 updates the status in the case management database 282. The server 20 notifies the user designated in the check request of the check request.

[0236] In step S1505, the terminal device 10B accepts input of comments by specifying paragraph numbers of the specification, claims, etc.

[0237] In step S1507, the server 20 updates the feedback management database 284 based on the input comment.

[0238] In step S1509, the terminal device 10B accepts an input operation indicating that the check has been completed.

[0239] In step S1511, based on the input operation indicating that the check has been completed, the server 20 updates the status in the case management database 282. The drafter is notified that the check has been completed.

[0240] In step S1513, the server 20 notifies a user who has the authorization to approve the document data of a request for approval.

[0241] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in which the server 20 receives an operation of approving the contents of an item from a user who will be the approver, and delivers the item to the client.

[0242] In step S1601, the terminal device 10A accepts input of document data from the user, and accepts an input operation for requesting approval from a user (patent attorney) who has the authority to approve.

[0243] In step S1603, the server 20 accepts the approval request and updates the status in the case management database 282. The document data is presented to a user (patent attorney) who has the authority to approve.

[0244] In step S1605, the terminal device 10B presents the document data to a user (patent attorney) who has the authority to approve. If the drafter created the document data by referring to the dictionary database 286, statistical information on the referenced dictionary data is presented. An input operation to approve the document data is accepted from the user. A check process is performed to determine whether the wording of the document data meets predetermined requirements, and the results of the check process are presented to the user who is the approver.

[0245] In step S1607, in response to receiving an input operation approving the document data from an authorized user (patent attorney), the server 20 manages the document data in the case management database 282 as having been approved by a user who has been set as having the authority to approve.

[0246] In step S1609, the server 20 notifies that the document data has been approved by an authorized user (patent attorney).

[0247] In step S1611, the terminal device 10A displays that the document data has been approved by an authorized user (patent attorney), and accepts an input operation for delivering the document data to the client.

[0248] In step S1613, the server 20 updates the status of the case management database 282 to "client checking" in response to the input operation indicating that the document data has been delivered.

[0249] Here, by referring to the user database 281 and the case management database 282, the server 20 may be able to accept an input operation for delivery to a client without the approval of an approver user if the drafter in charge of creating the case is a licensed patent attorney. In this case, the server 20 may update the case management database 282 in response to the input operation for delivery to the client, assuming that the case has been approved by a user with approval authority, without requiring confirmation by a checker who checks the contents of the case or by another approver who has approval authority. The same applies when the contents of the case are submitted to a government agency, as described below. If the drafter is a licensed patent attorney, the server 20 may accept an input operation for submission to a government agency from the drafter, and update the case management database 282 in response to the input operation for submission to a government agency, assuming that the case has been approved by a user with approval authority, without requiring confirmation by a checker who checks the contents of the case or by another approver who has approval authority.

[0250] Furthermore, when the server 20 receives an input operation from the drafter user to request approval from the approver user, the server 20 may require the user to perform a check using a check tool such as the validation check module 2048. The server 20 may notify the approver user that the drafter user has performed a check using the check tool (and may also include the results of the check), and then receive an operation to give approval from the approver. This allows the approver to approve the item in a state where it can at least be assumed that the drafter has performed a check using the check tool.

[0251] Furthermore, the server 20 may refer to the feedback management database 284 and accept an operation in which the drafter makes corrections to the paragraphs or comments pointed out by the checker or replies to the comments as described below, thereby requesting the checker to check again, or requesting approval from a user who has the authority to approve. In the above example, the server 20 may not accept requests for checks or approvals from other users unless the drafter makes corrections to at least part of the comments entered by other users or replies to the comments.

[0252] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the flow of processing by the server 20 to deliver a project to a client and to receive feedback from a user on the client side.

[0253] In step S1701, the server 20 refers to the status in the case management database 282 and notifies the client user that the document data has been delivered.

[0254] In step S1703, the terminal device 10D accepts input of comments by specifying paragraph numbers of the specification, claims, etc.

[0255] In step S1705, the server 20 updates the feedback management database 284 based on the input comment.

[0256] In step S1707, the terminal device 10D accepts an input operation indicating that the check has been completed.

[0257] In step S1709, based on the input operation indicating that the check has been completed, the server 20 updates the status in the case management database 282. If there is a request to correct the document data, the request to correct the document data is notified to the agent.

[0258] In step S1711, the terminal device 10A notifies the client that there is a request to correct the document data.

[0259] In step S1713, the terminal device 10A refers to the feedback management database 284 and displays a list of the parts to which the client person has provided feedback. The terminal device 10A accepts input of comments from the user specifying corrections to the document data and paragraph numbers of the specification, claims, etc. In step S1715, the terminal apparatus 10A accepts an input operation for redelivery to the client by performing an operation to confirm or reply to at least a part of the correction request from the client person in charge.

[0260] In step S1717, the server 20 refers to the patent specification management database 283 and updates the version information of the document data.

[0261] In step S1719, the server 20 presents the document data for re-delivery to the client user, and presents the differences from the previous version.

[0262] In step S1721, the terminal device 10D displays the document data related to the re-delivery. If the document data can be submitted to the government office, the terminal device 10D accepts an input operation for instructing the government office to submit the document data.

[0263] In step S1723, the server 20 accepts the input operation of the instruction to submit to the agency, thereby updating the status of the case management database 282. The user on the agent's side is notified that the document data can be submitted to the agency.

[0264] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a series of processing steps performed by the server 20 to submit document data to a government agency.

[0265] In step S1801, the terminal device 10A accepts an input operation for requesting that document data be submitted to an agency.

[0266] In step S1803, if the document data has not been approved by an authorized user, the server 20 does not execute the process for submission to the agency. If the document data has been approved, the server 20 references the case management database 282 and the patent specification management database 283, and compares the version of the document data in the agency submission instruction with the version approved by the authorized user (patent attorney). If the version of the document data in the agency submission instruction is later (if there is an update) than the version approved by the authorized user, the server 20 extracts the difference and presents it to the authorized user.

[0267] In step S1805, the terminal device 10B presents the difference from the approved version to the user (patent attorney) who has the authority to approve, and accepts an input operation from the user to approve the document data.

[0268] In step S1807, in response to receiving an input operation approving the document data from an authorized user (patent attorney), the server 20 manages the document data in the case management database 282 as having been approved by a user who has been set as having the authority to approve.

[0269] In step S1809, the server 20 obtains the results of a check on the document data to determine whether it conforms to the format specified by the government agency. If an error is detected in the format check, the server 20 notifies the user of the error and requests at least one of correction and reapproval of the document data.

[0270] In step S1811, when the terminal apparatus 10A displays the error results of the format check on the document data, it accepts input of a correction proposal from the user.

[0271] In step S1813, the terminal device 10B displays the results of the format check. If a revision proposal is made, the revision proposal is presented to the user.

[0272] In step S1815, the terminal apparatus 10B accepts an input operation for reapproving the document data.

[0273] In step S1817, the server 20 executes a process for submitting the document data to a government agency.

[0274] 19 shows an example of a screen for the server 20 to accept registration of user information, which corresponds to the description of the processing flow in FIG.

[0275] The server 20 displays a screen 1901 for accepting registration of user information.

[0276] The server 20 displays in the area 1902 a screen for accepting input of each item constituting the user's information.

[0277] In the illustrated example, the server 20 displays on a screen 1901 information about the time when the license ("Patent Attorney") held by the user was acquired.

[0278] The server 20 receives an input operation for registering the input user information in the server 20 at the operation receiving unit 1903 .

[0279] In response to receiving an input operation to the operation receiving section 1903, the server 20 updates the user database 281 based on the user information for each item input in the area 1902.

[0280] The server 20 receives, in an operation receiving section 1904, an input operation for canceling the registration of the information input in the area 1902 as user information.

[0281] The server 20 receives, in an operation receiving section 1905, an input operation for reading a list of users that already exists in another system or as a file.

[0282] For example, in response to an input operation to the operation receiving unit 1905, the server 20 receives an upload of a file (such as a table-format file) showing a list of employees.

[0283] The server 20 may store information on the storage location of a file containing a list of employees (e.g., a URL indicating where to access the file if it is online storage), and periodically read the list of employees to update the user database 281.

[0284] 20 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 accepts registration of information on a customer with whom a conflict exists from a user, which corresponds to the description of the processing flow in FIG.

[0285] The server 20 displays a screen 2001 for accepting registration of a customer in a conflict relationship.

[0286] The server 20 displays in the area 2002 a screen for accepting input of each item of the customer in a conflicting relationship.

[0287] The server 20 receives, at the operation receiving unit 2003, an input operation for registering the input user information in the server 20.

[0288] In response to receiving an input operation to the operation receiving section 2003, the server 20 updates the conflict database 285 based on the information of each item input in the area 2002.

[0289] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 2004, an input operation for resolving the conflict relationship of the customer displayed in the area 2002.

[0290] The server 20 refers to the conflict database 285 to display information about customers who are already in a conflict in the area 2002. By accepting an input operation from the user to the operation accepting unit 2004, the server 20 manages the conflict as having been resolved in the conflict database 285 and updates the item "time of conflict resolution." The server 20 may also accept an input of the time when the conflict was resolved as follows, and update the conflict database 285. Accept any time designation from the user The timing when the input operation is received by the operation receiving unit 2004 is regarded as the timing when the conflict is resolved. The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 2005, an input operation for reading a list of customers who are already in a conflict relationship. For example, in order to facilitate an input operation for resolving information that has already been set as being in a conflict, the server 20 may refer to the conflict database 285 and accept an operation for specifying a customer in a conflict from a list. In response, the server 20 displays in the area 2002 the information of the customer in a conflict that the user has specified.

[0291] The server 20 may also facilitate a user's input operation for setting conflict relationships by reading a file, etc. The server 20 accepts uploading of a file (such as a table-format file) indicating a list of conflict relationships in response to an input operation to the operation accepting unit 1905. The server 20 may retain information on the storage location of the file of the conflict relationship list (such as a URL indicating the access destination to the file in the case of online storage), and periodically read in the list of customers in conflict relationships to update the conflict database 285.

[0292] 21 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 accepts registration of information on a case related to a request to an agent from a user on the requester side, which corresponds to the explanation of the processing flow in FIG.

[0293] The server 20 displays a screen 2101 for accepting registration of information about a case.

[0294] On the screen 2101, the server 20 displays the name of the requester's organization (for example, a corporate name such as "YYY Corporation") or user information.

[0295] The server 20 displays in the area 2102 a screen for accepting input of each item of the case.

[0296] The operation receiving unit 2103 of the server 20 receives an input operation for registering the input case information in the server 20 . In response to receiving an input operation to the operation receiving section 2103, the server 20 updates the case management database 282 based on the information of each item input in the area 2102.

[0297] The operation receiving unit 2104 of the server 20 receives an input operation for placing an order with an agent designated by the client, while registering the input information of the case in the server 20. In response to receiving an input operation to the operation receiving section 2104, the server 20 updates the case management database 282 based on the information of each item entered in the area 2102, and notifies the agent designated by the requesting user that a request for the case has been made.

[0298] Specifically, the server 20 updates each subfield of the case management database 282 by accepting an input operation to the operation accepting unit 2104, and changes the item "status" from "before request" to "not started." As a result, the server 20 enables the agent designated by the requester to view the record of the case.

[0299] If the requesting user does not designate an agent in area 2102, server 20 may not accept operations to place an order with an agent, and specifically, the display mode of operation acceptance section 2104 may be set to indicate that user input operations are not being accepted (for example, by graying out the button to make it less noticeable, or by not displaying the button, etc.).

[0300] In this way, the server 20 may display both the operation reception section 2103 and the operation reception section 2104 on the screen 2101 while displaying the case information in the area 2102. This makes it even easier for the client, while referring to the registration status of the case information, to switch between the operation of registering the case but not placing an order with an agent or selecting an agent, and the operation of selecting an agent and placing an order.

[0301] In the illustrated example, the server 20 accepts both the registration of case information and the placement of orders to agents in the operation reception section 2104, but it is also possible to display these separately as operation reception sections (as buttons, etc.) on the screen 2101.

[0302] The server 20 accepts input operations in the operation accepting section 2105 to display the request status (whether or not a request has been made to an agent, and if so, which agent) for each case registered in the case management database 282 on the requester's side.

[0303] 22 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 accepts registration of information on a case requested by a client from a user on the agent side, which corresponds to the description of the processing flow in FIG.

[0304] The server 20 displays a screen 2201 for accepting registration of information about a case. On the screen 2201, the server 20 displays the name of the agent's organization (for example, a name such as "XXX Patent Attorney Corporation") or user information.

[0305] The server 20 displays in the area 2202 a screen for accepting input of each item of the case.

[0306] On the agent's side, the server 20 may display in the area 2202 information on the item that the client has accepted and placed an order for.

[0307] For example, instead of the client registering the case information in the server 20, a user on the agent side may receive an order for the case and register the case information in the area 2202.

[0308] In the illustrated example, the server 20 displays information on the agent's person in charge set in the area 2202 and the conflict database 285, and thereby displays information on clients who are in a conflict with the client regarding the case request on the screen 2201. This can assist the decision maker who decides on the person in charge of the case in their thinking.

[0309] The server 20 may refer to the information of the case requester (applicant) and the conflict database 285, so that when accepting an operation to designate a person in charge of the case, a person in charge with a conflicting relationship cannot be designated (for example, an error may occur when attempting to designate a person in charge with a conflicting relationship, or a person in charge with a conflicting relationship may not be displayed as selectable). This allows for a more appropriate assignment of a person in charge of the case.

[0310] The operation receiving unit 2203 of the server 20 receives an input operation for registering the input case information in the server 20 . In response to receiving an input operation to the operation receiving section 2203, the server 20 updates the case management database 282 based on the information of each item input in the area 2202.

[0311] The operation receiving section 2204 of the server 20 receives an input operation for requesting a specific user (for example, a user in charge of assignment on the proxy side) to determine a person in charge for the input case. In response to receiving an input operation to the operation receiving section 2204, the server 20 updates the case management database 282 based on the information of each item entered in the area 2202, and notifies the user in charge of assignment on the proxy side to prompt them to set the person in charge of the case.

[0312] For example, on the agent side, the user who registers the case (for example, the administrative staff member) and the user who assigns the staff member to the case may be different.

[0313] The server 20 accepts input operations in the operation reception section 2205 to display the assignment status of a person in charge for each case registered in the case management database 282 by the agent (whether a person in charge has been assigned to the case, and if so, which person in charge).

[0314] This makes it much easier for a person in charge of assigning cases, for example, to proceed with the assignment of each case while checking the information about each case in area 2202 (invention title, applicant information, invention materials, etc.) and taking into consideration the case assignment status of each person in charge.

[0315] 23 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 prompts the user (a user who is a patent attorney) to set the user who will be in charge of approving the contents of the case, which corresponds to the description of the processing flow in FIG.

[0316] The server 20 displays a screen 2301 for accepting the setting of an approver who approves the contents of the case. In the illustrated example, the server 20 displays the following information on the screen 2301: The manuscript (draft text of patent specification, etc.) must be sent from the attorney to the client within a certain period of time (scheduled manuscript delivery date). The approver (patent attorney), who is the user who approves the contents of the case, has not been set ("Not Set"). - Content that urges you to set an approver in association with the matter (e.g., "Please set an approver") The server 20 displays in the area 2302 a screen for accepting input of each item of the case. In the example shown, the approver has not yet been set and is marked "Not Set."

[0317] In response to the fact that a certain period of time has passed until the day on which the manuscript of the case is to be sent, the server 20 notifies the user of the terminal device 10 by push notification or the like to set an approver.

[0318] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 2303, an input operation for registering the input information of the approver in the server 20. In response to receiving an input operation to the operation receiving section 2303, the server 20 updates the case management database 282 based on the information of each item input in the area 2302, particularly the settings of the approver.

[0319] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 2304, an input operation for canceling the registration of the information input in the area 2302 as information on the case.

[0320] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 2305, an input operation for displaying a list of approver candidates in order to set an approver for the item. In response to an input operation to the operation receiving unit 2305, the server 20 displays a list of approver candidates based on the following. · Extract users who can be approvers, such as patent attorneys, by referencing the item "License Holder" in the user database 281. The server 20 may determine the priority of the approver candidates as follows, and present users who can become approvers to the user of the terminal device 10 by sorting them according to the determined priority. The priority of approver users may be determined based on the number of cases to which each approver is assigned, etc., by referring to the case management database 282. For example, if a user has already been set as an approver for a large number of cases, the priority of the user as an approver for further cases may be lowered in order to level the approval workload. Furthermore, by referring to the conflict database 285, users who are not in a conflict relationship with the client (applicant) of the case are preferentially extracted. The feedback management database 284 is referenced, and users who will be approvers are extracted based on the history of comments added to the case.

[0321] for example, Frequency of comments, Amount commented, How often feedback was given to the person in charge of the project; For example, the more comments a person in charge of a case has made on the contents of cases that he or she has created in the past, the stronger the relationship between the person in charge of the case and the user who will be the approver may be.

[0322] 24 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 displays the status of each case assigned to a person in charge, to that person in charge. This corresponds to the description of the processing flow of steps S1401, S1403, etc. in FIG.

[0323] As shown in the figure, the server 20 refers to the case management database 282 and presents the user with information on cases assigned to the person in charge, categorized by the status of each case. For example, the server 20 displays to the user a list of cases assigned to the person in charge, categorized by the status of the case, such as (1) drafting of patent specification, (2) interim response, etc.

[0324] The server 20 displays a screen 2401 for displaying a list of cases assigned to a person in charge.

[0325] In the sorting condition display section 2402, the server 20 displays the sorting conditions for cases assigned to the person in charge, for which the application has not been completed (such as patent specifications), for which the person in charge is currently preparing the manuscript (for which the first draft has not yet been delivered to the client).

[0326] The server 20 accepts an input operation from the user to change the sorting conditions in the sorting condition display section 2402. The server 20 may accept an operation to specify conditions for sorting records in the sorting condition display section 2402 based on each item (such as a manuscript shipping deadline) managed in the case management database 282.

[0327] The server 20 displays in the list display section 2403 a list of cases assigned to the person in charge, for which the application has not been completed (such as patent specifications) and for which the person in charge is currently preparing manuscripts. This allows the user to specify various conditions and rearrange the cases that need to be sent to the client, making it easy to determine which case to start with.

[0328] In the sorting condition display section 2404, the server 20 displays the sorting conditions for cases assigned to the person in charge, for which the application has not been completed (such as patent specifications), for which the person in charge has already prepared the manuscript and delivered it to the client.

[0329] In the list display section 2405, the server 20 displays a list of cases assigned to the person in charge that have not yet been filed (such as patent specifications) but have been delivered to the client (currently being confirmed by the client).

[0330] In the sorting condition display section 2406, the server 20 displays the sorting conditions for cases assigned to a person in charge, which have been reviewed by a government agency (Patent Office) and for which the review results have been received, and which the person in charge is currently working on (before sending to the client).

[0331] In the list display section 2407, the server 20 displays a list of cases assigned to a person in charge, which have been reviewed by a government agency (Patent Office) and for which the review results have been received, and which the person in charge is currently working on (before sending to the client).

[0332] In the sorting condition display section 2408, the server 20 displays the sorting conditions for cases assigned to a person in charge, which have been reviewed by a government agency (Patent Office) and for which the review results have been received, which have been delivered by the person in charge to the client, and which are currently being confirmed by the client.

[0333] In the list display section 2409, the server 20 displays a list of cases that have been assigned to a person in charge, have been reviewed by a government agency (Patent Office), have received the review results, have been delivered to the client by the person in charge, and are currently being reviewed by the client.

[0334] The server 20 displays information about the logged-in user in the user name 2410 field.

[0335] 25 shows an example of a screen for the server 20 to receive input of the contents of the case from the user. The explanation of FIG. 25 corresponds to the processing contents explained in FIG.

[0336] The server 20 displays on a screen 2501 a screen for receiving input from the user about the contents of the case, for example, the contents of a patent specification. In the example shown, the server 20 displays on the screen 2501 an area for displaying bibliographic information of a case by referring to the case management database 282, and an area for receiving input regarding the contents of the case (claims, specification, etc.) and updating the patent specification management database 283.

[0337] Alternatively, the area displaying the bibliographic information of the case on screen 2501 may be switched between visible and invisible in response to a user operation. This allows the amount of information displayed to be changed in order to expand the area for inputting the contents of the case, check the bibliographic information of the case (for example, to write the specification and claims in a way that suits the client depending on which client the case is for), and so on, thereby further improving the operability when the user inputs the contents of the case.

[0338] The server 20 displays information about the requester of the job in the item 2502 .

[0339] The server 20 displays information about the status of the case in the item 2503 .

[0340] The server 20 displays information on the serial number of the requester of the case in the item 2504 .

[0341] The server 20 displays information on the reference number of the agent of the case in the item 2505 .

[0342] The server 20 displays information on the invention title of the case in the item 2506 .

[0343] In the column 2507, the server 20 displays an outline of each item of the contents of the case, and also displays an area in which an operation to specify each item from the user can be accepted. In the example shown in the figure, user specifications may be accepted for item items of the case on a document-by-document basis, such as "claims," ​​or user specifications may be accepted for each item in the document "specification," such as "technical field" and "background art."

[0344] The server 20 displays an image in the highlight section 2508 that highlights the item in which the user is inputting the contents of the case. In the illustrated example, the server 20 receives an input from the user regarding the "issue" of the document "specification," and the "issue" is highlighted in the column 2507 by a highlight portion 2508.

[0345] The server 20 accepts input of the contents of the case from the user in the input field 2509.

[0346] In the illustrated example, the server 20 accepts text input from the user in the form of a text box in an input field 2509.

[0347] The operation receiving unit 2510 of the server 20 receives an input operation for adding an input field from the user. In the illustrated example, the server 20 displays a new input field in response to an input operation to the operation reception unit 2510. The server 20 stores the content input in the input field 2509 and the content input in the new input field as text input content in different paragraph numbers in the patent specification management database 283.

[0348] The server 20 displays the user name in the item 2511 .

[0349] The operation receiving unit 2512 of the server 20 receives an input operation from the user to request a check from a person in charge of checking the contents of the case. In the illustrated example, the server 20 displays information about the user of the checker in association with the operation reception unit 2512. The server 20, for example, stores multiple persons in association with each case in the case management database 282, and manages some of the persons as checkers.

[0350] The operation receiving unit 2513 of the server 20 receives an input operation from the user to request approval from an approver who approves the contents of the case. In the illustrated example, the server 20 refers to the case management database 282 and displays the information of the approver (patent attorney) user in association with the operation reception section 2512.

[0351] The server 20 displays the version of the case being created in the item 2514.

[0352] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 2531, an input operation for designating a document list to be referred to when inputting the contents of a case. In the illustrated example, the server 20, in response to an input operation to the operation reception unit 2531, refers to the dictionary database 286 and displays a list of documents available to the user so that the user can specify the list. The server 20 may display the information of the dictionary specified by the user on a screen for inputting the contents of the case, such as screen 2501.

[0353] Fig. 26 shows an example of a screen for receiving an operation from a user to request a checker to review the contents of the case. In response to an input operation by the user to the operation receiving unit 2512 in the example of Fig. 25, the server 20 displays a screen for requesting a checker to check, as shown in Fig. 26. The explanation of Fig. 26 corresponds to the processing flow explained in Fig. 15.

[0354] The server 20 displays information about the amount of the case created by the person in charge in the details display section 2621.

[0355] Specifically, the server 20 may display the following information regarding the amount of work: The number of claims in the "Claims" section. You may indicate the number of independent claims, or you may indicate the inventions (products, processes, methods for producing products, programs, systems, etc.) defined by the independent claims. Number of drawings in "Drawings" The total number of characters in each document that makes up the case, such as the "specification" and "claims." The number of characters may be displayed.

[0356] The server 20 displays information about the person in charge of checking the contents of the case in the case checker display section 2622.

[0357] The server 20 displays information about the approver of the contents of the case in the approver display section 2623.

[0358] The operation receiving unit 2624 of the server 20 receives an input operation for starting a check tool for checking the contents of the case. In response to an input operation to the operation reception unit 2624, the server 20 executes a check on the text or the like that is the content of the case using the validation check module 2048, and presents the result to the user. If the validation check module 2048 has already checked the content, the server 20 may display this fact on the screen 2501.

[0359] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 2625, an input operation for requesting a check from a checker. As shown in the illustrated example, the server 20 displays information about the contents of the case, such as a detailed display section 2621, together with an operation reception section 2625, on the screen 2501. This allows the user to view information for determining whether or not to request a check from a checker, while also allowing the user to request a check from a checker.

[0360] In response to an input operation to the operation reception unit 2625, the server 20 updates the version of the item and updates the status of the item ("in-house check in progress").

[0361] Fig. 27 shows an example of a screen for accepting an operation in which the server 20 refers to the dictionary database 286 and extracts a description to be reflected in the content of the case based on a word or sentence input by the user. Fig. 27 corresponds to the processing of steps S1413, S1415, etc. in Fig. 14.

[0362] The server 20 accepts, in an input field 2711, an input of text for extracting sentences from the document list designated as a dictionary.

[0363] For example, the server 20 may accept an input of a sentence from the user in the input field 2711, or may accept an input of one or more words.

[0364] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 2712, an input operation for extracting a sentence by referring to the document list based on the content (text) input in the input field 2711. For example, in response to an input operation to the operation receiving unit 2712, the server 20 extracts words from the text input into the input field 2711. If the text input into the input field 2711 is a sentence, the words can be extracted by morphological analysis or the like.

[0365] The server 20 displays the information of the document list designated by the user in the dictionary display section 2713.

[0366] The server 20 displays the conditions for extracting sentences from the document list in the weighting condition display section 2714. For example, the server 20 may accept the following specifications as conditions for extracting sentences from a literature list, set the priority of the extracted sentences according to the conditions, and present the extracted sentences to the user for selection: If there are multiple words based on the text entered by the user, priority will be given to those words that are close to each other in the paragraphs of each document included in the reference list. For example, if the words entered by the user are "signal" and "transmission," priority will be given to those documents in the reference list that have fewer characters between them (the distance between characters is shorter). If there are multiple words based on the text entered by the user, some of the words may be required to be included in each reference in the reference list, while other words may not be included in each reference in the reference list. In the example of Figure 27, the person creating the case may be presented with search conditions to be extracted from the literature list (2713, weighting condition display section 2714), and an operation to change the search conditions may be accepted, so that each description of the literature extracted using the changed search conditions is presented in a selectable manner.

[0367] Fig. 28 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 receives feedback such as comments from a checker or the like regarding the contents of a case. That is, the example screen shown in Fig. 28 is a screen presented to a checker of the case. Fig. 28 corresponds to the processing of step S1505 and the like in Fig. 15.

[0368] In addition, the server 20 delivers the project to the requesting user (notifies the requesting user that the project has been delivered) and accepts feedback from the requesting user regarding the content of the project in the form of comments, etc., and the screen example for the operation to input comments may also be similar.

[0369] The server 20 displays information about the user of the person in charge of creating the case in the person in charge display section 2810.

[0370] The server 20 displays the contents of the case (text such as a specification) entered by the person in charge in the main text display section 2811.

[0371] The server 20 displays the contents of the case (text such as a specification) entered by the person in charge in the main text display section 2812.

[0372] The server 20 displays the contents of the case (text such as a specification) entered by the person in charge in the main text display section 2813.

[0373] The server 20 displays in the comment display section 2831 the contents of the comment that the user, who is the person in charge of checking, has entered in association with the contents of the case. As shown in the figure, the server 20 accepts the input of comments by dividing the contents of the case into predetermined units such as paragraph numbers. The server 20 may accept the input of comments by the division of a block of text (for example, if the patent specification management database 283 manages text by paragraph numbers, the server 20 may accept the input of comments by the unit managed by the patent specification management database 283).

[0374] The server 20 may also be configured to accept the selection of a portion of a sentence from the user in charge of checking, and to accept input of a comment on the selected portion. The server 20 may also be configured to select a portion of a sentence included in a unit managed in the patent specification management database 283, and to accept input of a comment from the user in charge of checking.

[0375] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 2832, an input operation by the user who is the checker to input a comment in association with the content of the case. In response to an input operation to the operation receiving section 2832, the server 20 may receive an input of a comment while displaying the following: Specifying the category of the comment (for example, a category that is set in advance in the "check item tag" of the feedback management database 284) Comment body The server 20 displays in the comment display section 2833 the contents of the comment that the user, who is the person in charge of checking, has entered in association with the contents of the case.

[0376] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 2841, an input operation from the user who is the person in charge of checking, indicating that the check has been completed. In response to an operation on the operation reception unit 2841, the server 20 updates the "status" and the like of the case management database 282, assuming that the check of the contents of the case has been completed. This enables the server 20 to notify the person in charge of the case that there is a case with comments from the person in charge of checking.

[0377] Fig. 29 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 accepts an operation for approving the contents of a case from a user who will be the approver. Fig. 29 corresponds to the explanation of Fig. 16 and so on.

[0378] The server 20 displays information about the user of the checker who checked the case in the checker display section 2911.

[0379] When a case is created while extracting descriptions of each document in the document list recorded in the dictionary database 286, the server 20 causes the statistical information display unit 2912 to display information on the extracted documents.

[0380] As shown in the figure, the server 20 may display the following information about documents extracted from the document list: Information about the timing of one or more extracted documents (in the case of patent documents, the time of filing and the time of publication) Information about the rights holders of these documents (e.g., applicants, etc.) Information about the inventors of these documents The server 20 receives, in the setting receiving section 2913, settings for displaying comments added to a case. The server 20 may accept the following as settings for displaying comments, and display comments attached to cases in accordance with the settings. All comments Specifying check items (e.g. extracting paragraphs with comments about a specific check item) Designation of checker Show only paragraphs with comments (e.g., do not show paragraphs without comments) The operation receiving unit 2941 of the server 20 receives an input operation by a user who is an approver to approve the contents of the case. The server 20 updates the "status" in the case management database 282 in response to an input operation by the user who is the approver to the operation reception unit 2941 ("Patent attorney approved").

[0381] The operation receiving unit 2942 of the server 20 receives an input operation by the user who is the approver to not approve the contents of the case. The server 20 updates the "status" in the case management database 282 ("Manuscript in preparation" or "Internal check in progress") in response to an input operation by the user who is the approver to the operation reception unit 2941. If the user who is the approver does not approve the contents of the case, the server 20 may notify at least one of the person in charge of the case or the person in charge of checking that the approver did not approve.

[0382] In the explanation of Figure 29, the server 20 may present the content of the case and the search conditions (explained in the example of Figure 27) when a sentence is created using dictionary data to the user who is the approver, and then accept the operation to approve. In the explanation of Figures 28 and 29, the server 20 may refer to the item "scope of follow-up required" in the case management database 284 to have the person in charge of checking the case and the person approving the case indicate the scope of follow-up required by the person in charge of creating the case (such as whether it is sufficient to only check the claims), and may also accept operations to complete the check and operations to complete the approval.

[0383] 30 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 accepts an operation from a user to deliver to a client a project created by the user who is the person in charge. Fig. 30 corresponds to the description of step S1611 etc. in Fig. 16.

[0384] Comparing the screen examples of FIGS. 25 and 26, the highlighted section 3011 (described later) indicates that the patent attorney has already approved the contents of the case and therefore delivery to the client is possible.

[0385] When the status of the case becomes "patent attorney approved," the server 20 may notify the user in charge of creating the case, or may notify a user in charge of delivery (e.g., an administrative staff member) separately from the user in charge of creating the case. For example, when the user in charge of creating the case requests approval from a patent attorney and the patent attorney approves, a notification is sent to the administrative staff member regardless of whether or not the user in charge of creating the case is notified, and the administrative staff member may be prompted to deliver the case.

[0386] The server 20 displays in the highlight section 3011 that the item can be delivered to the client. The server 20 may display the highlight portion 3011 to let the user know that the item can be delivered to the client if at least one of the following conditions is satisfied: The approver has approved the case. The status has changed to "Attorney Approved." The checker has checked the matter. The status has become "Checked internally." For example, if the case has not been checked by either the checker or the approver (if the status is neither "patent attorney approved" nor "in-house checked"), the server 20 may not emphasize or display the highlight section 3011. This allows the user to recognize that the case is not yet at the stage of being delivered to the client.

[0387] The operation receiving unit 3012 of the server 20 receives an input operation for delivering the job to the client. The server 20 refers to the case management database 282 in response to an input operation by the user to the operation reception unit 3012, and updates the "status" of the case to "manuscript sent, client checking." The server 20 may also notify the user on the client side that the case has been delivered.

[0388] The server 20 displays the manuscript delivery deadline for the item 3021.

[0389] The server 20 displays the application deadline for the case in the item 3022.

[0390] The server 20 displays, in the item 3023, information about the user who requested the job.

[0391] The server 20 displays in the item 3024 the deadline by which the agent wishes to receive a reply from the client regarding the item to be delivered. The server 20 may receive from the user on the agent side an operation to specify the item 3024, thereby receiving from the user an input of a date and time when the requester side desires to receive a response regarding the item to be delivered.

[0392] The server 20 displays in the item 3025 the message from the agent to the client along with the delivery of the item. The server 20 may accept input of information to be communicated to the user on the client side together with delivery of the project, by accepting an operation from the user on the agent side to specify the item 3025. For example, when the client side checks the project, the agent side may contact the user on the client side to let them know what they want the user to check.

[0393] The server 20 displays, in the item 3026, information about the user to be notified when the item is delivered.

[0394] The server 20 may accept input from a user on the agent side to notify the agent of the delivery of the project, for example, by accepting an operation from the user on the agent side to specify the item 3026. For example, when delivering the project to the client side, it may be desirable to notify one or more users (e.g., inventors) who attended the meeting.

[0395] The server 20 displays in the item 3027 the history of delivery of the matter from the agent to the client. For example, the delivery history of the item includes information on the number of deliveries, such as whether it is the first delivery.

[0396] The server 20 displays, in the item 3028, information on when the agent's checker checked the contents of the case.

[0397] The server 20 displays, in the item 3029, information on the time when the approver on the agent side approved the contents of the case. By displaying items 3028, 3029, 3021, 3022, etc. on the same screen, the server 20 can allow the agent user to check the schedule for completing the application of the case, urge the approver to approve if approval has not been given, and accept input of messages to be sent to the client in items 3025, etc.

[0398] FIG. 31 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 displays, to the agent user, comments added by the client regarding the case created by the user in charge.

[0399] FIG. 31 corresponds to the processing flow of FIG.

[0400] As shown in the figure, the server 20 extracts the sections (paragraph numbers) where the commenter (in this example, the user on the client side) has commented from the main text of the case, and displays the main text and the comments in comparison. This allows the user to easily check a list of the comments added by the client, and makes it easier for the user, who is the person in charge on the agent side, to understand the client's intentions, such as the client's requests and the client's viewpoints for reviewing the manuscript.

[0401] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 3111, an input operation from the agent user for redelivery of the item to the client. In the example shown in the figure, the person in charge of the case has not yet completed the correction or reply to the comment added by the requesting user, so the server 20 may not accept input operations into the operation reception unit 3111, or may display the operation reception unit 3111 in a manner that indicates that operations into the operation reception unit 3111 are not being accepted by disabling them as shown in the figure.

[0402] The operation receiving unit 3112 of the server 20 receives input operations from the user on the agent side to proceed with the application procedure for the case to the government agency (patent office). In the example shown in the figure, the person in charge of the case has not yet completed the correction or reply to the comment added by the user on the requesting side, so the server 20 may not accept input operations into the operation reception unit 3112, or may display the operation reception unit 3112 in a manner that indicates that operations into the operation reception unit 3112 are not being accepted by disabling them as shown in the figure.

[0403] Furthermore, when the user on the requesting side has added a comment, the server 20 may require a new operation of approval from the user who will be the approver on the agent side. When the user on the requesting side has added a comment, the server 20 may be configured to allow the application procedure to be carried out at the government agency by accepting an operation of approving the contents of the case from the user who will be the approver.

[0404] The server 20 receives, in the search condition receiving section 3113, the specification of the comment inputter as a condition for searching for comments attached to the case.

[0405] The server 20 receives, in the search condition receiving section 3114, a specification of the type of comment as a condition for searching for comments attached to a case.

[0406] The server 20 displays information on the total number of comments in the details display section 3115 as statistical information on the comments attached to the case.

[0407] The server 20 displays, in the detail display section 3116, information on the number of comments that have been confirmed by the person in charge of the case, as statistical information on the comments attached to the case.

[0408] The server 20 displays the contents of the case (text such as a specification) entered by the person in charge in the main text display section 3121.

[0409] The server 20 displays the contents of the case (text such as a specification) entered by the person in charge in the main text display section 3122. As shown in the figure, the server 20 refers to the feedback management database 284 to extract paragraphs containing comments entered by the client from the text that constitutes the case and present them to the user.

[0410] The server 20 displays the contents of the case (text such as a specification) entered by the person in charge in the main text display section 3123.

[0411] The server 20 displays the contents of the case (text such as a specification) entered by the person in charge in the main text display section 3124.

[0412] The server 20 displays in the comment display section 3131 the contents of the comment entered by the requester user in association with the contents of the case. As for inputting a comment, similarly to the description of FIG. 28, the server 20 may respond to an input operation to the operation receiving section 3141 and receive the input of the comment while displaying the following: Specifying the category of the comment (for example, a category that is set in advance in the "check item tag" of the feedback management database 284) Comment body The server 20 displays in the comment display section 3132 the contents of the comment entered by the requester user in association with the contents of the case.

[0413] The server 20 displays in the comment display section 3133 the contents of the comment entered by the requester user in association with the contents of the case.

[0414] The server 20 displays in the comment display section 3134 the contents of the comment entered by the requester user in association with the contents of the case.

[0415] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 3141, an input operation by the agent's person in charge to react to the input comment. In response to an input operation to the operation receiving unit 3141, the server 20 may receive the following as a reaction. Entering text Setting flags such as "confirmed" to share information with the commenter. For example, the following flags are possible:

[0416] "Confirmed": A flag indicating that the commenter has understood the content of the comment. For example, there may be a message from the requesting user or a general comment of caution, and no particular revision of the text may be required.

[0417] "Modified": A flag indicating that the text has been modified. "Favorites" and other operations are not disclosed to the commenter, but are performed by the user in charge (the logged-in user, displayed in item 2511) to bookmark the comment. The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 3142, an input operation by the agent's person in charge to react to the input comment.

[0418] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 3143, an input operation by the agent's person in charge to react to the input comment.

[0419] The server 20 receives, in the operation receiving section 3144, an input operation by the agent's person in charge to react to the input comment.

[0420] FIG. 32 shows an example of a screen that the server 20 uses to accept an operation by the user who is the person in charge to modify the contents of the case based on the client's comments.

[0421] Compared to the example in Figure 31, the agent user can correct the text based on the client's comments (the corrected parts are highlighted with underlines, strikethroughs, etc. in the text display area 3122, text display area 3124, etc.), react to the comments, etc., thereby activating the operation reception area 3111 and making it possible to redeliver the item to the client.

[0422] The server 20 displays the reaction added by the agent user in the response display section 3241 in association with the client's comment (comment display section 3131).

[0423] The server 20 displays the reaction added by the agent user in the response display section 3242 in association with the client's comment (comment display section 3132).

[0424] The server 20 displays the reaction added by the agent user in the response display section 3243 in association with the client's comment (comment display section 3133).

[0425] The server 20 displays the reaction added by the agent user in the response display section 3244 in association with the client's comment (comment display section 3134).

[0426] FIG. 33 shows an example of a screen on which the server 20 presents the corrections made by the agent's staff to the client user, and accepts from the client user an operation to request corrections or to instruct submission to a government agency.

[0427] As shown in Figure 33, by extracting the revised parts of the body of the project and presenting them to the user on the client side, it becomes even easier for the user on the client side to check how the revisions have been made in response to the comments (points raised) entered by the user. In this way, by displaying the differences with the previous version (for example, by displaying the revised paragraphs in the draft text for comparison), it becomes easier to check the contents of the project.

[0428] The server 20 displays a screen 3301 that allows the user to perceive the corrected parts of the contents of the case with priority.

[0429] The server 20 displays the body of the case before correction in the body display section 3122A.

[0430] By referring to the patent specification management database 283, the server 20 displays in the text display section 3122A the text of the older version (the version before any subsequent corrections were made) at the point (paragraph number) where the client user's comment was entered.

[0431] The server 20 displays the corrected text in the text display section 3122B in response to the request from the user of the requester. By referring to the patent specification management database 283, the server 20 displays in the text display section 3122A the text of the latest version (corrected version) at the point (paragraph number) where the client user's comment was entered.

[0432] As shown in the figure, the server 20 displays the main text display portion 3122A and the main text display portion 3122B in association with each other on the screen 3301 in such a manner that the difference between the main text before and the main text after correction can be easily recognized.

[0433] The server 20 displays the original text of the case before correction in the text display section 3124A.

[0434] The server 20 displays the corrected text in the text display section 3124B in response to the request from the user of the requester. In this way, the server 20 correlates and displays the text before correction (text display section 3122A), the text after correction (text display section 3122B), the comment added to the text by the requester user (comment display section 3132), and the comment added by the agent user (response display section 3242). This allows the requester user to easily confirm on the same screen what the comment added by the requester user was, how the text was corrected by adding the comment, and what the intention behind the correction was, making it easy to check the corrected text.

[0435] The above describes an example in which an agent user modifies the text of a comment added by a user on the client side and reacts to the comment, but a similar screen configuration may also be used when multiple agent users input the text of a case and comments.The same may also be used when multiple client users add comments to the text.The client side may also be able to newly input or modify the text of a case.

[0436] The operation receiving section 3511 of the server 20 receives an input operation by the user on the client side to request the user on the agent side to modify the contents of the case.

[0437] In response to the input operation to the operation reception unit 3511, the server 20 updates the status of the case management database 282 to "client modification instruction."

[0438] The operation receiving section 3512 of the server 20 receives an input operation by the user on the client side to request the agent to submit the case to a government agency (patent office). The server 20 updates the status of the case management database to "preparing to submit to government agency" in response to the input operation to the operation reception unit 3512. The server 20 notifies the user on the agent side (the person in charge of the case, the approver, the administrative staff, etc.) that the client has requested the submission of the case to the government agency.

[0439] FIG. 34 shows an example of a screen that the server 20 uses to accept an operation from a proxy user to submit (file) a case to a government agency.

[0440] 31 and 32, the operation accepting unit 3112 displays a message in a manner that the user can recognize that it is operable, thereby enabling the operation of requesting another user to submit the document to an agency. For example, the server 20 may accept an operation from the person in charge of creating the case to the person in charge of submitting the document to an agency (for example, a user who is an administrative officer on the agent's side) to request that the document be submitted to the agency, and then notify the user in charge of submitting the document to the agency.

[0441] In the illustrated example, the contents of the case have been modified from the version approved by the approver, and as a result, the version is different from the version to be submitted to the government agency. The server 20 may accept processing for submission to the government agency (for example, by accepting an input operation into the operation acceptance unit 3112) without requiring re-approval from the approver, even if the contents of the case have been modified or the version has been updated since the version approved by the approver. Here, the server 20 may be configured to not require re-approval from the approver if the following conditions are met, and to accept processing for submission to the government agency after re-approval from the approver if the conditions are not met. The changes made by the person creating the case are minor. The server 20 may determine whether the correction is minor or not as follows.

[0442] (1) When corrections are made to the contents of the case, the user adds a comment in association with the correction, and the tag set for the comment is a specific tag (for example, "typographical error"). In the example shown in the figure, corrections are made to the main text, but the corrections are tagged as "typographical error" in the comment display area 3431. In such a case, the submission to the government agency may be allowed to proceed without further approval by the approver.

[0443] (2) The text of the project has been checked using a validation check tool, and corrections have been made in response to the check results for specific items. For example, corrections may be made to typographical errors detected by the validation check tool, particles that should not be used, etc.

[0444] (3) The text before and after the correction is compared to identify the matching and changed parts of the case. Based on the order of the words before and after the change, the system checks against the words in the word dictionary to determine whether or not there is a clerical error. - The amendment does not affect the substantive examination (e.g., examination of patentability) of the application by a government agency. For example, there may be modifications that do not substantially affect the content of the main text, such as adding line breaks and paragraph numbers to the text of the main text of the case.

[0445] The server 20 displays, in the approved version display section 3411, information on the version of the item that has been approved by the approver.

[0446] The server 20 displays, in the difference display section 3412, information about the changes made from the version approved by the approver.

[0447] The server 20 may display the following information regarding the changes: Changed portion (this may be a unit managed in the patent specification management database 283. For example, if one paragraph is revised, it is considered that there is one changed portion.) The operation receiving unit 3413 of the server 20 receives an input operation from the user to request approval from an approver who approves the contents of the case.

[0448] The server 20 associates with the operation reception unit 3413 and, if approval from the approver can be skipped, displays this on the screen 2501 while accepting an operation to proceed with submission to the agency in the operation reception unit 3112.

[0449] This allows the user to confirm that they have made corrections to the case but can skip the approver's approval, and proceed with processing such as notification for submission to the agency by inputting information into the operation reception unit 3112.

[0450] In the illustrated example, the operation receiving section 2513, the operation receiving section 3413, and a plurality of operation members for requesting approval from the approver are displayed, but it is also possible to display only one of them.

[0451] The server 20 displays in the text display section 3421 the text that has been revised by the person in charge of the case from the version that has been approved by the approver.

[0452] The server 20 may accept a correction to the text while accepting an operation from the user to specify the part of the case to be corrected.

[0453] In the example shown, the server 20 accepts an operation by the user to correct the approved version, which has been written as "sent purely" by the approver to "sent in order," as this is a typographical error, and displays this in the main text display section 3421.

[0454] The server 20 displays the text of the case in the text display section 3422, the version of which has been approved by the approver.

[0455] The server 20 displays the content of the comment entered by the user in association with the content of the case in the comment display section 3431.

[0456] In the example shown in the figure, the server 20 receives a comment from the user saying "correct the obvious typo" while tagging the correction to the main text as a "typo," and displays it in the comment display section 3431. FIG. 35 shows an example of a screen displaying a comparison table summarizing the outline of a manuscript for a patent application. For example, the comparison table is prepared by the person in charge of drafting the manuscript (e.g., the person who drafted the manuscript on behalf of the agent) who enters the corresponding parts of the specification (paragraph numbers, etc.) and drawings (drawing numbers, reference symbols used in the drawings, etc.) for each claim in one line. In response to this, patent attorney users who approve the contents of the manuscript and users who provide feedback on the contents of the manuscript (possibly users on the attorney's side or users on the applicant's side) refer to the comparison table to confirm that the invention they intend to patent is described in the specification and drawings. As shown in the figure, the comparison table display screen 3500 displays the following input items: Claim number: Indicates the claim number Claim tree: A summary of the invention set arbitrarily by the person writing the manuscript. It is not reflected in the documents for the patent application. Claim body: The claimed invention that is intended to be patented. It is reflected in the documents for the patent application. Drawings and Flow: For inventions corresponding to the "Claim Tree" and "Claim Body", the corresponding parts in the drawings showing the processing flow. Drawing numbers and reference symbols may be specified. Drawings and screen examples: For inventions corresponding to the "Claim Tree" and "Claim Body", the corresponding parts of the drawings in the screen configuration. Drawing numbers and reference symbols may be specified. ·Specification·Paragraph: Paragraph number of patent specification, headings such as "Background Art", etc. The comparison table display screen 3500 also has the following display areas: Preview: This is the area that displays a preview of the specific description of the corresponding part of the drawing as shown in the input items "Drawings and Flow" and "Drawings and Screen Examples" and the specific description of the corresponding part of the patent specification as shown in the input item "Specification and Paragraph." LLM output: The result of prompting the large-scale language model service server 95 to evaluate whether the content intended for patent protection, as shown in the input items "Claim text" and "Claim tree," is included in the patent specification and drawings. The server 20 may refer to the patent specification management database 283 to read detailed descriptions of the patent specification and drawings for the display area "Preview" and display them as follows: - Details of input items designated by the user, such as "drawings and flow," may be displayed, and previews of input items not designated by the user may not be displayed until the user performs a designation operation. This allows the user to easily see the overall picture of the comparison table, while also easily checking the corresponding parts of the drawings and specifications that the user has designated to check, making it easier to consider whether the claimed invention is sufficiently described in the patent specification, etc., and whether the description can be further enhanced. The corresponding parts of the drawings and the corresponding parts of the patent specification may be displayed as much as possible within a certain area in the "Preview," and when the user performs an operation to specify "Preview" (such as positioning the cursor with a pointing device such as a mouse pointer), an overlay may be displayed. The server 20 may extract the items described by the user in the "Claim Tree" and "Claim Body" on the comparison table display screen 3500, generate a prompt including the extracted items and an evaluation method, and provide the prompt to the large-scale language model service server 95, thereby obtaining the results of an evaluation of the degree of agreement between the descriptions in the "Claim Tree" and "Claim Body" and the descriptions in the patent specification or drawings, and displaying the results in the "LLM Output." Example prompts (please apply the items described in the "Claim Tree" and "Claim Body" to the "XXX" below) “You are a patent expert. This data is patent literature. Please rate the degree of correspondence between the invention described in this patent document and the invention below. Invention: "XXXXX" Constraints: The rating is a percentage from 1 to 100. The higher the match, the higher the rating. " Based on such prompts, the following output is obtained from the large-scale language model service server 95, and the results are displayed in "LLM Output". Example of output result of large-scale language model service server 95 "The invention in this patent document relates to ●●●, with a particular focus on ●●●. It provides technology for ●●●. The degree of similarity with the invention you mentioned, "XXXXX," is high. In particular, ●●● is common to both inventions. Therefore, the degree of match is assessed as ●●%. However, this assessment is subjective, based on information provided in the patent literature, and is not a legal opinion. " In this way, LLM can provide users with the results of an evaluation of the content intended for patent protection compared with the description in the patent specification and drawings, making it even easier for users to review manuscripts for patent applications. <Modification> In the example of FIG. 32 and the like, an example has been described in which comments added as feedback by various users are displayed for patent application data. The server 20 may refer to the feedback management database 284, prompt the large-scale language model service server 95 to summarize the content of comments added to the patent application manuscript, the locations where the comments were added, and the number of comments added, and obtain the results of summarizing the content of each user's feedback from the large-scale language model service server 95. The server 20 presents the results of summarizing the comment feedback to a user such as a person in charge of creating the manuscript. For example, the server 20 may use the large-scale language model service server 95 to summarize the content of the user's comment, the location where the comment was made, etc., depending on the attributes of the user who made the comment. For example, by summarizing the content of the comment made by the person in charge on the applicant's side, it becomes even easier for the user on the agent's side to understand the intention of the person in charge on the applicant's side. The server 20 may display a summary of such feedback together with each comment as shown in FIG. The server 20 may also be configured to attach the above summarized results to a message when communicating with other users, allowing users to grasp the overview of the number of comments and other information before checking the parts with comments, making it easier to start revising the manuscript.

[0457] 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. <Additional Notes> The matters described in the above embodiment will be supplemented below.

[0458] (Appendix 1) A program for operating a computer (10, 20) for providing a service (1) for supporting the creation of document data including documents relating to intellectual property rights, the computer having a storage unit storing account information (281) of a plurality of users who use the service, and a setting (281, S1003) for each of the plurality of users as to whether or not they have the authority to approve the validity of the content of document data relating to intellectual property rights to be submitted to a government agency, the program causing a processor of the computer to execute the program. a step of presenting document data to a first user who is an authorized user (S1603) and accepting an input operation to approve the document data from the first user (S1607); and a step of managing the document data in a storage unit as having been approved by a user who is set as having the authority to approve the document data in response to accepting the input operation to approve the document data (S1607, 282).

[0459] (Appendix 2) The program further causes the processor to: A program described in Appendix 1 that executes a step (S1817) of performing submission processing to submit document data to a government agency, and does not execute the step of performing the submission processing if the document data is not managed in the memory unit as approved, and executes a step (Figures 32, 33, 34, S1817) of performing submission processing for the document data if the document data is managed in the memory unit as approved.

[0460] (Appendix 3) The program further causes the processor to: A step (S1601) of receiving an input operation from a second user to request approval from the first user for the input document data is executed, and in response to receiving the input operation from the second user to request approval, the document data is presented to the first user (S1609, S1611); A program described in Appendix 1, in which, in a step of receiving from a second user, if a check process is performed to check whether the text constituting the document data meets specified requirements, and the text does not meet the specified requirements, the program restricts the input operation to request approval from the first user (S1803).

[0461] (Appendix 4) The program further causes the processor to execute a step of receiving an input operation from a second user to request approval from the first user for the input document data, and in the step of receiving the input operation, presents the document data to the first user in response to receiving the input operation to request approval from the second user, and at this time, presents to the first user the results of a check process to check whether the wording constituting the document data meets specified requirements (S1809), a program described in Appendix 1.

[0462] (Appendix 5) The program further causes the processor to execute a step of performing a submission process to submit document data for which approval has been performed by the first user to a government agency, and in the step of performing the submission process, obtains the results of a format check performed on the document data for submission to the government agency, and if an error is detected in the format check, notifies the first user that an error has been detected and requests re-approval of the document data (S1809), a program as described in Appendix 1.

[0463] (Appendix 6) A program as described in Appendix 5, which executes the following steps: if an error is detected in a format check during a step of performing a submission process, a step (S1811) of accepting input of a proposed correction to the error from a third user; a step (S1813) of presenting the entered proposed correction to the first user; a step (S1815) of accepting an operation to approve the proposed correction from the first user; and a step (S1817) of resuming processing to submit document data to a government agency in response to accepting an operation to approve the proposed correction from the first user.

[0464] (Appendix 7) The program further causes the processor to: A program as described in Appendix 1, which executes a step (282) of storing information of a fourth user, who is the creator of the document data, in association with the document data in a memory unit, and in the management step, if the fourth user is a user who is set to have the authority to approve the validity of the content, when the fourth user performs an operation to confirm the content of the document data, the document data confirmed by the fourth user is managed in the memory unit as having been approved by a user who is set to have the authority to approve, without requiring approval from other users who are set to have the authority to approve the validity of the content.

[0465] (Appendix 8) The program further causes the processor to execute the steps of: storing information about a fourth user who is a creator of the document data in the storage unit in association with the document data; and accepting an operation from the fourth user requesting the fifth user to check the content of the document data created by the fourth user, thereby allowing the fifth user to view the document data and accepting an input operation for checking the content of the document data (S1501, S1503). The program described in Appendix 1, which accepts an input operation from a fifth user to confirm the contents of the document data (S1509), and then presents the document data to a first user and accepts an input operation to approve it (S1513).

[0466] (Appendix 9) The program further causes the processor to execute a step of storing information about a fourth user who is the creator of the document data in the storage unit in association with the document data (282); and to execute a step of receiving, from the fourth user, an input of the results of an input operation by the fourth user to request approval from the first user for the input document data and a check process to check whether the wording constituting the document data satisfies predetermined requirements; The program described in Appendix 1, wherein in a step of accepting an input operation, in response to accepting an input operation from a fourth user to request approval, the program presents the document data and the results of the check processing performed by the fourth user to the first user (Figure 16, S1613).

[0467] (Appendix 10) The program further causes the processor to: a step of storing information of a fourth user who is a creator of the document data in a storage unit in association with the document data; and a step of receiving an operation from the fourth user requesting the fifth user to check the content of the document data created by the fourth user (S1501), allowing the fifth user to view the document data and receiving an input operation for inputting a comment on the content of the document data (S1505), The program described in Appendix 1, which presents the document data to the first user and accepts an input operation to approve it by accepting an input operation from a fourth user in response to a comment made by a fifth user on the document data.

[0468] (Appendix 11) The program further causes the processor to: A program described in Appendix 1 that executes a step of performing a submission process to submit document data to a government agency, and generates a comparison result by comparing the degree of match between the content of the document data that the first user has input to approve and the content of the document data that will be submitted to the government agency by the submission process (Figures 34, 3412, 3421, 3422).

[0469] (Appendix 12) The computer stores information on a plurality of patent documents in a memory unit (286), and in a step of accepting input of document data, executes the following steps: accepting input of text relating to the content of the invention from a sixth user (S1413, 2711); analyzing the accepted text relating to the content of the invention to extract words, thereby identifying a plurality of descriptions related to the extracted words from the plurality of patent documents stored in the memory unit (S1415); and generating document data relating to intellectual property rights based on the identified plurality of descriptions (S1415), and calculates statistical values ​​of the information in the patent documents that are the source of the descriptions in the generated document data, and presents the calculated statistical values ​​to the first user (2912), a program described in Appendix 1.

[0470] (Appendix 13) The program according to appendix 12, wherein for each description of the generated document data, statistical values ​​are calculated by identifying information based on the bibliographic items of the source patent document (2912).

[0471] (Appendix 14) A program as described in Appendix 12, which executes, in a step of identifying multiple descriptions related to an extracted word, a step of generating search conditions for identifying multiple descriptions from multiple patent documents based on words extracted based on wording related to the content of the invention (2713, 2714), and a step of identifying multiple descriptions related to the extracted word by weighting each of the multiple patent documents based on the generated search conditions (2714), and presents the search conditions to a first user (2713, 2714).

[0472] (Appendix 15) A program as described in Appendix 14, wherein in the step of generating search conditions, for multiple words extracted as search conditions, each of the multiple patent documents is weighted based on the distance between the words in the multiple patent documents (2714).

[0473] (Appendix 16) A program as described in Appendix 14, which presents search conditions to a sixth user (2713, 2714) and accepts an operation from the sixth user to change the search conditions, thereby identifying multiple descriptions related to the extracted word based on the changed search conditions (2712, 2713, 2714).

[0474] (Appendix 17) 15. The program according to claim 14, wherein the program presents document data and search conditions to the first user and accepts an input operation to approve the document data.

[0475] (Appendix 18) The program further includes a step of causing the processor to receive from the first user a setting as to whether or not a request for approval of the document data can be accepted from the applicant of the document data and storing the setting in the memory unit (285, S1101, S1103), and if the first user is set to be able to accept an approval request for the applicant's document data, requesting approval of the document data from the first user, as described in Appendix 1.

[0476] (Appendix 19) A program described in Appendix 18, which executes the steps of: presenting to a seventh user information on multiple users who are authorized to approve the applicant's document data; receiving an input operation from the seventh user to select a user from the presented multiple users to be requested to approve the document data; and presenting a screen to the selected user to view the document data and accept an operation to approve the document data.

[0477] (Appendix 20) The program described in Appendix 19, wherein in the step of presenting information about multiple users authorized to give approval to a seventh user, multiple users to be given priority for presentation to the seventh user are identified based on at least one selected from the group consisting of a situation in which the multiple users are assigned document data to be approved by each of them, a history of approvals given by the multiple users, a technical classification of document data approved by the multiple users, and a technical classification of a case in which the multiple users created document data or checked the contents of document data.

[0478] (Appendix 21) A method for operating a computer to provide a service that supports the creation of document data including documents related to intellectual property rights, wherein the computer stores in a memory unit account information for multiple users who use the service, and stores in the memory unit a setting for each of the multiple users as to whether they have the authority to approve the validity of the content of document data related to intellectual property rights to be submitted to a government agency, and the method includes a step in which a processor of the computer executes the steps of accepting input of document data related to intellectual property rights to be submitted to a government agency, presenting the document data to a first user who is an authorized user and accepting an input operation approving the document data from the first user, and managing the document data in the memory unit as having been approved by a user who has been set as having the authority to approve, in response to accepting the input operation approving the document data.

[0479] (Appendix 22) An information processing device for providing a service to assist in the creation of document data including documents related to intellectual property rights, wherein the information processing device stores in a memory unit account information of multiple users who use the service, and stores in the memory unit a setting for each of the multiple users as to whether they have the authority to approve the validity of the content of document data related to intellectual property rights to be submitted to a government agency, and a control unit of the information processing device executes the steps of: accepting input of document data related to intellectual property rights to be submitted to a government agency; presenting the document data to a first user who is an authorized user and accepting an input operation approving the document data from the first user; and, in response to accepting the input operation approving the document data, managing the document data in the memory unit as having been approved by a user who has been set as having the authority to approve.

[0480] (Appendix 23) A method for producing a system for providing a service to assist in the creation of document data including documents related to intellectual property rights, the system including a computer, the computer storing in a memory unit account information of multiple users who use the service, the method for producing the system including causing a processor of the computer to store in the memory unit a setting as to whether each of the multiple users has the authority to approve the validity of the content of document data related to intellectual property rights to be submitted to a government agency, the method including providing a program to cause the processor of the computer to execute the steps of accepting input of document data related to intellectual property rights to be submitted to a government agency, presenting the document data to a first user who is an authorized user and accepting an input operation approving the document data from the first user, and managing the document data in the memory unit as having been approved by a user who has been set as having the authority to approve, in response to accepting the input operation approving the document data. <Additional notes on other embodiments> (Appendix 1) A program for operating a computer to provide a service to support the creation of document data including documents related to intellectual property rights, the computer having stored in a memory unit information on manuscript documents to be submitted to government agencies, the program causing a processor of the computer to execute the steps of: accepting from a user, based on the manuscript information, input of first information relating to the description of the claims of a patent application and second information relating to an outline of the section where the first information is described in the manuscript; displaying the first information and the second information in association with each other; accepting from a user an operation to specify the first information or the second information to be displayed in association with each other; and presenting details of the description of the second information in accordance with the user's operation to specify the first information or the second information. (Appendix 2) The program of claim 1 further includes the steps of: providing a prompt to the large-scale language model to cause the processor to evaluate whether the claims indicated in the first information are described in at least one of the patent specification or drawings of the manuscript; obtaining an output result from the large-scale language model in response to the prompt; and displaying the output result from the large-scale language model together with at least one of the first information and second information that are displayed in association with the output result. (Appendix 3) A computer-implemented method for providing a service to assist in the creation of document data including documents related to intellectual property rights, wherein the computer stores information on manuscripts of documents to be submitted to government agencies in a memory unit, and the method causes the computer processor to execute the steps of accepting, based on the manuscript information, input from a user first information relating to the description of the claims of a patent application and second information relating to an outline of the section where the first information is described in the manuscript, and displaying the first information and the second information in association with each other, accepting an operation from the user to specify the first information or the second information to be displayed in association with each other, and presenting details of the description of the second information in response to the user's operation to specify the first information or the second information. (Appendix 4) An information processing device for providing a service to support the creation of document data including documents related to intellectual property rights, wherein a memory unit stores information on manuscripts of documents to be submitted to government agencies, and a control unit of the information processing device executes the steps of: accepting input from a user, based on the information on the manuscript, first information relating to the description of the claims of a patent application and second information relating to an outline of the section where the first information is described in the manuscript; and displaying the first information and the second information in association with each other; accepting an operation from the user to specify the first information or the second information to be displayed in association with each other; and presenting details of the description of the second information in accordance with the user's operation to specify the first information or the second information.

Claims

1. A program for operating a computer to provide a service that supports the creation of document data including documents related to intellectual property rights, The computer stores information on a manuscript of a document to be submitted to a government agency in a storage unit, The program causes the processor of the computer to: receiving, from a user, input of first information relating to the description of the claims of the patent application and second information relating to an outline of the portion of the manuscript where the first information is described, based on information about the manuscript; and a step of displaying the first information and the second information in association with each other, receiving an operation from the user to specify the first information or the second information to be displayed in association with each other; and presenting details of the description of the second information in response to the user's operation of specifying the first information or the second information.

2. The program further causes the processor to providing a prompt to a large-scale language model to evaluate whether the claim remarks indicated in the first information are described in at least one of the patent specification and drawings of the manuscript; obtaining an output from the large-scale language model in response to the prompt; The program according to claim 1 , wherein the output result from the large-scale language model is displayed together with at least one of the first information and the second information that are displayed in association with each other.

3. 1. A computer-implemented method for providing a service to assist in the creation of document data, including documents relating to intellectual property rights, comprising: The computer stores information on a manuscript of a document to be submitted to a government agency in a storage unit, The method further comprises: receiving, from a user, input of first information relating to the description of the claims of the patent application and second information relating to an outline of the portion of the manuscript where the first information is described, based on information about the manuscript; and a step of displaying the first information and the second information in association with each other, receiving an operation from the user to specify the first information or the second information to be displayed in association with each other; and presenting details of a description of the second information in response to the user's operation of specifying the first information or the second information.

4. An information processing device for providing a service that supports the creation of document data including documents related to intellectual property rights, The memory unit stores information about manuscripts of documents to be submitted to government agencies, a control unit of the information processing device, receiving, from a user, input of first information relating to the description of the claims of the patent application and second information relating to an outline of the portion of the manuscript where the first information is described, based on information about the manuscript; and a step of displaying the first information and the second information in association with each other, receiving an operation from the user to specify the first information or the second information to be displayed in association with each other; and presenting details of a description of the second information in response to an operation by the user to specify the first information or the second information.

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