Business support device, business support system, business support method, and program

Abstract

This system allows for a unified search of the company's own unpublished intellectual property document data and publicly available intellectual property document data, ensuring consistency in the integration and evaluation of intellectual property document data. [Solution] The system includes data conversion means for converting user inquiry data, first intellectual property document data, and second intellectual property document data into a predetermined data format; search means for searching for intellectual property document data to be searched from a third intellectual property document database that stores the first intellectual property document data and second intellectual property document data converted into the predetermined data format, based on the inquiry data converted into the predetermined data format; and display control means for displaying the searched intellectual property document data on a display device. The first intellectual property document data is obtained from a first intellectual property document database that is available to the public, and the second intellectual property document data is obtained from a second intellectual property document database whose use by the public is restricted.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for searching and evaluating intellectual property information. More specifically, it relates to a technique for collectively searching for the company's unpublished intellectual property document data and published intellectual property document data, and integrating and evaluating the retrieved intellectual property document data.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in order to evaluate the company's unpublished intellectual property document data and published intellectual property document data together, it is necessary to manually collect (search) the intellectual property document data from different information sources based on the set search conditions and evaluate them individually. Even when using existing tools, a lot of time and effort were required to ensure the consistency of the integration and evaluation of the retrieved intellectual property document data. In addition, there was also a limit to the accuracy of the collection (search).

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0003] The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, and the problem is to collectively search for the company's unpublished intellectual property document data and published intellectual property document data from a plurality of information sources, and to ensure the consistency of the integration and evaluation of the retrieved intellectual property document data.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0004] The business support device of the present invention comprises: acquisition means for acquiring inquiry data from a user, first intellectual property document data, and second intellectual property document data; data conversion means for converting the inquiry data, first intellectual property document data, and second intellectual property document data into a predetermined data format; a third intellectual property document database storing the first intellectual property document data and second intellectual property document data converted into the predetermined data format; search means for searching for intellectual property document data to be searched from the third intellectual property document database based on the inquiry data converted into the predetermined data format; and display control means for displaying the searched intellectual property document data on a display device, wherein the first intellectual property document data is acquired from a first intellectual property document database that is available to the public, and the second intellectual property document data is acquired from a second intellectual property document database whose use by the public is restricted.

[0005] Furthermore, the business support system of the present invention is a business support system comprising a first intellectual property document database storing first intellectual property document data available to the public, a second intellectual property document database storing second intellectual property document data whose use by the public is restricted, and a business support device, wherein the business support device comprises acquisition means for acquiring inquiry data from a user, the first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data, data conversion means for converting the inquiry data, the first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data into a predetermined data format, a third intellectual property document database storing the first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data converted into the predetermined data format, search means for searching for intellectual property document data to be searched from the third intellectual property document database based on the inquiry data converted into the predetermined data format, and display control means for displaying the searched intellectual property document data on a display device.

[0006] Furthermore, the business support method of the present invention includes a first acquisition step of acquiring first intellectual property document data from a first intellectual property document database available to the public; a second acquisition step of acquiring second intellectual property document data from a second intellectual property document database whose use by the public is restricted; a first data conversion step of converting the first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data into a predetermined data format; a database generation step of generating a third intellectual property document database from the first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data converted into the predetermined data format; a third acquisition step of acquiring inquiry data from a user; a second data conversion step of converting the inquiry data into a predetermined data format; a search step of searching for intellectual property document data to be searched from the third intellectual property document database based on the inquiry data converted into the predetermined data format; and a display control step of displaying the searched intellectual property document data on a display device, wherein the first acquisition step, the second acquisition step, the first data conversion step, and the database generation step are performed periodically. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to search for a company's own unpublished intellectual property document data and published intellectual property document data from multiple sources in a single search, and to ensure consistency in the integration and evaluation of the retrieved intellectual property document data. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a schematic block diagram of Business Support System 1. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the business support device 10. [Figure 3] This flowchart shows the procedure for searching for intellectual property document data in the business support device 10. [Figure 4]This flowchart shows the procedure for collecting intellectual property document data and generating a vector database in the business support device 10. [Figure 5] This is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the business support device 10. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments are not limiting to the present invention, and not all combinations of features described in these embodiments are essential to the solutions of the present invention. Furthermore, various other forms that do not depart from the spirit of the present invention are also included, and some of the following embodiments can be combined as appropriate.

[0010] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of the business support system 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the business support system 1 includes a business support device 10, a first intellectual property document database 50 connected to the business support device 10 via a predetermined communication line 80, and a second intellectual property document database 60 connected to the business support device 10 via a predetermined network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) by wired or wireless means.

[0011] A user can access the business support device 10 using a personal computer 70 and make a query, thereby displaying the desired data corresponding to the query on the personal computer. More specifically, based on the query entered by the user, the business support device 10 can search for the target intellectual property document data from an internal database consisting of intellectual property document data obtained from the first intellectual property document database 50 and the second intellectual property document database 60 and converted into a predetermined data format, and then display (output) the search results in an integrated manner, or display the generated products produced (output) by an artificial intelligence model using the search conditions and the search results as input.

[0012] In this way, the business support device 10 can search for intellectual property document data obtained from both the first intellectual property document database 50 and the second intellectual property document database 60, and converted into a predetermined data format (that is, it can search for both the company's own and other companies' filed and published intellectual property document data, as well as the company's own unpublished intellectual property document data, all at once, and output the search results together).

[0013] In addition, in Figure 1, the rectangle indicated by the dashed line conveniently represents the fact that the business support device 10, the second intellectual property document database 60, and the personal computer 70 are "located within the same company (organization)." Here, "located within the same company (organization)" does not necessarily mean that the business support device 10, the second intellectual property document database 60, and the personal computer 70 are located in the same building; they only need to be connected by a predetermined closed network (more precisely, the internal database (vector database 18) of the business support device 10 and the second intellectual property document database 60, as described later, must be built within a closed network).

[0014] The first intellectual property document database 50 is an intellectual property document database accessible to the public that stores publicly available intellectual property document data, such as J-PlatPat, Espacenet, and other publicly available databases that store publicly available intellectual property document data managed by patent offices in various countries. In this embodiment, the intellectual property document data to be stored includes, for example, publicly available intellectual property document data relating to patents, utility models, designs, and trademarks.

[0015] The second intellectual property document database 60 is a database that stores unpublished intellectual property document data and is restricted from public use, and is managed internally by the company. Unpublished intellectual property document data includes intellectual property document data that has been filed but has not yet been published, and intellectual property document data for which patent applications are planned (for example, document data related to invention proposals).

[0016] (Business support equipment) Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the business support device 10 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the business support device 10 broadly comprises a control unit 11, an acquisition unit 12, a data conversion unit 13, a search unit 14, a generated artificial intelligence model 15, a display control unit 16, a storage unit 17, a vector database 18, a data partitioning unit 19, a tagging unit 20, and a database generation unit 21.

[0017] The control unit 11 is a functional block that controls the processing of each functional block. The acquisition unit 12 acquires query data, first intellectual property document data (i.e., publicly available intellectual property document data) from the first intellectual property document database 50, and second intellectual property document data (i.e., the company's own unpublished intellectual property document data) from the second intellectual property document database 60. The various data acquired by the acquisition unit 12 are stored in the storage unit 17 by the control unit 11.

[0018] The data conversion unit 13 converts the query data entered by the user and the intellectual property document data obtained from the first intellectual property document database 50 and the second intellectual property document database 60 (more precisely, intellectual property document data obtained from the first intellectual property document database 50 and the second intellectual property document database 60 and divided into predetermined units) into a predetermined data format. For conversion to the predetermined data format, for example, indexing, vectorization, N-grams, etc., can be used, but in this embodiment, vectorization will be used as the method for conversion to the predetermined data format.

[0019] Here, vectorization is the process of converting words and sentences into "arrays of numbers," or "vectors." By vectorizing, the similarity between documents can be determined with higher accuracy than by determining the similarity between documents using only words and sentences.

[0020] Also, as vectorization, for example, a method called "Embedding method" can be used. In this method, not only the simple number of occurrences and positions of words but also the meaning and nuance of the entire document can be embedded in a numerical vector. Therefore, in determining the similarity between documents, the meaning and nuance of the entire document can also be included as elements for determination. Hereinafter, the conversion by the data conversion unit 13 into a predetermined data format will be described as vectorization.

[0021] The search unit 14 searches for intellectual property document data from the first intellectual property document database 50 and the second intellectual property document database 60 after acquisition according to the vectorized query data, and then divides it into predetermined units and vectorizes the intellectual property document data.

[0022] The search unit 14 has a similarity determination unit 141. The similarity determination unit 141 determines, for example, the similarity between the published intellectual property document data and the unpublished intellectual property document data of the company, and outputs those with a high degree of similarity as the search results in the search unit 14. In determining the degree of similarity between two vectors, cosine similarity or the like can be used.

[0023] Also, the determination of similarity in the similarity determination unit 141 not only determines the intellectual property document data as a whole, but also determines a unit (a unit divided by a data division unit 19 described later) for determining similarity as needed according to the vectorized query data, and determines the similarity according to the determined unit. That is, according to the vectorized query data, the unit to be searched is determined, and the search is also performed according to the determined unit.

[0024] For example, suppose a user, in considering whether to request examination or withdraw a patent application filed in the field of video technology that has not yet been published, inquires with the business support device 10, saying, "I would like to compare unpublished patent applications filed in the field of video technology between 1 year and 5 months ago and 1 year ago with publicly known (published) patent applications of other companies, on a claim basis."

[0025] In this case, the business support device 10 determines the claims as the unit for determining similarity based on the inquiry (the inquiry data), and also determines the similarity according to the determined unit (the unit "claims"). Note that the unit determined for determining similarity does not have to be just one; multiple units can be determined and similarity can be determined. In that case, the business support device 10 calculates the average value of the determined similarity scores and makes a comprehensive determination as a whole whether or not they are similar.

[0026] The generative artificial intelligence model 15 is a commercial artificial intelligence model such as the Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT, Azure OpenAI ChatCompletion API GPT-4), which takes inquiry data and retrieved intellectual property document data as input and customizes the search result data, which is the intellectual property document data, according to the inquiry data (for example, by creating a comparison table) to generate response result data to the user's inquiry.

[0027] The query data input to the generating artificial intelligence model 15 is query data entered by the user and stored in the memory unit 17. The retrieved intellectual property document data input to the generating artificial intelligence model 15 is, as will be described in detail later, intellectual property document data that is vectorized search result data retrieved by the search unit 14 and intellectual property document data (non-vectorized) stored in the memory unit, linked by tags.

[0028] The response data is generated in response to user inquiries. Note that when outputting (displaying) data that integrates publicly available intellectual property document data with the company's own unpublished intellectual property information data, it is not always necessary to go through the generating artificial intelligence model 15. Furthermore, during this integration, it is also possible to generate a table comparing the publicly available intellectual property document data with the company's own unpublished intellectual property information data (i.e., it can be generated as a comparison table).

[0029] Regarding the comparison table, for example, the left side of the screen displays the claims of the company's unpublished intellectual property documents (patent application information) on a component-by-component basis, while the right side of the screen displays the claims of other companies' filed and published intellectual property documents on a component-by-component basis, compared with the components of the claims displayed in the company's unpublished intellectual property documents. Furthermore, it is possible to determine the novelty of the claims based on the degree of similarity of words and sentences in the claims and display that information as well.

[0030] The display control unit 16 causes the response result data generated by the generating artificial intelligence model 15 to be displayed on an external display device. In this example, the display control unit 16 is configured to display the response result data on an external display device, but it can also function as an output control unit to directly send output commands to an external image forming apparatus to output (print) the response result data on paper.

[0031] The memory unit 17 stores query data entered by the user, vectorized query data, intellectual property document data that has been divided into predetermined units and tagged (not vectorized), response result data generated by the generating artificial intelligence model 15, and the results (data) of various processes.

[0032] The vector database 18 corresponds to the third intellectual property document database of the present invention and is a database composed of intellectual property document data that has been obtained from the first intellectual property document database 50 and the second intellectual property document database 60, divided into predetermined units, and vectorized. The vector database 18 is generated by processing performed by the data division unit 19, the tagging unit 20, the data conversion unit 13, and the database generation unit 21, and the generation procedure will be explained using the flowchart in Figure 4.

[0033] The data division unit 19 divides the intellectual property document data acquired by the acquisition unit 12 and stored in the storage unit 17 into predetermined units. For example, if the intellectual property document data is patent document data, the data division unit 19 divides it into predetermined units such as the specification, claims, abstract, title of the invention, technical field, and the problem that the invention aims to solve.

[0034] The tagging unit 20 assigns tags to the intellectual property document data that has been divided into predetermined units by the data division unit 19. The tags to be assigned are assigned according to the units divided by the data division unit 19, and in the example of the patent document data described above, data such as "second intellectual property document database 60" and "abstract" are assigned as tags. The intellectual property document data that has been tagged by the tagging unit 20 and divided into predetermined units is stored in the storage unit 17 by the control unit 11.

[0035] The database generation unit 21 generates a vector database using intellectual property document data, which is divided into predetermined units and tagged, stored in the storage unit 17, and which has been vectorized by the data conversion unit 13, as its constituent elements.

[0036] Furthermore, the storage unit 17 stores copies of intellectual property document data that have been divided into predetermined units and tagged (but not vectorized) even after the data has been read for the purpose of generating a vector database. These copies are used when passing (inputting) non-vectorized intellectual property document data, which corresponds to the vectorized search result data of intellectual property document data retrieved by the search unit 14, to the generating artificial intelligence model 15. In addition, tags assigned by the tagging unit 20 to both the non-vectorized and vectorized intellectual property document data are used to identify the corresponding non-vectorized intellectual property document data.

[0037] Next, the search process in the business support device 10 will be explained using the flowchart in Figure 3. In the following, the symbol "S" in the flowchart description represents a step. That is, the processing steps S1-1 to S1-8 in the flowchart will be abbreviated as S1-1 to S1-8. This abbreviation will also be used in the flowchart described later.

[0038] In S1-1, the business support device 10 acquires (receives) inquiry data from the user via the acquisition unit 12. This user inquiry data includes, for example, whether a particular intellectual property document in a specific technical field was filed this year but has not yet been published, or whether it is intellectual property document data in a similar technical field. The acquired user inquiry data is then stored in the storage unit 17 by the control unit 11.

[0039] In S1-2, the business support device 10 vectorizes the user inquiry data acquired and stored in S1-1 using the data conversion unit 13. The reason for vectorizing the user inquiry data is, as mentioned above, to improve the accuracy of determining the similarity between documents. The vectorized user inquiry data is also stored in the storage unit 17 by the control unit 11.

[0040] In S1-3, the business support device 10 performs a search on the vector database based on the vectorized query data using the search unit 14. For the search performed here, for example, using a specific technical field in the query data as a search criterion, it searches for both publicly available intellectual property document data and the company's own unpublished intellectual property document data. Furthermore, it determines the similarity between the retrieved publicly available intellectual property document data and the company's own unpublished intellectual property document data, and outputs those with the highest similarity as search results.

[0041] As mentioned above, a vector database is a database generated by dividing publicly available intellectual property document data and unpublished intellectual property document data of a company into predetermined units, and then vectorizing that divided intellectual property document data. The generation of a vector database will be explained using the flowchart in Figure 4 below.

[0042] In S1-4, the business support device 10 retrieves non-vectorized intellectual property document data corresponding to the vectorized search result data, which is intellectual property document data, retrieved by the search unit 14, from the storage unit 17 using tags assigned by the tagging unit 20.

[0043] In S1-5, the business support device 10, via its control unit 11, transmits (inputs) to the generated artificial intelligence model 15 the query data stored in the memory unit 17 in S1-1 and the unvectorized intellectual property document data corresponding to the search results obtained in S1-4.

[0044] In S1-6, the business support device 10 uses the generating artificial intelligence model 15 to customize the search results retrieved from the vector database 18 according to the query data, and generates the answer result data to the user's query. The answer result data generated by the generating artificial intelligence model 15 is stored in the storage unit 17 by the control unit 11.

[0045] In S1-7, the business support device 10, using the display control unit 16, causes the business support device 10 to display the response result data generated by the generation artificial intelligence model 15 on an external display device. Once the business support device 10 has displayed the response result data generated by the generation artificial intelligence model 15, it terminates the search process shown in Figure 3.

[0046] In Figure 4, the flowchart describes a process in which user inquiry data and search results (non-vectorized intellectual property document data) are input to the generating artificial intelligence model 15, and the response result data generated by the generating artificial intelligence model 15 is output as the business support device 10. However, it is not always necessary to display the response result data generated by the generating artificial intelligence model 15.

[0047] Therefore, for example, the unvectorized intellectual property document data corresponding to the search results obtained in S1-4 can also be displayed together (integrated) on an external display device (i.e., processing can be skipped from S1-5 to S1-7).

[0048] In this way, by searching and integrating publicly available intellectual property document data and the company's own unpublished intellectual property document data in one place, users can easily compare and evaluate the publicly available intellectual property document data and the company's own unpublished intellectual property document data, and consider future actions regarding the company's unpublished intellectual property document data (for example, if the intellectual property document data is a patent, actions such as withdrawing a patent application or requesting examination) and future intellectual property strategies.

[0049] Next, using the flowchart in Figure 4, we will explain the process in the business support device 10 from collecting intellectual property document data to generating the vector database 18.

[0050] In S2-1, the business support device 10 periodically acquires intellectual property document data from the first intellectual property document database 50 and the second intellectual property document database 60 by batch processing using the acquisition unit 12. The intellectual property document data acquired here includes all or some of the intellectual property document data stored in the first intellectual property document database 50 and the second intellectual property document database 60, and is acquired according to predetermined acquisition conditions (for example, acquisition conditions set according to the technical field related to the business field of the company in which the user works).

[0051] In S2-2, the business support device 10 stores the acquired intellectual property document data in the storage unit 17 via the control unit 11. The control unit 11 stores in the storage unit 17, in such a way that the business support device 10 can recognize whether the acquired intellectual property document data was obtained from the first intellectual property document database 50 or the second intellectual property document database 60.

[0052] In S2-3, the business support device 10 divides the intellectual property document data stored in the storage unit 17 in S2-2 into predetermined units (for example, units such as specification, claims, abstract, title of invention, technical field, etc.) using the data division unit 19. In S2-4, the business support device 10 assigns tags to the intellectual property document data divided into predetermined units in S2-3 using the tag assignment unit 20. In the example of the patent document data described above, data such as "second intellectual property document data of the second intellectual property document database 60" and "abstract" are assigned as tags.

[0053] In S2-5, the business support device 10 vectorizes the intellectual property document data, which has been divided into predetermined units and tagged, by the data conversion unit 13. The vectorized intellectual property document data is then stored in the storage unit 17 by the control unit 11.

[0054] In S2-6, the business support device 10 generates a vector database 18 using the database generation unit 21 based on the intellectual property document data stored in the storage unit 17 in S2-5. Once the business support device 10 has generated the vector database using the database generation unit 21, it terminates the process shown in the flowchart in Figure 4.

[0055] As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to search for a company's own unpublished intellectual property document data and other companies' published intellectual property document data from multiple sources in a single search, and to ensure consistency in the integration and evaluation of the retrieved intellectual property document data.

[0056] Furthermore, by performing a search on a vector database generated by vectorizing intellectual property document data obtained from the first intellectual property document database 50 and intellectual property document data obtained from the second intellectual property document database 60 based on vectorized query data, it becomes possible to include not only simple term-based searches but also elements that determine (search) the overall meaning and nuances of the documents when determining the similarity between documents.

[0057] In addition, while this embodiment describes a business support device that searches intellectual property document data, this intellectual property document data includes not only intellectual property document data related to patents, utility models, designs, and trademarks, but also academic literature and other materials that describe ideas and creations produced by human intellectual activity.

[0058] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration 90 of the business support device 10. As shown in Figure 5, the business support device 10 includes a CPU 91, RAM 92, ROM 93, HDD 94, network interface 95, and external storage interface 96.

[0059] The CPU (Central Processing Unit) 91 is a processing unit that comprehensively controls each block of the business support device 10. The CPU 91 is connected to the RAM 92, ROM 93, HDD 94, network interface 95, and external storage interface 96 via the system bus 97.

[0060] The RAM (Random Access Memory) 92 has a storage area for temporarily storing the results of calculations performed by the CPU 91, various setting values, parameters, etc., and a loading area for various control programs. The ROM (Read Only Memory) 93 stores various programs (for example, boot programs, etc.). The HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 94 stores vector databases, etc. The functions of the business support device 10 are realized, for example, when the CPU 91 reads a program stored in the ROM 93 into the RAM 92 and executes it.

[0061] The external storage interface 96 is an interface for connecting to the second intellectual property document database 60 and is used when retrieving unpublished intellectual property document data from the second intellectual property document database 60.

[0062] In addition, the present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that implements one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments to a device via a network or storage medium, and by having one or more processors in the device's computer read and execute the program. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0063] 1. Business support system 10 Business support equipment 11 Control Unit 12 Acquisition Department 13. Data Conversion Unit 14 Search Section 15 Generative Artificial Intelligence Models 16 Display Control Unit 17 Memory section 18 Vector Databases 19. Data partitioning section 20 Tagging section 21 Database Generation Unit 50. The First Intellectual Property Document Database 60. Second Intellectual Property Document Database 70 Personal Computers 80 Designated communication line

Claims

1. An acquisition means for acquiring user inquiry data, first intellectual property document data, and second intellectual property document data, A data conversion means for converting the aforementioned inquiry data, the first intellectual property document data, and the second intellectual property document data into a predetermined data format, A third intellectual property document database storing the first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data converted into the predetermined data format, A search means for searching for intellectual property document data to be searched from the third intellectual property document database based on query data converted into the predetermined data format, A display device comprising: a display control means for displaying the retrieved intellectual property document data; Equipped with, The first intellectual property document data is obtained from a first intellectual property document database that is available to the public. The business support device is characterized in that the second intellectual property document data is obtained from a second intellectual property document database whose use by the public is restricted.

2. The business support device according to claim 1, characterized in that the conversion to a predetermined data format by the data conversion means is vectorization.

3. The search means includes a similarity determination means for determining the similarity between the vectorized first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data. The third intellectual property document database stores the first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data, which have been converted to the predetermined data format, by dividing them into predetermined units. The business support device according to claim 2, characterized in that the similarity determination means determines the similarity between the vectorized first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data for each predetermined unit.

4. The business support device according to claim 3, characterized in that the search means determines a predetermined unit for determining similarity by the similarity determination means based on the query data.

5. A first intellectual property document database storing first intellectual property document data available to the public, A second intellectual property document database containing second intellectual property document data whose use by the public is restricted, Business support equipment and A business support system equipped with, The aforementioned business support device, An acquisition means for acquiring user inquiry data, the first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data, A data conversion means for converting the aforementioned inquiry data, the first intellectual property document data, and the second intellectual property document data into a predetermined data format, A third intellectual property document database storing the first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data converted into the predetermined data format, A search means for searching for intellectual property document data to be searched from the third intellectual property document database based on query data converted into the predetermined data format, A display device comprising: a display control means for displaying the retrieved intellectual property document data; A business support system characterized by having the following features.

6. A first acquisition step of obtaining first intellectual property document data from a first intellectual property document database available to the public, A second acquisition step involves obtaining second intellectual property document data from a second intellectual property document database whose use by the public is restricted, A first data conversion step that converts the first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data into a predetermined data format, A database generation step of generating a third intellectual property document database from the first intellectual property document data and the second intellectual property document data converted into the predetermined data format, The third acquisition step involves obtaining inquiry data from the user, A second data conversion step involves converting the query data into a predetermined data format, A search step of searching for intellectual property document data to be searched from the third intellectual property document database based on query data converted into the predetermined data format, A display control step that causes the display device to display the retrieved intellectual property document data, and Includes, A business support method characterized in that the first acquisition step, the second acquisition step, the first data conversion step, and the database generation step are performed periodically.

7. A program that causes a computer to execute the business support method described in claim 6.

Images