Information processing device, method, program

Abstract

For those who wish to use electronic contracts, there is a need for technology that makes it easier to understand that electronic contracts are available, thereby further encouraging their use. [Solution] The memory unit is configured to store information on the types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and the types of contracts that can be concluded electronically. The program causes the processor to perform the steps of: obtaining information on the type of contract to be determined; and referring to the type information stored in the memory unit to respond whether or not the type of contract to be determined obtained in the acquisition step can be concluded electronically.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus, method, and program.

Background Art

[0002] In business activities, transactions are conducted while parties conclude contracts. When concluding a contract, various departments within each party review the contract terms, examine the wording of the contract document, and then proceed to draft the contract. In addition, based on comments on each clause of the contract document from the counterparty of the contracting party, the parties agree on the contract terms, finalize the content of the contract document, and conclude the contract.

[0003] Conclusion of contracts through electronic contracts is also being promoted. Patent Document 1 points out that the problem to be addressed is "to prevent unauthorized agency by unauthorized persons in electronic contract services", and describes that "by enabling appropriate approver settings on the receiver side of the electronic contract service, it is possible to prevent unauthorized agency when a receiver without decision-making authority is set."

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] On the other hand, there are contracts that cannot be concluded electronically due to reasons that prevent them from being written electronically (for example, the need to be notarized). Also, there are contracts that can be written electronically but require the consent, request, or demand of the other party. These reasons why electronic contracts cannot be concluded are also due to legal requirements. Thus, whether an electronic contract can be used, whether a paper contract is required, or whether an electronic contract can be used with the prior consent of the other party, can change with legal revisions, making it difficult for businesses to fully grasp all of these changes. In particular, there is a risk that businesses may unknowingly proceed with concluding contracts on paper as before, even if they are now able to use electronic contracts without any restrictions.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need for technology that will further encourage the use of electronic contracts by making it easier for those who wish to use them to understand that electronic contracts are available. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to one embodiment, a program is provided for operating a computer having one or more computer processors. The memory unit is configured to store information on types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and types of contracts that can be concluded electronically. The program causes one or more computer processors to perform the steps of: acquiring information on the type of contract to be determined; and responding by referring to the type information stored in the memory unit whether or not the type of contract to be determined acquired in the acquisition step can be concluded electronically. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to this disclosure, by making it easier for those who wish to use electronic contracts to understand that they can use electronic contracts, the use of electronic contracts can be further encouraged. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1]Figure 1 shows the configuration of System 1. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows the configuration of server 20. [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows the configuration of terminal 10. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows the data structure of the user database 211. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows the data structure of the template database 212. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows the data structure of the approval request database 213. [Figure 7] Figure 7 shows the data structure of the review history database 214. [Figure 8] Figure 8 shows the data structure of the contract management database 215. [Figure 9] Figure 9 shows the data structure of the document management database 216. [Figure 10] Figure 10 shows the data structure of the legal consultation management database 217. [Figure 11] Figure 11 shows the data structure of the electronic contract type database 218. [Figure 12] Figure 12 shows the process flow for updating information on the types of contracts that can be concluded electronically. [Figure 13] Figure 13 shows the processing flow for determining whether a contract type can be electronically contracted, based on the type of contract information. [Figure 14] Figure 14 shows an example of an operation screen that retrieves information about the type of contract and responds whether it is a type that can be contracted electronically. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings for describing the embodiments, common constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted. It should be noted that the following embodiments do not unduly limit the content of the present disclosure described in the claims. In addition, not all the constituent elements shown in the embodiments are necessarily essential constituent elements of the present disclosure. Each drawing is a schematic view, and is not necessarily strictly illustrated.

[0011] Further, in the following description, the "processor" refers to one or more processors. At least one processor is typically a microprocessor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), but may be another type of processor such as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The at least one processor may be single-core or multi-core.

[0012] Further, the at least one processor may be a processor in a broad sense such as a hardware circuit (for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit)) that performs part or all of the processing.

[0013] Further, in the following description, an expression such as "xxx table" may be used to describe information that allows an output to be obtained for an input, and this information may be data of any structure, or a learning model such as a neural network that generates an output for an input. Accordingly, the "xxx table" can also be referred to as "xxx information".

[0014] Further, in the following description, the configuration of each table is an example, and one table may be divided into two or more tables, or all or part of two or more tables may be a single table.

[0015] Further, in the following description, processes may be described with a "program" as the subject, but since a program is executed by a processor to perform predetermined processes appropriately using a storage unit and / or an interface unit or the like, the subject of the processes may be the processor (or a device such as a controller including the processor).

[0016] The program may be installed in an apparatus such as a computer, or may be stored in, for example, a program distribution server or a computer-readable (e.g., non-transitory) recording medium. Further, in the following description, two or more programs may be implemented as a single program, or a single program may be implemented as two or more programs.

[0017] Further, in the following description, identification numbers are used as identification information for various targets, but other types of identification information (e.g., identifiers including alphabetic characters and codes) other than identification numbers may be adopted.

[0018] Further, in the following description, in the case where elements of the same type are described without being distinguished, reference signs (or common signs among the reference signs) may be used, and in the case where elements of the same type are described with distinction, the identification numbers (or reference signs) of the elements may be used.

[0019] Further, in the following description, control lines and information lines are those considered necessary for the description, and not all control lines and information lines on the product are necessarily shown. All configurations may be interconnected with each other.

[0020] <Outline of Embodiment> Hereinafter, embodiments will be described.

[0021] <First Embodiment> <1.1 Overall Configuration Diagram of System> Figure 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a system 1.

[0022] System 1, shown in Figure 1, includes a contract signing and document management service server 20, a user terminal 10, a business support system service server 92, a document review service server 93, an artificial intelligence (large-scale language model) service server 95, a document creation service server 96, and a sales support system service server 97. These devices are connected via a network 80.

[0023] In the illustrated example, terminal 10 is shown as the terminal used by users of the contract signing and document management service provided by server 20, but each user operates their own terminal.

[0024] Server 20 is a device that provides services for concluding contracts electronically and for managing document data concluded electronically. It should be noted that in System 1, the contract conclusion service provided by Server 20 and the document data management service may be provided by separate devices or different service providers. For example, Server 20 provides a document management service and, in addition to electronically signed contract data, may also optically scan paper contracts with seals to extract information such as the contract period and whether the contract is automatically renewed, and manage this information along with the scanned contract data. This allows for notifications to be sent to the user when the contract period expires.

[0025] Server 20 may also be a server that provides services to support tasks such as submitting approval requests to organizations (business companies, etc.) that conduct business activities. For example, Server 20 provides a service to users that enables them to design a workflow for obtaining budget approval with multiple users.

[0026] Terminal 10 is a device operated by the user.

[0027] The business support system service server 92 provides users with tools that can be used for the organization's business operations. The business support system service server 92 provides users with a system for submitting approval requests as part of the organization's business operations. The business support system service server 92 may also communicate with server 20 to provide server 20 with data accumulated by the approval request service.

[0028] The document review service server 93 accepts document data such as contracts and term sheets that define contract terms, and provides users with information on whether each clause is advantageous or disadvantageous to the company, whether there are any missing clauses, and the importance of the review items, thereby supporting the review of the document data. The document review service server 93 provides the above review support service using rule-based or pre-trained models. As a rule-based approach, for example, it may be possible to perform rule-based reviews of document data by associating specific wording or expressions with pre-defined information on whether the conditions are advantageous or disadvantageous, and explanations. Alternatively, for example, it may be possible to provide the above review service by generating a pre-trained model that responds with review results to document data input, using data from expert reviews of contracts, term sheets, etc., as training data. Furthermore, the document review service server 93 can also summarize the contents of contracts and generate review comments using a large-scale language model, and provide the results to the user. For example, the document review service server 93 may prompt the large-scale language model service server 95 with the document data to be reviewed (such as contract data) and information indicating the review criteria, and instruct the server 95 to perform the review according to the review criteria. By receiving the output of the large-scale language model service server 95, the server 93 may generate review comments for the document data. The document review service server 93 may also communicate with server 20 to provide the server 20 with data accumulated by the document review service.

[0029] Server 95 of the Large-Scale Language Model Service is a server that executes language processing tasks using language models built through learning processes including artificial intelligence (AI). An LLM (Large Language Model) is a model that has been pre-trained on large amounts of data (such as text data), for example, a large amount of web content on the internet, or a large amount of data stored in a designated database, and can perform various language processing tasks by being given a task.

[0030] The AI ​​service server 95 (sometimes referred to as the "large-scale language model service server 95") accepts prompt input in the form of text, images, audio, etc., and generates and responds with answers to those prompts. Examples of LLMs include GPT-3, GPT-4, and GPT-4o developed by OpenAI, and BERT developed by Google.

[0031] The document creation service server 96 provides a service for managing document data such as meeting minutes in organizations conducting business activities. Server 96 can issue URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) for accessing document data, and for example, if the user account of a user of the document creation service has access rights to the document data, the document data can be accessed via the URL. The document creation service server 96 may also be linked with a server that provides a schedule management service with calendar functionality, so that user accounts are common to both services. For example, having a user account may allow access to both the schedule management service and the document creation service. In this case, if document data from the document creation service is associated with a schedule, access rights to that document data may be set for users participating in the schedule.

[0032] The document creation service server 96 may communicate with server 20 to provide server 20 with data accumulated by the document creation service.

[0033] The sales support system service server 97 provides services to support sales activities. For example, the sales support system service server 97 provides the following to the user: • For each sales project, manage information such as the client, transaction details (amount, goods), transaction history (memos, meeting minutes, etc.), and responsible parties (our company, the other party, etc.). • Provide analysis results of sales performance for each sales team (e.g., trends in closing rates). The server 97 of the sales support system service may communicate with the server 20 to provide the server 20 with the data accumulated by the sales support system service.

[0034] In this embodiment, each device (terminal device, server, etc.) can also be considered as an information processing device. That is, the collection of each device can be considered as a single "information processing device," and System 1 may be formed as a collection of multiple devices. The way in which the multiple functions required to realize System 1 according to this embodiment are distributed to one or more hardware can be appropriately determined in view of the processing capacity of each hardware and / or the specifications required for System 1.

[0035] Terminal 10 can be implemented, for example, as follows: • Handheld mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets • Stationary PCs (Personal Computers), Laptop PCs • Wearable devices worn by the user (watch-type, glasses-type, etc.) Terminal 10 includes a communication interface (IF) 12, an input device 13, an output device 14, memory 15, storage 16, and a processor 19.

[0036] The communication interface 12 is an interface for inputting and outputting signals so that terminal 10 can communicate with an external device.

[0037] The input device 13 is a device for receiving input operations from the user (for example, a touch panel, touchpad, pointing device such as a mouse, keyboard, etc.).

[0038] The output device 14 is a device (such as a display or speaker) for presenting information to the user.

[0039] Memory 15 is for temporarily storing programs and data processed by programs, etc., and is a volatile memory such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).

[0040] Storage 16 is for storing data, and can be, for example, flash memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

[0041] The processor 19 is hardware for executing the instruction set described in the program, and consists of an arithmetic unit, registers, peripheral circuits, etc.

[0042] The server 20 includes a communication interface 22, an input / output interface 23, memory 25, storage 26, and a processor 29.

[0043] Communication IF22 is an interface for inputting and outputting signals so that the server 20 can communicate with external devices.

[0044] Input / Output IF23 functions as an interface between an input device for receiving user input operations and an output device for presenting information to the user.

[0045] Memory 25 is for temporarily storing programs and data processed by programs, etc., and is a volatile memory such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).

[0046] Storage 26 is for storing data, and can be, for example, flash memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

[0047] The processor 29 is hardware for executing the instruction set described in the program, and consists of an arithmetic unit, registers, peripheral circuits, etc.

[0048] <1.2 Functional Configuration of Server 20> Figure 2 shows the configuration of server 20. As shown in Figure 2, server 20 functions as a communication unit 201, a storage unit 202, and a control unit 203.

[0049] The communications unit 201 performs processing to enable the server 20 to communicate with external devices.

[0050] The memory unit 202 stores various databases, such as the user database 211, template database 212, approval request database 213, review history database 214, contract signing management database 215, document management database 216, and legal consultation management database 217.

[0051] User database 211 is a database for managing users.

[0052] User database 211 contains information necessary for using the services provided by server 20, such as the user's name and employee number. Further details will be provided later.

[0053] Template Database 212 is a database that manages templates for documents used in transactions between parties, such as contracts. Further details will be provided later.

[0054] The approval request database 213 is a database that manages applications for approval, such as those for concluding contracts. For example, server 20 communicates with server 92 of the business support system service to obtain information related to the approval request and update the approval request database 213. Further details will be described later.

[0055] Review History Database 214 is a database that manages the history of reviews performed on document data such as contracts. Further details will be provided later.

[0056] The contract signing management database 215 is a database that manages the contract signing process carried out by the electronic contract service provided by server 20. Further details will be described later.

[0057] The document management database 216 is a database for managing document data and includes information for managing document data concluded through the electronic contract service provided by server 20. Further details will be described later.

[0058] Legal Consultation Management Database 217 is a database for managing consultations made to the department responsible for legal consultations. Further details will be provided later.

[0059] The control unit 203 is realized when the processor 29 reads a program stored in the memory unit 202 and executes instructions contained in the program. By operating according to the program, the control unit 203 performs the functions shown as the reception control module 2041, transmission control module 2042, user management module 2043, contract signing processing module 2044, document management module 2045, approval processing module 2046, LLM utilization module 2047, review processing module 2048, template management module 2049, and consultation processing module 2050.

[0060] The receive control module 2041 controls the process by which the server 20 receives signals from external devices according to a communication protocol.

[0061] The transmission control module 2042 controls the process by which the server 20 transmits signals to external devices according to a communication protocol.

[0062] The user management module 2043 is a module for managing information for each user using System 1. Specifically, the user management module 2043 accepts registration of each user's information and updates the user database 211.

[0063] The contract signing module 2044 controls the process of parties approving document data as part of the process of concluding a contract electronically. Specifically, the contract signing module 2044 notifies each user approving the document data and updates the contract signing management database 215 in response to the operation of approving the document data.

[0064] The document management module 2045 controls the process of managing document data by referring to the document management database 216. Specifically, based on the contract period information set in the document data, the document management module 2045 notifies the user of whether to renew the contract upon the expiration of the contract period, and updates the document management database 216 in response to user actions (such as renewing the contract).

[0065] The approval processing module 2046 receives an operation from a user to submit an approval request and controls the process by which approvers approve the request. Specifically, the approval processing module 2046 notifies each user who approves the request and updates the approval request database 213 in response to the operation to approve the request.

[0066] The LLM utilization module 2047 is a program module that performs processing related to the use of LLM, such as generating prompts to send to the server 95 of the large-scale language model service, sending the generated prompts as instructions to the server 95 of the large-scale language model service, receiving the results output by the server 95 of the large-scale language model service in response to the instructions (prompts), and performing processing using the received results.

[0067] The review processing module 2048 records reviews of the document data to be reviewed (for example, each clause of a contract) and updates the review history database 214. The review processing module 2048 communicates with the document review service server 93 and sends the document data to be reviewed, causing the server 93 to perform the review process. The module receives the results and updates the review history database 214. The review processing module 2048 also accepts operations from the user performing the review (for example, operations to input comments in association with the entire contract or each clause of the contract) and updates the review history database 214.

[0068] The template management module 2049 is a program module that performs template management processes for document templates managed in the template database 212, such as accepting operations to register templates, editing templates, and notifying each user about edited templates.

[0069] The consultation processing module 2050 is a program module that updates databases such as the legal consultation management database 217 by processing consultations to the department in charge of consultations and by predicting the workload of consultations to the department in charge of consultations.

[0070] <1.3 Configuration of Terminal 10> Figure 3 shows the configuration of terminal 10.

[0071] As shown in Figure 3, terminal 10 includes multiple antennas (antenna 111, antenna 112), communication units corresponding to each antenna (first communication unit 120, second communication unit 121), 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 storage unit 180, and a control unit 190. Terminal 10 also has functions and configurations not specifically shown in Figure 3 (for example, a battery for maintaining power, a power supply circuit for controlling the supply of power from the battery to each circuit, etc.). As shown in Figure 3, each block included in terminal 10 is electrically connected by a bus or the like.

[0072] Antenna 111 radiates signals emitted by terminal 10 as radio waves. Antenna 111 also receives radio waves from space and provides the received signals to first communication unit 120.

[0073] Antenna 112 radiates signals emitted by terminal 10 as radio waves. Antenna 112 also receives radio waves from space and provides the received signals to the second communication unit 121.

[0074] The first communication unit 120 performs modulation and demodulation processing, etc., for the terminal 10 to transmit and receive signals via the antenna 111 in order to communicate with other wireless devices. The second communication unit 121 also performs modulation and demodulation processing, etc., for the terminal 10 to transmit and receive signals via the antenna 112 in order to communicate with other wireless devices. The first communication unit 120 and the second communication unit 121 are a communication module that includes a tuner, an RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) calculation circuit, a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) calculation circuit, a high-frequency circuit, etc. The first communication unit 120 and the second communication unit 121 perform modulation and demodulation, frequency conversion, etc., of the wireless signals transmitted and received by the terminal 10, and provide the received signal to the control unit 190.

[0075] The input device 130 has a mechanism for receiving user input operations. Specifically, the input device 130 is configured as a touchscreen and includes a touch-sensitive device 131. The touch-sensitive device 131 receives user input operations of the terminal 10. The touch-sensitive device 131 detects the user's contact position with the touch panel, for example, by using a capacitive touch panel. The touch-sensitive device 131 outputs a signal indicating the user's contact position detected by the touch panel to the control unit 190 as an input operation.

[0076] The display 132 displays data such as images, videos, and text in accordance with the control of the control unit 190. The display 132 is implemented by, for example, an LCD or an organic EL display.

[0077] The audio processing unit 140 modulates and demodulates the audio signal. The audio processing unit 140 modulates the signal received 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 implemented, for example, by an audio processing processor. The microphone 141 receives an audio input and provides the audio signal corresponding to that audio input to the audio processing unit 140. The speaker 142 converts the audio signal received from the audio processing unit 140 into sound and outputs the sound to the outside of the terminal 10.

[0078] The location information sensor 150 is a sensor that detects the location of the terminal 10, and is, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) module. A GPS module is a receiving device used in a satellite positioning system. In a satellite positioning system, signals are received from at least three or four satellites, and the current location of the terminal 10, which is equipped with a GPS module, is detected based on the received signals.

[0079] Camera 160 is a device that receives light using a photodetector and outputs it as an image. Camera 160 is, for example, a depth camera that can detect the distance from camera 160 to the object being photographed.

[0080] The motion sensor 170 includes an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor, etc., and detects the movement of the terminal 10.

[0081] The storage unit 180 is composed of, for example, flash memory and stores data and programs used by the terminal 10. The various types of information stored in the storage unit 180 will be described later.

[0082] The control unit 190 controls the operation of the terminal 10 by reading the program stored in the memory unit 180 and executing the instructions contained in the program. The control unit 190 is, for example, an application processor. By operating according to the program, the control unit 190 performs 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 memory control unit 195.

[0083] The operation reception unit 191 processes input operations from the user to an input device such as a touch-sensitive device 131. Based on the coordinate information of the touch-sensitive device 131 where the user's finger or the like has made contact, the operation reception 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.

[0084] The transmitting / receiving unit 192 performs processing to enable the terminal 10 to send and receive data with an external device such as a server 20 in accordance with a communication protocol.

[0085] The data processing unit 193 performs calculations on the data received as input by the terminal 10 according to the program and outputs the calculation results to memory or other locations.

[0086] The notification control unit 194 performs the following processes: displaying the display image on the display 132, outputting sound to the speaker 142, and generating vibrations.

[0087] The memory control unit 195 controls the storage of data to the memory unit 180.

[0088] The various types of information stored by the memory unit 180 will now be explained. In a given situation, the memory unit 180 stores various types of information, such as user information 181.

[0089] User information 181 is information about a user who uses the services of server 20. User information 181 includes, for example, the user's employee number, name, and other information.

[0090] <2 Data Structure> Figure 4 shows the data structure of the user database 211. The user database 211 includes the fields "User ID", "Business ID", "Name", "Email Address", "Department", "Position", "Date of Employment", "Date of Resignation", and "Qualifications Held".

[0091] The "User ID" field is information that identifies each user.

[0092] The "Business ID" field contains information that identifies each business.

[0093] The "Name" field contains the user's name information.

[0094] The "Email Address" field is information that identifies the user and serves as their contact information.

[0095] The "Department" field contains information about the user's department.

[0096] Specifically, the "Department" field may include the following information about the department to which the user belongs: • Departments that do not primarily handle legal affairs, such as business divisions and sales divisions. • Departments that primarily handle legal affairs, such as legal affairs departments and intellectual property departments. The "Job Title" field contains information about the user's job title.

[0097] The "Date of Joining" field contains information about the date the user joined the organization.

[0098] The "Resignation Date" field contains information about the date the user left the organization.

[0099] The "Qualifications Held" item contains information about the qualifications the user holds.

[0100] Specifically, the item "Qualifications Held" includes the following information regarding the qualifications held by the user. • Qualifications that demonstrate the expectation of possessing the knowledge necessary to review contracts, similar to that of a lawyer. • Qualifications that demonstrate knowledge of business activities, such as a Certified Management Consultant for Small and Medium Enterprises. • Qualifications such as Certified Public Accountant and Tax Accountant, which indicate that the individual possesses the necessary knowledge in accounting, taxation, and related fields. Figure 5 shows the data structure of the template database 212. The template database 212 includes the following items: "Contract template ID", "Contract document type", "Contract data", "Related legal tags", "Related issue tags", "Links to explanations of related laws and issues", "Status", "Start date of use", and "End date of use".

[0101] The item "Contract Template ID" is information that identifies each contract template managed by server 20.

[0102] The item "Contract Document Type" contains information about the type of contract template.

[0103] The item "Contract Document Type" may include contract templates and the following: Typical contract • Atypical contracts Term sheet template The item "Contract Data" contains information about the data file for the contract template.

[0104] More specifically, the item "Contract Data" is a data file in an editable format.

[0105] The item "Related Legal Tags" contains information about the types of laws and regulations related to the contract template.

[0106] The item "Related Legal Tags" may include the following as types of laws related to the contract template: • Information identifying the clauses in the contract template (for example, clauses such as "Article 3" or clauses such as "Article 4, Paragraph 2"), and relevant legal information for each clause. • Information on the entire contract (including the type of contract, such as a "non-disclosure agreement") and relevant laws and regulations. The item "Related Issue Tags" contains information about the types of issues related to the contract template.

[0107] The item "Related Issue Tags" may include the following as types of issues related to the contract template: • Information identifying the clauses in the contract template (for example, clauses such as "Article 3" or clauses such as "Article 4, Paragraph 2"), along with information on related issues for each clause. • Information on the entire contract (including the type of contract, such as a "non-disclosure agreement") and related issues. The item "Links to Explanations of Relevant Laws and Issues" contains reference information that includes explanations of laws and issues related to the contract.

[0108] The item "Links to explanations of related laws and issues" may include the following as reference information: • Information on links to books included in the book browsing service provided by server 99. This may also include links to sections in the book that explain the relevant laws and issues. • Information on links to articles posted on information media that provide legal information on websites. • Information on links to explanatory articles about laws or precedents, provided by Server 94 and other servers of the Legal and Case Law Information Provision Service. • Links to guidelines, standards, etc. issued by public institutions. The "Status" field indicates whether the contract template is available for use.

[0109] The "Status" field may include the following information regarding availability: • In use: Available as a template • Before use: A template is provided, but it is not yet usable. For example, it may become usable after a legal amendment is applied. • Under revision: The template is currently being revised. It may be considered unusable as a template, or it may be considered usable. • Termination of Use: Not currently used as a template. For example, its use as a template may be terminated due to the application of legal revisions. The item "Start Date of Use" contains information about when the template began to be used.

[0110] The item "Usage Termination Date" contains information about when the template will no longer be used.

[0111] Figure 6 shows the data structure of the approval request database 213. The approval request database 213 includes the fields "Approval Request ID", "Applicant ID", "Approver ID", "Application Date", "Approval Date", "Application Details", and "Contract ID".

[0112] The item "Approval Request ID" is information that identifies each approval request.

[0113] The "Applicant ID" field is information that identifies the user who submitted the approval request.

[0114] Specifically, the item "Applicant ID" may be associated with user information (User ID) managed in the user database 211.

[0115] The "Approver ID" field is information that identifies the user who is the approver of the proposal.

[0116] Specifically, the item "Approver ID" may be associated with user information (User ID) managed in the user database 211.

[0117] The "Application Date" field contains information about the date and time when the system received the operation from the user who will be submitting the approval request data, in order to request approval of the approval request data from each user.

[0118] The "Approval Date" field contains information about the date and time when the user approved the data in the approval request.

[0119] The item "Application Details" contains information that shows the content of the approval request.

[0120] Specifically, the item "Application Details" includes the following types of approval requests. • Conclusion of a contract • Budget approval • Expense claim The item "Contract Signing ID" is information that identifies each step in the contract signing process.

[0121] Specifically, the item "Contract Signing ID" may be associated with information (Contract Signing ID) that identifies each contract signing procedure, which is managed in the contract signing management database 215. This links the approval application data in the approval application database 213 with the contract signing data in the contract signing management database 215.

[0122] Figure 7 shows the data structure of the review history database 214. The review history database 214 includes the following items: "Review ID", "Document Data", "Document Management ID", "Review Date and Time", "Reviewing User", "Review Content", and "Review Requester's Rating".

[0123] The "Review ID" field is information that identifies each review performed on the document data.

[0124] The item "Document Data" contains information about the document data that will be reviewed.

[0125] The "Document Management ID" field is information that identifies each document data being managed.

[0126] Specifically, the item "Document Management ID" may be associated with information (Document Management ID) that identifies each document data managed in the document management database 216.

[0127] The "Review Date and Time" field contains information about the date and time the review was performed.

[0128] The item "Reviewing User" contains information about the user who conducted the review.

[0129] The item "Review Content" contains information that shows the results of the review.

[0130] Specifically, the item "Review Content" may include the following as a result of the review: • Results of the review by server 93 of the document review service (e.g., advantages / disadvantages of conditions, importance, proposed revisions) • Comments and suggested revisions entered by users (including information about the user who entered the review comment) The item "Review Requester's Rating" is information that shows the user's rating of the reviewer's review content.

[0131] Specifically, the item "Review Requester's Rating" includes the results of the user who requested the review evaluating the reviewer based on the actions they took with respect to the review results, and may include the following: • The user who requested the review sets a score for the review results. • The number of "likes" and other reactions on posts made to contact users about reviewing a product via messaging tools, etc. Figure 8 shows the data structure of the contract management database 215. The contract management database 215 includes the following fields: "Contract ID", "Sender ID", "Recipient ID", "Contract Target Data", "First Email Address", "Second Email Address", "Sending Date and Time", "User Signature Date and Time", "Contract Completion Date and Time", and "Status".

[0132] The item "Contract Signing ID" is information that identifies each step in the contract signing process.

[0133] Specifically, the item "Contract ID" includes identification information issued by server 20 when a new registration is accepted for the process of concluding an electronic contract by specifying an approver for document data that is subject to approval by the parties.

[0134] The "Sender ID" field is information that identifies the party who will be sending the document data when the party approves it.

[0135] Specifically, the item "Sender ID" may be associated with information about a business operator (Business ID) or information about a user (User ID) managed in the user database 211.

[0136] The "Recipient ID" field is information that identifies the recipient when they approve document data.

[0137] Specifically, the item "Recipient ID" is information that identifies the party designated as the recipient by the sender's user, and like the sender ID, it may be associated with information about a business operator (business operator ID) or information about a user (user ID) managed in the user database 211.

[0138] The item "Data Subject to Agreement" refers to the document data that the parties are required to approve.

[0139] Specifically, the item "Data subject to conclusion" refers to data (files such as PDFs) of transaction documents such as contracts, application forms, and quotations.

[0140] The item "First Email Address" is information that identifies the user who will be the sender in the process of concluding a contract by approving document data, and is the email address that serves as the contact address for that user.

[0141] Specifically, the item "First Email Address" is the email address of the user who performs the operation of sending the document data as the sender.

[0142] The item "Second Email Address" is information that identifies the user who approves the document data as the recipient in the process of concluding a contract by approving the document data, and is the email address that serves as the contact address for that user.

[0143] Specifically, the item "Second Email Address" is the email address of the user who approves the document data as the recipient. Note that there may be multiple users approving the document on each party's side, and if the user sending the document data specifies the email addresses of multiple users who will approve the document data, the contract management database 215 will also manage each of the specified email addresses.

[0144] The "Sending Date and Time" field contains information about the date and time when the sender, a user, initiated the process of requesting approval of the document data from each user.

[0145] The "User Signature Date and Time" field contains information about the date and time when the user performed an approval operation on the document data.

[0146] Specifically, the item "User Signature Date and Time" includes information about the timing when a user who has been requested to approve the document data reviews and approves the document data, and the server 20 accepts this operation, thereby electronically signing the document data. The server 20 electronically signs the document data each time a user performs the approval operation, and stores the timing information in the signing management database 215.

[0147] The item "Date and Time of Contract Completion" contains information about the date and time when the contract was completed.

[0148] Specifically, the item "Contract Completion Date and Time" is recorded in the contract management database 215 when the contract is concluded using the electronic contract service provided by server 20. The contract is considered concluded when all users designated to approve the document data complete the approval process.

[0149] The "Status" field indicates the stage in the contract signing process.

[0150] Specifically, the item "Status" may include the following as stages in the contract signing process: • Before sending: Indicates that the document data has been registered on server 20 by the sender, but has not yet been sent to the recipient. • In Progress: Indicates that the document data has been sent, but approval by each user has not yet been completed. • Completed: Indicates that the contract has been finalized. • Rejected, Returned: Indicates a situation where the contract was not finalized due to circumstances such as the user not approving the document data, or a timeout occurring after a certain period of time had elapsed before approval was complete. Figure 9 shows the data structure of the document management database 216. The document management database 216 includes the following items: "Document Management ID", "Contract Signing ID", "Document Title", "Contract Start Date", "Contract Expiration Date", "Automatic Renewal Status", and "Viewing Permission".

[0151] The "Document Management ID" field is information that identifies each document data being managed.

[0152] The "Contract Signing ID" field is information that identifies each contract signing procedure performed by the parties to approve the document data.

[0153] Specifically, the item "Contract Signing ID" may be associated with information (Contract Signing ID) that identifies each contract signing, which is managed in the contract signing management database 215.

[0154] The "Document Title" field contains information about the title of the document data being managed.

[0155] Specifically, the item "Document Title" may be a term used as the type or name of a contract, such as a confidentiality agreement, a sales agreement, or a license agreement.

[0156] The item "Contract Start Date" is the information shown in the document data as the contract start date.

[0157] Specifically, the item "Contract Start Date" may be set to the following value: • When the contract is finalized, Server 20 reads the contract start date from the contract data. • Information received from the user as the contract start date The same applies to the following items: "Contract Expiration Date" and "Automatic Renewal Status".

[0158] The item "Contract Expiration Date" is the information shown in the document data as the contract's expiration date.

[0159] The item "Automatic Renewal Status" indicates, in the document data, whether or not the contract period will be automatically extended (automatically renewed) without the parties specifically renegotiating a new contract upon the expiration of the contract period.

[0160] The item "Viewing Permission" is information about users who are set to have viewing permission for documents (e.g., contracts) managed in the document management database 216. Server 20 may allow users set as stakeholders of a document to view the document, and may not allow users who are not set to view the document to view it.

[0161] Specifically, the "Viewing Permissions" item may be used to manage the following users as stakeholders in the document data. - Users recorded in the contract management database 215 as users who approve document data. Note that the server 20 may identify the parties involved in the document data by referring to the users who approved the document data in the contract management database 215, rather than retaining the information of the parties involved in the document management database 216. • In the contract signing service provided by Server 20, in addition to the user who approves the document data, the server also accepts the designation of users to whom the data will be shared once the contract is signed. These designated users (the users to whom the data is transferred) are the ones specified. For example, in the case of minutes of a board meeting, a director may approve the document data, and then share the approved minutes with other users such as executive officers. • Other users designated by users who approve the document data, users who have permission to view the document data, etc. Furthermore, the "Viewing Permissions" item may be configured to include information that identifies departments or divisions within an organization, rather than individuals. For example, it may be possible to configure information corresponding to the "Department" item in user database 211. In other words, by defining which departments or divisions can view documents, users in those departments or divisions within the organization can view the documents.

[0162] Figure 10 shows the data structure of the legal consultation management database 217. The legal consultation management database 217 includes the following fields: "Consultation ID", "Consultation Date and Time", "Consultant User ID", "Consultant Department", "Consultation Title", "Consultation Content", "Consultation Type", "Source of Consultation Content Extraction", "Summary of Extracted Consultation Content", "Consultation Content Extraction Date and Time", "Response Date and Time", "Respondent User ID", "Respondent Department", "Response Content", and "Consultation Status".

[0163] The "Consultation ID" field is information that identifies each individual consultation history between departments.

[0164] The item "Consultation Date and Time" indicates the time when the consultation was received.

[0165] More specifically, the item "Consultation Date and Time" includes information about the timing when a consultation request was sent to a specific department, such as the legal department, from another department via messaging tools or similar means.

[0166] The item "Consultant User ID" is information that identifies the user who made the consultation.

[0167] The item "Consultant User ID" may be associated with the item "User ID" in user database 211.

[0168] The "Consultant Department" field contains information about the department to which the user who submitted the consultation belongs.

[0169] The item "Consultant Department" may be associated with the item "Department" in user database 211.

[0170] The item "Consultation Title" contains information about the brief title of the consultation.

[0171] More specifically, the item "Consultation Title" may be the title set by the consultant, or it may include the result summarized by the server 95 of the large-scale language model service based on the consultation content.

[0172] The item "Consultation Details" contains information about specific consultations from other departments.

[0173] More specifically, the item "Consultation Details" includes information about the consultation details entered by the person seeking advice.

[0174] The item "Type of consultation" contains information about the attributes of the consultation content.

[0175] More specifically, the item "Type of consultation" may include information on the type set by the person seeking consultation or the user of the department handling the consultation, or attribute information assigned by the server 95 of the large-scale language model service based on information such as the content of the consultation and the department of the person seeking consultation.

[0176] The item "Source of Consultation Content" contains information about the source from which the consultation content was extracted.

[0177] More specifically, the item "Source of Consultation Content" may be the result of the user making the consultation specifying a link to a post made in the messaging tool, or it may include business data on the consultation content collected by Server 20 without user operation, such as data created by the department making the consultation, which is managed by the messaging service server 98, the sales support system service server 97, the document creation service server 96, etc., and which contains specific keywords related to the consultation (for example, words that frequently appear in consultations with the legal department, such as "contract" and "legal risk," or words that are set in advance by the legal department, etc.).

[0178] The item "Summary of extracted consultation content" contains information summarizing the consultation content extracted from the information source.

[0179] More specifically, the item "Summary of Extracted Consultation Content" includes information obtained by identifying business data that meets certain conditions, such as containing specific keywords, from the information source, and summarizing the content of that data using the large-scale language model service server 95, etc. The summarization method may involve abstractly summarizing the content mentioned in the information source (for example, abstracting the themes being discussed), or by extracting the most important words from those mentioned in the information source. The summary may be in sentence form or word form.

[0180] The item "Date and time of extraction of consultation content" contains information about when the consultation content was extracted.

[0181] More specifically, the item "Date and time of extraction of consultation content" may be the time when the business data was generated at the information source that was extracted, or it may include information about the time when the extraction was performed.

[0182] The "Response Date and Time" field indicates the timing at which the response to the inquiry was provided by the department responsible for the response.

[0183] The item "Respondent User ID" is information that identifies the user who initiated the consultation.

[0184] The item "Respondent User ID" may be associated with the item "User ID" in user database 211.

[0185] The "Respondent Department" field contains information about the department to which the user who submitted the consultation belongs.

[0186] The item "Respondent Department" may be associated with the item "Department" in user database 211.

[0187] The item "Response Content" contains information about the response provided by the respondent to the consultation.

[0188] The "Consultation Status" field provides information about the current status of the consultation.

[0189] More specifically, the item "Consultation Status" includes statuses such as "Not Response," "Response Completed," etc.

[0190] Figure 11 shows the data structure of the Electronic Contract Type Database 218. The Electronic Contract Type Database 218 includes the following fields: "Type ID", "Contract Document Type Name", "Electronic Contract Compatibility Classification", "Legal Basis", "Registration Date and Time", "Last Updated Date and Time", "Valid Status", "Notarized Document Required Flag", "Related Document Link", and "Contact Information".

[0191] The "Type ID" field is an ID used to uniquely identify each contract document type and serves as key information for managing records within the system.

[0192] The item "Contract Document Type Name" indicates the name or title of the contract in question, and is information that lists the specific contract name regarding whether or not it can be used as an electronic contract.

[0193] The item "Electronic Contract Compatibility Classification" is attribute information that indicates whether the relevant contract type can be concluded electronically, or if it is subject to specific conditions such as acceptance or preference.

[0194] The "Legal Basis" section is where you list the main laws, articles, and standard information applicable to the relevant contract document type.

[0195] The "Registration Date and Time" field is timing information indicating the date and time when the contract type record was first registered in the system.

[0196] The "Last Updated" field indicates the date and time when the record content was updated to its most recent state.

[0197] The "Active Status" field is status information that manages whether the relevant contract type record is currently active and its operational status (e.g., active, inactive, being renewed, etc.).

[0198] The item "Notarized Document Required Flag" is a flag that is turned ON when a notarized document procedure is required at the time of contract conclusion, and it is flag information that indicates the reason why electronic contracts cannot be applied.

[0199] The "Related Document Links" item is data file information that manages the file names and paths of documents related to the relevant contract type, such as legal explanation materials, contract samples, and additional specifications.

[0200] The item "Contact Information for Inquiries" contains contact information for the department and person in charge of inquiries and detailed confirmations regarding the contract type in question.

[0201] <3 operations> Figure 12 shows the process flow for updating information on the types of contracts that can be concluded electronically.

[0202] In step S1211, terminal 10 sends a request (trigger) to server 20 to update the database of contract types that can be electronically contracted, based on the latest legal amendment information and related news, according to the user's or system's automatic schedule. Alternatively, server 20 may periodically start updating the database when it detects that information on contract types that can be electronically contracted has been updated in information sources such as blogs related to contracts.

[0203] In step S1221, the document management module 2045 of server 20 collects the latest electronic contract-related information from blogs, news articles, or other data sources concerning contracts, regarding the types of contracts that can and cannot be concluded electronically.

[0204] In step S1222, the document management module 2045 of server 20 performs text analysis and natural language processing on the acquired external information to extract changes and new information regarding contract document types that can be concluded electronically.

[0205] In step S1223, the document management module 2045 of the server 20 compares the extracted change information with records in the existing electronic contract type database 218 to detect and determine the records (additions, modifications, deletions) of contract document types that require updating.

[0206] In step S1224, the document management module 2045 of the server 20 automatically updates the corresponding contract document type record based on the determination result and updates the electronic contract type database 218 to reflect the latest electronic contract compatibility status.

[0207] As described above, the document management module 2045 constructs a database of types of documents that cannot be concluded electronically: it refers to blogs, news articles, etc. related to contracts and updates the types of documents that cannot be concluded electronically in the electronically contractable type database 218. The document management module 2045 obtains information on types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and types of contracts that can be concluded electronically by referring to information from sources including articles related to contracts, and updates the information on types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and types of contracts that can be concluded electronically stored in the electronically contractable type database 218 of the storage unit 202 based on the obtained type information.

[0208] In step S1225, the document management module 2045 of the server 20 generates a log and update status after the update process is completed, records them for internal audits, and generates the latest database (electronically contractable type database 218) that reflects the update results.

[0209] In step S1226, the document management module 2045 of the server 20 sends a notification to the terminal 10 indicating the completion of the update and the processing results (update details, error check results, etc.), thereby sharing the status between systems.

[0210] In step S1212, terminal 10 displays the received update results and notifications on the screen, allowing the user to check the latest update status and content of the DB (electronic contract type database 218).

[0211] Figure 13 shows the processing flow for determining whether a contract type can be electronically contracted, based on the type of contract information.

[0212] In step S1311, terminal 10 receives an operation from the user to input or select the name and attributes of the contract document type (e.g., "Confidentiality Agreement", "Notice of Employment Conditions", etc.) on the search screen, and sends a search request to server 20 to determine whether or not it is possible to conclude the contract by electronic contract for that type of contract.

[0213] The document management module 2045, as part of its search process, accepts a specification of the contract type and responds with whether or not electronic contracts are available.

[0214] The electronic contract type database 218 of the memory unit 202 is configured to store information on the types of contracts that can and cannot be concluded electronically. The document management module 2045 obtains information on the type of contract to be determined.

[0215] In step S1321, the document management module 2045 of the server 20 analyzes the received search request and extracts information on the relevant contract document type from the electronic contract type database 218 according to the conditions specified by the user. • Presenting information on contract types to the user: (Pre-contract) Triggered by accepting the upload of contract data before contract signing in the service. The document management module 2045 may acquire information on the type of contract that is subject to determination, and may acquire information on the type of contract data in response to the acceptance of registration of contract data that defines contract terms and conditions and is prior to the conclusion of a contract. • Situations where information on contract types is presented to the user: (Specific examples before signing) Matter management (negotiation phase), contract review, and the timing when contract data is uploaded during the contract signing stage. The document management module 2045 may acquire information on the type of contract data in response to the acceptance of registration of contract data prior to contract conclusion in at least one of the following services: a service for managing data related to legal consultations (data from the legal consultation management database 217), a service for reviewing contract terms related to contracts (data from the review history database 214), and a service for enabling contract conclusion by electronic contract (conclusion management database 215, document management database 216). • Presenting information on contract types to the user: (While managing contract data after signing) Referencing the contract signing record DB (document management database 216), and triggering a notification when a new contract that can be electronically signed is added to the list of signed contracts. The document management database 216 of the storage unit 202 is configured to store data on concluded contracts. The document management module 2045 may also acquire information on the types of concluded contracts stored in the document management database 216 of the storage unit 202. • Other: The template database displays the status of electronic contract compatibility. It manages a template database (template types, template contract data). The database manages whether a template is compatible with electronic contracts. When a template becomes compatible with electronic contracts, this is indicated. The template database 212 of the storage unit 202 is configured to store information about the template of each type of contract. The document management module 2045 may also retrieve information about the type of template of the contract stored in the template database 212 of the storage unit 202.

[0216] In step S1322, the document management module 2045 of the server 20 performs a determination process to determine whether an electronic contract is available or not by referring to the electronic contract type database 218 for the extracted contract document type information, based on various attributes such as the electronic contract compatibility classification ("Yes", "No", "Acceptance Required", "Request Required", etc.), the legal basis, and the update date and time.

[0217] In step S1323, the document management module 2045 of the server 20 formats the determination result as a response that includes the status of whether or not an electronic contract is possible, the relevant laws and regulations, and other supplementary information (e.g., a flag indicating that a notarized document is required, the last updated date and time, etc.), and sends it back to the terminal 10.

[0218] The document management module 2045 refers to the type information stored in the electronic contract type database 218 of the storage unit 202 and responds whether or not the type of contract to be determined in step S1321 can be concluded as an electronic contract.

[0219] The document management module 2045 may respond to contract data prior to contract signing by indicating whether or not the type of contract data can be concluded electronically.

[0220] The document management module 2045 may respond to a service that has received registration of contract data by indicating whether or not the type of contract data can be concluded as an electronic contract.

[0221] The document management module 2045 may also respond to information about the types of contracts that have been concluded by indicating that a new type of contract that can be concluded electronically has been added to the list of contracts that have been concluded. • Presentation of the advantages of digitization: The percentage of contracts handled by organizations that can be digitized and those that have already been digitized will be compiled and displayed. The document management module 2045 may also respond with information based on the number of contracts that can be concluded electronically and the number of those contracts that have been concluded electronically, by referring to the information on the types of concluded contracts stored in the document management database 216 of the storage unit 202.

[0222] The document management module 2045 may also display the result of determining whether a contract template managed in the template database 212 is of a type that can be concluded electronically, in association with the contract template on the screen that displays the contract template. Here, if the type of contract template changes from one that cannot be concluded electronically to one that can be concluded electronically, the document management module 2045 may also display a statement indicating that it has become one that can be concluded electronically, in association with the contract template.

[0223] In step S1312, terminal 10 receives the returned response result and displays judgment information such as "Electronic contract possible" or "Electronic contract not possible" and detailed information on the screen as a search result, so that the user can understand the content.

[0224] <4 Screen Examples> Figure 14 shows an example of an operation screen that retrieves information about the type of contract and responds whether it is a type that can be contracted electronically.

[0225] Operation screen 1400 is an operation screen that accepts the upload of a contract and responds whether it is a type that can be used for electronic contracts.

[0226] The operation screen 1400 corresponds to each process in Figure 13.

[0227] The upload status display area 1402 is an area that displays status information such as the progress of the file upload process, error messages, and completion notifications.

[0228] The electronic contract response result display area 1404 is an area that displays whether the uploaded contract can be electronically contracted, the reason, and detailed results (e.g., "OK" or "Not OK").

[0229] The file selection section 1406 is an input field for the user to select a contract file, and is an operational component that allows the user to specify a file by launching a file browser or by dragging and dropping.

[0230] The contract type specification section 1408 is a field for entering the contract type in free text when automatic extraction from the file is not possible, and is an operating component that accepts the specification.

[0231] The upload execution unit 1410 is a button for confirming the upload process of the selected contract file, and is an operating component that accepts an operation in which the file transmission is executed when the user presses it.

[0232] The re-upload / reset operation unit 1412 is a button that resets the operation to clear the upload results and allow file selection and uploading again, and is an operating component that accepts the operation.

[0233] The electronic contract signing operation unit 1414 is an operation component that accepts an operation to transition to the contract signing screen via electronic contract when the contract is of a type that can be electronically signed.

[0234] <Other> The features described in each of the above embodiments can be combined. In the above description of embodiments, an example was described in which the server 20 communicates with the server 95 of the large-scale language model service to prompt the large-scale language model and have it execute processing. In this way, the server 20 can prompt a system that performs language processing to perform information processing according to the prompt. Such an information processing system that performs language processing may use an external device (for example, the server 95 of the large-scale language model service), or it may be executed by an information processing system built into the server 20 or terminal 10 (for example, a processor for language processing).

[0235] A network consists of various mobile communication systems, such as the internet, LANs, and wireless base stations. For example, a network includes 3G, 4G, and 5G mobile communication systems, LTE (Long Term Evolution), and wireless networks that can connect to the internet via designated access points (e.g., Wi-Fi®). When connecting wirelessly, communication protocols include, for example, Z-Wave®, ZigBee®, and Bluetooth®. When connecting via a wired connection, the network also includes connections made directly via USB (Universal Serial Bus) cables, etc.

[0236] Furthermore, by distributing all or part of each hardware configuration across multiple computers and connecting them to each other via a network, a computer can be virtually realized. Thus, the concept of a computer includes not only computers housed in a single enclosure or case, but also virtualized computer systems.

[0237] A database, specifically a relational database, is used to manage and link together tabular data sets called masters, which are structurally defined by rows and columns. In a database, tables are called tables, masters are called masters, the columns of tables are called columns, and the rows of tables are called records. In a relational database, relationships can be established and linked between tables and masters.

[0238] Typically, each table and master has a primary key column to uniquely identify records, but setting a primary key column is not mandatory. The control unit can instruct the processor 901 to add, delete, or update records in specific tables and masters stored in the memory unit, according to various programs.

[0239] Furthermore, by storing data, various programs, and various databases in the memory unit, the information processing device and information processing system related to this disclosure can be considered to have been manufactured.

[0240] Furthermore, the databases and masters in this disclosure may include any data structures (lists, dictionaries, associative arrays, objects, etc.) in which information is structurally defined. Data structures also include data that can be considered as data structures by combining data with functions, classes, methods, etc., written in any programming language.

[0241] Furthermore, each of the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc., may be implemented in hardware, either partially or entirely, by designing them as integrated circuits, for example. The present invention can also be implemented by software program code that realizes the functions of the embodiment. In this case, a storage medium on which the program code is recorded is provided to a computer, and the processor of that computer reads the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code read from the storage medium itself realizes the functions of the embodiment described above, and the program code itself and the storage medium on which it is stored constitute the present invention. Examples of storage media used to supply such program code include flexible disks, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, hard disks, SSDs, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-Rs, magnetic tapes, non-volatile memory cards, ROMs, and the like.

[0242] Furthermore, the program code that implements the functions described in this embodiment can be implemented in a wide range of programming or scripting languages, such as assembler, C / C++, Perl, Shell, PHP, and Java (registered trademark).

[0243] Furthermore, the program code for the software that implements the functions of the embodiment may be distributed via a network and stored in a storage means such as a computer's hard disk or memory, or in a storage medium such as a CD-RW or CD-R, and the computer's processor may read and execute the program code stored in the storage means or storage medium.

[0244] The functions realized by the components described herein may be implemented in a circuit or processing circuitry, including general-purpose processors, application-specific processors, integrated circuits, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), CPUs (a Central Processing Unit), conventional circuits, and / or combinations thereof, programmed to realize the functions described herein. A processor is considered to be a circuit or processing circuitry, including transistors and other circuits. A processor may be a programmed processor that executes a program stored in memory.

[0245] In this specification, circuitry, unit, and means are hardware programmed to perform or execute the functions described herein. Such hardware may be any hardware disclosed herein, or any hardware known to be programmed to perform or execute the functions described herein.

[0246] If the hardware is a processor that is considered to be a type of circuitry, then the circuitry, means, or unit is a combination of hardware and software used to constitute the hardware and / or processor.

[0247] While several embodiments of this disclosure have been described above, these embodiments can be implemented in a variety of other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications are permitted without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as in the claims and their equivalents.

[0248] (Note) The details described in each of the above embodiments are noted below.

[0249] (Note 1) A program for operating a computer having one or more computer processors, wherein the memory unit is configured to store information on types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and types of contracts that can be concluded electronically, and the program causes one or more computer processors to perform the steps of: acquiring information on types of contracts to be determined; and referring to the type information stored in the memory unit to respond whether or not the type of contract to be determined acquired in the acquisition step can be concluded electronically.

[0250] (Note 2) The program, as described in Appendix 1, causes one or more computer processors to perform the steps of obtaining information on types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and types that can be concluded electronically by referring to information from sources that include articles relating to contracts, and updating the information on types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and types that can be concluded electronically, which is stored in the memory, based on the obtained type information.

[0251] (Note 3) A program as described in either Appendix 1 or 2, wherein in the acquisition step, information on the type of contract subject to determination is acquired, and in response to the acceptance of registration of contract data that defines contract terms and conditions and is contract data before conclusion, information on the type of said contract data is acquired, and in the response step, for contract data before conclusion, the program responds whether or not the type of said contract data can be concluded as an electronic contract.

[0252] (Note 4) The program described in Appendix 3, wherein in the acquisition step, in at least one of the following services—a service for managing data related to legal consultations, a service for reviewing contract terms related to contracts, and a service for enabling contract conclusion via electronic contracts—the program acquires information on the type of contract data in response to the acceptance of registration of contract data prior to contract conclusion, and in the response step, the service that accepted the registration of contract data responds whether or not the type of contract data can be concluded via electronic contract.

[0253] (Note 5) A program as described in any of Appendix 1 to 4, wherein the memory unit is configured to store data of concluded contracts, and in the acquisition step, information on the type of concluded contract stored in the memory unit is acquired, and in the response step, if there are any concluded contracts that have become eligible for electronic contracts after the time they were concluded, the program responds that the number of concluded contracts that can be concluded electronically has increased.

[0254] (Note 6) The program described in Appendix 5, which, in the response step, refers to information on the types of concluded contracts stored in the memory unit, and responds with information based on the number of contracts that can be concluded electronically and the number of those contracts that have been concluded electronically.

[0255] (Note 7) The program according to any one of appendices 1 to 6, wherein the storage unit is configured to store template information of the contract document for each type of contract document; in the obtaining step, information on the type of the contract document template stored in the storage unit is obtained; in the responding step, the result of determining whether the contract document template is of a type that can be concluded by an electronic contract is displayed in association with the contract document template on a screen that displays the contract document template, and when the type of the contract document template is changed from a type that cannot be concluded by an electronic contract to a type that can be concluded by an electronic contract, the fact that the type has become one that can be concluded by an electronic contract is displayed in association with the contract document template.

[0256] (Appendix 8) A method executed by a computer comprising one or more computer processors, wherein the storage unit is configured to store information on the types of contract documents that cannot be concluded by electronic contracts and contract documents that can be concluded by electronic contracts, and the method comprises the steps of: causing the one or more computer processors to obtain information on the type of a contract document to be determined; and responding as to whether or not the type of the contract document to be determined obtained in the obtaining step can be concluded by an electronic contract by referring to the type information stored in the storage unit.

[0257] (Appendix 9) An information processing device, wherein the storage unit is configured to store information on the types of contract documents that cannot be concluded by electronic contracts and contract documents that can be concluded by electronic contracts, and the control unit of the information processing device executes a step of obtaining information on the type of a contract document to be determined, and a step of responding as to whether or not the type of the contract document to be determined obtained in the obtaining step can be concluded by an electronic contract by referring to the type information stored in the storage unit.

Claims

1. A program for operating a computer having one or more computer processors, The memory unit is configured to store information on the types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and those that can be concluded electronically. The program is configured on one or more computer processors. Steps to obtain information on the type of contract to be judged, A program that, by referring to the type information stored in the memory unit, performs the step of responding whether or not the type of contract to be determined in the acquisition step can be concluded as an electronic contract.

2. The program further provides the following to one or more computer processors: The program according to claim 1, which performs the step of obtaining information on types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and types of contracts that can be concluded electronically by referring to information from a source that includes articles on contracts, and updating the information on types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and types of contracts that can be concluded electronically stored in the storage unit based on the obtained information on the types.

3. In the aforementioned acquisition step, information on the type of contract subject to the determination is acquired, and in response to the acceptance of registration of contract data that defines contract terms and conditions prior to the conclusion of the contract, information on the type of said contract data is acquired. The program according to claim 1, wherein in the response step, it responds whether or not the type of contract data can be concluded by electronic contract with respect to the contract data prior to the conclusion of the contract.

4. In the acquisition step described above, in at least one of the following services, which manage data related to legal consultations, which reviews contract terms related to contracts, and which enables contract conclusion by electronic contract, information on the type of contract data is acquired in response to the acceptance of registration of the contract data prior to the conclusion of the contract. The program according to claim 3, wherein in the response step, the service that received the registration of the contract data responds whether or not the type of contract data can be concluded by electronic contract.

5. The aforementioned storage unit is configured to store data of concluded contracts. In the acquisition step described above, information on the type of the concluded contract stored in the storage unit is acquired. The program according to claim 1, wherein, in the response step, if any of the information regarding the type of contract already concluded has become eligible for electronic contract conclusion after the time of conclusion, the program responds that the number of types of contract already concluded that can be concluded electronically has increased.

6. The program according to claim 5, which in the response step refers to the information of the type of concluded contract stored in the storage unit to respond with information based on the number of contracts that can be concluded electronically and the number of those contracts that have been concluded electronically.

7. The aforementioned storage unit is configured to store information on a template contract for each type of contract. In the aforementioned acquisition step, information on the type of contract template stored in the storage unit is acquired. In the response step described above, the result of determining whether the contract template is of a type that can be concluded electronically is displayed on the screen displaying the contract template, in association with the contract template. The program according to claim 1, which, when the type of contract template changes from one that cannot be concluded electronically to one that can be concluded electronically, displays a statement indicating that it can now be concluded electronically, in association with the contract template.

8. A method performed by a computer having one or more computer processors, The memory unit is configured to store information on the types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and those that can be concluded electronically. The above method involves one or more computer processors, Steps to obtain information on the type of contract to be judged, A method comprising: referring to the type information stored in the memory unit, to respond whether or not the type of contract to be determined in the acquisition step can be concluded as an electronic contract.

9. An information processing device, The memory unit is configured to store information on the types of contracts that cannot be concluded electronically and those that can be concluded electronically. The control unit of the information processing device, Steps to obtain information on the type of contract to be judged, An information processing device that performs the steps of: referring to the type information stored in the memory unit to respond whether or not the type of contract to be determined in the acquisition step can be concluded as an electronic contract.

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