System and method for providing recommended application date, and system and method for providing predicted application publication date

Abstract

To reduce a risk that an application of a design is laid-open before a product according to the design is laid-open, while securing an earlier application date.SOLUTION: A recommended application date provision system provides such a recommended application date of a design that an application of the design is laid-open after a product according to the design is laid-open. A storage unit stores a main database including a required number of days from an application date to a laying-open date of the design application in each country. A control unit has an input acceptance unit, a required number-of-days specification unit, and a recommended application date calculation unit. The input acceptance unit acquires a scheduled product laying-open date of the design and a scheduled application country of the design. The required number-of-days specification unit specifies the required number-of-days in the scheduled application country from the main database. The recommended application date calculation unit calculates the recommended application date of the design in the scheduled application country on the basis of the scheduled product laying-open date of the design and the required number-of-days.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a recommended application filing date, and a system and method for providing a predicted application publication date. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a design information display device that displays design information related to designs that are industrial property. The design information display device searches for design information from a database that stores design information, and displays the searched design information on a display unit. Furthermore, the design information device searches for design information related to design information selected by a user from the design information displayed on the display unit from the database, and displays the searched design information on the display unit. The design information related to the selected design information is, for example, information on a design similar to the selected design. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-64836 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, since a design is a representation of the external shape of an article, if the applied design is made public by being published in the Design Gazette, others may become aware of the applicant's future design trends and may create designs that are a derivative of that design.

[0005] The objective of the present invention is to reduce the risk of a design application being published before the publication of the product to which the design relates, while still securing an earlier filing date. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a system for providing a recommended filing date for a design that is to be published after the product publication of the design, the system comprising: a memory unit in which a main database including the number of days required from the filing date to the publication date of a design application in each country is recorded; a control unit that calculates the recommended filing date for at least one design; It is equipped with The control unit is An input receiving unit for acquiring a planned product release date of the design and a planned country of application of the design; a time required specification unit that specifies the time required in the country where the application is planned from the main database; a recommended filing date calculation unit that calculates a recommended filing date for the design in the country where the application is planned based on the planned product release date of the design and the required number of days; has.

[0007] One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a method for providing a recommended filing date for a design to be published after a product publication of the design, using a storage unit in which a main database including the number of days required from the filing date to the publication date of the design in each country is recorded, a processor, and a non-transitory recording means for recording computer readable instructions executed by the processor, the method including: Obtain the planned product release date of the design and the planned country of application for the design; Identifying the number of days required in the country where the application is to be filed from the main database; A recommended filing date for the design in the country where the application is planned is calculated based on the planned product release date of the design and the required number of days.

[0008] One aspect of the present invention to achieve the above object is a system for providing predicted publication dates for applications, comprising: a memory unit in which a main database including the number of days required from the filing date to the publication date of a design application in each country is recorded; A control unit that calculates a predicted publication date of at least one design application; It is equipped with The control unit is an input receiving unit for acquiring a first filing country where the design was first filed, a filing date of the first filing country, a second filing country where the design will be filed after the filing of the first filing country, and a planned filing date of the second filing country; a required number of days specification unit that specifies the required number of days in each of the first filing country and the second planned filing country from the main database; a predicted publication date calculation unit for calculating a predicted publication date of the first application country and a predicted publication date of the second application country based on the application date of the first application country, the planned application date of the second application country, and the required number of days; has.

[0009] One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a method for providing a predicted publication date of a design application using a storage unit in which a main database including the number of days required from the application date to the publication date in each country of a design is recorded, a processor, and a non-transitory recording means for recording computer readable instructions executed by the processor, the method including: Obtain a first filing country where the design was first filed, the filing date of the first filing country, a second filing country where the design will be filed after the first filing country, and the planned filing date of the second filing country; Identifying the number of days required in each of the first filing country and the second filing country from the main database; A method for providing a predicted application publication date, which calculates a predicted application publication date in the first application country and a predicted application publication date in the second planned application country based on the application date in the first application country, the planned application date in the second planned application country, and the required number of days. Effect of the Invention

[0010] The present invention allows for an earlier filing date while reducing the risk of a design application being published before the product to which the design relates is publicly disclosed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1]1 shows an example of a system configuration diagram of a system for providing recommended filing dates. [Diagram 2] 2 shows an example of a main database. [Diagram 3] 1 shows an example of a flowchart of a process executed by a control unit of the system for providing recommended filing dates. [Figure 4] 2 shows an example of a screen of an output display unit of a user's terminal. [Diagram 5] 2 shows an example of a screen of an output display unit of a user's terminal. [Figure 6] 2 shows an example of a screen of an output display unit of a user's terminal. [Figure 7] 1 illustrates an example of a delay database. [Figure 8] 2 shows an example of a screen of an output display unit of a user's terminal. [Figure 9] 2 shows an example of a user database. [Figure 10] 1 shows an example of a system configuration diagram of a system for providing predicted publication dates for applications. [Figure 11] 1 shows an example of a flowchart of a process executed by a control unit of the system for providing predicted publication dates for applications. [Figure 12] 2 shows an example of a screen of an output display unit of a user's terminal. [Figure 13] 2 shows an example of a screen of an output display unit of a user's terminal. [Figure 14] 2 shows an example of a screen of an output display unit of a user's terminal. [Figure 15] 1 shows an example of user input data. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Exemplary embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0013] First embodiment The configuration of the recommended filing date providing system 10 according to the first embodiment will be described below with reference to Figs. 1 to 9. The recommended filing date providing system 10 is a system that, when filing a design in Japan or other countries, calculates the timing of filing (recommended filing date) at which the application will be published after the product related to the design is made public, and provides the timing to the user. As exemplified in Fig. 1, the recommended filing date providing system 10 is communicably connected to a user's terminal 30 via a network 20.

[0014] The user's terminal 30 may be a terminal owned by the user, or may be a terminal that the user does not own and into which the user logs in. The terminal may be a personal computer, a tablet, or a mobile phone. The user's terminal 30 includes an input device 31 and an output device 32. The input device 31 is a device for the user to input information to the terminal 30. For example, the input device 31 includes a mouse, a keyboard, and the like. When the terminal 30 is a tablet or a mobile phone, the input device 31 includes a touch panel display, a microphone, and the like. The output device 32 is a device for outputting some information to the user. For example, the output device 32 includes a monitor for outputting image information, a speaker for outputting audio information, and the like.

[0015] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the recommended filing date providing system 10 includes a storage unit 11 and a control unit 12. The storage unit 11 stores a main database 111. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the main database 111 stores the number of days required from the filing date to the publication date of a design application in each country. The number of days required in each country can be calculated based on data of multiple past application cases in each country. The number of days required is expressed in days, months, or years. The filing date is the date on which a design application is filed. The publication date is the date on which a design application is first published. In countries that have a publication system for application, the publication date is the publication date of the published design gazette. In countries that do not have a publication system for application, the publication date is the publication date of the registered design gazette. In this example, the number of days required is calculated based on each item related to the design, and the number of days of ownership for each item related to the design is recorded in the main database 111. The article to which the design is applied is the article to which the design being applied for is applied, and may be the name of the article stated in the application at the time of filing, or the classification number corresponding to the article.

[0016] The control unit 12 is configured to calculate the recommended filing date of a design. The control unit 12 has an input receiving unit 121, a required number of days specifying unit 122, a recommended filing date calculating unit 123, and an output unit .

[0017] The input reception unit 121 acquires information on the planned product release date of the design and the country in which the design application is planned to be filed. The planned product release date of the design is the date on which the product related to the design to be applied for is planned to be disclosed to unspecified persons through advertising or sales. For example, the user specifies the planned product release date of the design and the country in which the design application is planned to be filed using the input device 31 of the terminal 30. The input reception unit 121 acquires information on the planned product release date of the design and the country in which the design application is planned to be filed from the user's terminal 30 via the network 20.

[0018] The number of days required specification unit 122 refers to the main database 111 and specifies the number of days required in the planned filing country acquired by the input acceptance unit 121 .

[0019] The recommended filing date calculation unit 123 calculates the recommended filing date of the design in the country where the application is to be filed, based on the planned product release date of the design acquired by the input reception unit 121 and the number of required days specified by the required days specification unit 122. The recommended filing date is calculated as a filing date that is filed before the product related to the design is released and is published after the product related to the design is released. Specifically, the recommended filing date calculation unit 123 calculates the date obtained by subtracting the number of required days from the planned product release date of the design (going back by the number of required days) as the recommended filing date. Information on the recommended filing date is output from the output unit 124 to the user's terminal 30. The output device 32 of the user's terminal 30 displays the recommended filing date, for example, as an image.

[0020] The control unit 12 may be realized by a processor that operates in cooperation with a memory. Examples of the processor include a CPU, an MPU, and a GPU. Examples of the memory include a RAM and a ROM. The processor specifies at least a part of the computer-readable instructions stored in the ROM, expands them on the RAM, and operates in cooperation with the RAM to execute a predetermined process, thereby realizing each function of the input receiving unit 121, the required number of days specifying unit 122, the recommended filing date calculation unit 123, and the like. The ROM is an example of a non-transitory recording means for recording computer-readable instructions by the processor.

[0021] An example of the flow of processing executed by the control unit 12 of the recommended filing date providing system 10 configured as above will be described with reference to FIG.

[0022] First, the control unit 12 judges whether the information on the planned product release date of the design and the planned country of the design application has been acquired (STEP 1). This process is repeated until it is determined that the information has been acquired (NO in STEP 1). FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen S displayed on the output device 32 of the user's terminal 30. For example, an input screen IS included in the screen S has a first input area I1, a second input area I2, and a calculation button IB. The first input area I1 is an area for the user to input the planned product release date. The second input area I2 is an area for the user to input the planned country of the design application. In this example, the first input area I1 and the second input area I2 include text field input areas. The user can specify the planned product release date of the design and the planned country of the design application by inputting information in text into these areas. Note that, instead of or in addition to text input, this information may be input by using a drop-down list, a check box, or the like. When the user presses the calculate button I4 after inputting information into the first input area I1 and the second input area I2, the input information is output from the user's terminal 30 to the control unit 12 via the network 20.

[0023] When it is determined that the information on the planned product publication date of the design and the planned country of the design application have been acquired (YES in STEP 1), the control unit 12 specifies the number of days required in the planned country of the application from the main database 111 (STEP 2). For example, when Japan is entered as the planned country of the application on the input screen IS shown in Fig. 4, the number of days required is specified to be 10 months based on the main database 111. For example, when the number of days required for each product related to the design is recorded as shown in Fig. 2, the shortest number of days required is selected.

[0024] Next, the control unit 12 calculates the recommended filing date of the design in the country where the application is planned based on the planned product release date of the design and the number of days required (STEP 3). For example, if the planned product release date of the design is input as January 10, 2022 on the input screen IS shown in Figure 4, the recommended filing date in Japan is calculated as March 10, 2021, which is 10 months back from January 10, 2022.

[0025] Next, the control unit 12 outputs information on the recommended filing date (STEP 4). The user's terminal 30 acquires the information on the recommended filing date via the network 20 and displays the information as an image on the output device 32. FIG. 5 shows an example of a screen S displayed on the output device 32 of the user's terminal 30. The output screen OS may be displayed below the input screen IS. For example, on the output screen OS, the recommended filing date (March 10, 2021) is represented by a bar graph extending from the planned product release date to the recommended filing date. Note that instead of or in addition to the bar graph display, other display forms may be adopted, such as a predetermined mark being displayed at the planned product release date and the recommended filing date of the design.

[0026] For identical or similar designs, only the first applicant can obtain a design registration for that design. Therefore, even if you have not yet begun to work on the design, you need to secure an application as a first application. However, depending on the country of application, there are cases where the application is registered without examination or the application is published after a formality examination, so there is a risk that the application will be published a few days or weeks after filing. Since a design is a representation of the external shape of an article, if the application is published, others may know the applicant's future design trends and may create designs that are similar to the design.

[0027] In several countries, including Japan, there is a system for delaying the publication of a design application for a specified period of time, but the contents and procedures are not uniform. In some countries, there is no system for delaying the publication of a design application at all. For this reason, it is difficult for a person filing a design application to determine the timing of filing a design application in consideration of the timing of the publication of a product in which the design has been implemented (e.g., the timing of its sale).

[0028] According to the above configuration, a recommended design filing date is provided that will not be published after the design product is published, based on the planned product publication date of the design and the number of days required from the design filing date to the publication date. For example, by checking the output screen OS shown in FIG. 5, a user can understand that in order to avoid the design application being published before the product related to the design is published, the user should file the design in Japan after March 10, 2021. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the risk of the design application being published before the product related to the design while securing an earlier filing date.

[0029] In this embodiment, the input reception unit 121 may further acquire information on the article related to the design. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the input screen IS may include a third input area I3 for the user to input the article related to the design. The information input in the third input area I3 is output to the control unit 12 from the user's terminal 30 via the network 20. The required number of days specification unit 122 specifies the number of days required for the article related to the design in the planned application country by referring to the main database 111 based on the planned application country and the article related to the design acquired by the input reception unit 121. For example, when Japan is input as the planned application country and the article A1 as the article related to the design on the input screen IS shown in FIG. 6, the required number of days is specified to be 10 months based on the main database 111. According to this configuration, when the examination status of the design application differs depending on the article of the design, the recommended application date can be calculated based on a more accurate number of days required.

[0030] In addition, in this embodiment, a recommended filing date may be calculated for each of a plurality of planned filing countries. Specifically, the input receiving unit 121 acquires information on a plurality of planned filing countries from the user's terminal 30. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the user inputs a plurality of planned filing countries in the second input area I2. The required number of days specification unit 122 refers to the main database and specifies the number of required days in each of the plurality of planned filing countries acquired by the input receiving unit 121. The recommended filing date calculation unit 123 calculates a recommended filing date for each of the plurality of planned filing countries based on the planned product release date of the design and the required number of days.

[0031] For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when China is entered in addition to Japan as a planned application country on the input screen IS, the number of days required from the filing date to the publication date of the Chinese application is determined to be four months based on the main database 111, and the recommended application date for China is calculated as March 10, 2021, four months prior to January 10, 2022. The recommended application date for China is displayed on the output screen OS together with the recommended application date for Japan. With this configuration, the user can check the recommended application dates for each country at once.

[0032] In this embodiment, the recommended filing date may be calculated based on the possible application publication delay period in addition to the number of days required from the filing date to the publication date of the design application. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the storage unit 11 may have a delay database 112. The delay database 112 records countries that have a design application publication delay system and the possible delay period in the country. The application publication delay system is a system for delaying the publication of an application, which is determined by the laws or regulations of each country. The application publication delay system includes a system for delaying the issuance of a registration gazette, a system for delaying examination or registration, and the like. The possible delay period is expressed in days, months, or years. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the delay database 112 records the presence or absence of a publication delay system in each country, the application timing for the publication delay system, publication delay costs, and the like. The publication delay costs include office fees and attorney fees.

[0033] The recommended filing date calculation unit 123 refers to the delay database 112 and determines whether the country in which the application is to be filed corresponds to a country that has a publication delay system. If the recommended filing date calculation unit 123 determines that the country in which the application is to be filed corresponds to a country that has a publication delay system, it specifies a possible delay period from the delay database 112 and calculates a recommended filing date based on the planned product publication date of the design, the number of days required, and the possible delay period.

[0034] The recommended filing date calculation unit 123 may be configured to refer to the delay database 112 when an instruction to use the delayed publication system is acquired from the user via the input reception unit 121. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the input screen IS may have a fourth input area I4. The fourth input area I4 is an area for the user to select the use of the delayed publication system. In this example, the fourth input area I4 includes a check box. Instead of or in addition to the check box, a text field input, a drop-down list, or the like may be used. In addition, in this example, the use of the delayed publication system is selected collectively for all the countries in which the application is to be filed, but the system may be configured to allow the user to select whether or not to use the delayed publication system for each country in which the application is to be filed.

[0035] As illustrated in FIG. 8, when the checkbox in the fourth input area I4 is checked by the user, the recommended filing date in Japan is calculated as March 10, 2018, which is 10 months (required days) and 3 years (delay period, see FIG. 7) back from January 10, 2022 (scheduled product release date). On the other hand, since China does not have a system for delaying publication of an application, the recommended filing date in China is calculated as March 10, 2021, which is 4 months (required days) back from January 10, 2022 (scheduled product release date). As illustrated in FIG. 8, the possible delay period and the required days may be displayed in different forms on the output screen OS. In addition, the recommended filing date (January 10, 2019) that takes into account only the publication delay system may also be displayed. In this way, by using the publication delay system, an earlier filing date can be secured.

[0036] In this embodiment, the output screen OS may display the application timing of the application publication delay system, as exemplified in FIG. 8. Specifically, as exemplified in FIG. 1, the control unit 12 may have an application timing specification unit 125. The application timing specification unit 125 specifies the application timing of the application publication delay system by referring to the delay database 112. The application timing information is output from the output unit 124 to the user's terminal 30 together with the recommended filing date. According to this configuration, since the application timing of the publication delay system differs depending on the country, the user can confirm the application timing of the country where the application is to be filed by displaying, for example, the planned filing country and the application timing output from the recommended filing date providing system on the user's terminal. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the user from determining whether or not to apply, forgetting to apply, etc.

[0037] In this embodiment, as exemplified in FIG. 1, the control unit 12 may further include a priority determination unit 126. The priority determination unit 126 determines whether or not priority can be claimed in each of a plurality of planned application countries based on the planned application country with the earliest recommended application date. For example, when an application is filed in a second country within the priority period (6 months) from the application in the first country, the application in the second country can claim priority under the Paris Convention based on the application in the first country. Information on the priority period can be recorded in the main database 111 or the delayed database 112. The priority determination unit 126 determines whether or not priority can be claimed based on the earliest recommended application date and the priority period. The result of the determination on whether or not priority can be claimed is output from the output unit 124 to the user's terminal 30 together with the recommended application date. The result of the determination on whether or not priority can be claimed is displayed on the output screen OS of the output device 32 of the user's terminal 30.

[0038] For example, as shown in FIG. 8, if the countries in which the application is to be filed are Japan and China, the date obtained by adding 6 months, which is the priority period, from the recommended filing date in Japan (March 10, 2018) is September 10, 2018. Since September 10, 2018 is before the recommended filing date in China (September 10, 2021), it is determined that it is impossible to file an application in China based on the priority of Japan. The output screen OS displays that it is impossible to claim priority. According to this configuration, it is determined whether or not priority can be claimed based on the country in which the application is to be filed with the earliest recommended filing date. As a result, for countries with a later recommended filing date, the filing date can be effectively brought forward by claiming priority from the country in which the application is to be filed with the earliest recommended filing date.

[0039] In this embodiment, the planned application country is input by the user. However, the planned application country may be preset. A country with a large number of applications may be preset as the planned application country, or the planned application country may be preset for each user. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the recommended application date providing system 10 is connected to terminals 30 of multiple users, and the storage unit 11 may store a user database 113. The user database 113 includes user identification information and the default planned application country of the user. The user identification information is, for example, the user's name or the user's ID. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the planned application country is associated with the user ID and stored in the user database 113. The input receiving unit 121 acquires the user's identification information, identifies the default planned application country corresponding to the identification information from the user database 113, and sets the identified default planned application country as the planned application country. According to this configuration, since the planned application country is preset, the user does not have to input the planned application country. Furthermore, when a default planned filing country is set for each user, the processing load on the recommended filing date calculation unit is reduced compared to when all countries are set as the default planned filing countries.

[0040] In this embodiment, the output screen OS may display the cost of applying for the delayed publication of an application system. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the delay database 112 includes the cost of applying for the delayed publication of an application system. The application timing specification unit 125 may refer to the delay database 112 to specify the application timing and the cost of applying for the delayed publication of an application system. The application timing and cost information may be output from the output unit 124 to the user's terminal 30 together with the recommended application date, and displayed on the output screen OS of the output device 32. This allows the user to determine whether or not to apply, taking into account the cost of applying.

[0041] Second Embodiment Next, the configuration of the system 40 for providing predicted application publication dates according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 10 to 14. In the following description, differences from the system 10 for providing recommended application publication dates according to the first embodiment will be mainly described, and common parts will be denoted by the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

[0042] The system for providing predicted publication dates 40 is a system for calculating predicted publication dates in a first application country and a second application country when a design is applied for in multiple countries, and providing the calculated predicted publication dates to a user. As illustrated in Fig. 10, the system for providing predicted publication dates 40 is communicably connected to a user's terminal 30 via a network 20.

[0043] As illustrated in Fig. 1, a system 40 for providing predicted publication dates for applications includes a storage unit 41 and a control unit 42. A main database 411 is recorded in the storage unit 41. The main database 411 is similar to the main database 111 of the first embodiment, and as illustrated in Fig. 2, the main database 411 records the number of days required from the filing date to the publication date of a design application in each country.

[0044] The control unit 42 is configured to calculate a predicted publication date of the design application. The control unit 42 has an input receiving unit 421, a required number of days specifying unit 422, a predicted publication date calculation unit 423, and an output unit 424.

[0045] The input reception unit 421 acquires information on the first application country, the filing date of the first application country, the second application country, and the planned filing date of the second application country. The first application country is the country where the design was first applied for. The second application country is a country other than the first application country where the same design is planned to be applied for after the application in the first application country. The application of the same design is not limited to the case where the scope of the design to be registered is the same in the first application country and the second application country, but may also include the case where the scope of the design to be registered is different or only the scope of the design to be registered is the same. The user specifies the first application country, the filing date of the first application country, the second application country, and the planned filing date of the second application country using the input device 31 of the terminal 30. The input reception unit 421 acquires information on the first application country, the filing date of the first application country, the second application country, and the planned filing date of the second application country from the user's terminal 30 via the network 20.

[0046] The number of days required specification unit 422 refers to the main database 411 and specifies the number of days required in each of the first filing country and the second planned filing country acquired by the input acceptance unit 421.

[0047] The predicted application publication date calculation unit 423 calculates the predicted application publication date in the first application country based on the filing date of the first application country acquired by the input reception unit 421 and the number of required days specified by the number of required days specification unit 422. Specifically, the predicted application publication date calculation unit 423 calculates the date obtained by adding the number of required days to the filing date of the first application country as the predicted application publication date. Similarly, the predicted application publication date calculation unit 423 calculates the predicted application publication date in the second application country based on the planned filing date of the second application country acquired by the input reception unit 421 and the number of required days specified by the number of required days specification unit 422. Specifically, the predicted application publication date calculation unit 423 calculates the date obtained by adding the number of required days to the planned filing date of the second application country as the predicted application publication date. Information on the predicted application publication dates of the first application country and the second application country is output from the output unit 424 to the user's terminal 30. The output device 32 of the user's terminal 30 displays the predicted publication dates of the first application country and the second application country as, for example, an image.

[0048] The control unit 42 may be realized by a processor that operates in cooperation with a memory. Examples of the processor include a CPU, an MPU, and a GPU. Examples of the memory include a RAM and a ROM. The processor specifies at least a part of the computer-readable instructions stored in the ROM, expands them on the RAM, and cooperates with the RAM to execute a predetermined process, thereby realizing each function of an input receiving unit 421, a required number of days specifying unit 422, a predicted publication date calculation unit 423, and the like. The ROM is an example of a non-transitory recording means for recording computer-readable instructions by the processor.

[0049] An example of the flow of processing executed by the control unit 42 of the system 40 for providing predicted publication dates for applications configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

[0050] First, the control unit 42 judges whether information on the first application country, the filing date of the first application country, the second planned application country, and the planned filing date of the second planned application country has been acquired (STEP 11). This process is repeated until it is judged that this information has been acquired (NO in STEP 11). FIG. 12 shows an example of a screen S displayed on the output device 32 of the user's terminal 30. For example, an input screen IS included in the screen S has a first input area I11, a second input area I12, a third input area I13, a fourth input area I14, and a calculation button IB. The first input area I11 is an area for the user to input the first application country. The second input area I12 is an area for the user to input the filing date of the first application country. The third input area I13 is an area for the user to input the second planned application country. The fourth input area I14 is an area for the user to input the planned filing date of the second planned application country. When there are multiple second planned application countries, multiple third input areas I13 and multiple fourth input areas I14 may be provided.

[0051] In this example, the first input area I11, the second input area I12, the third input area I13, and the fourth input area I14 include text field input areas. The user can specify the first application country and its filing date and the second application country and its planned filing date by inputting information in text in these areas. Note that this information may be input using a drop-down list or a check box instead of or in addition to text input. When the user presses the calculate button IB with information input in the first input area I11, the second input area I12, the third input area I13, and the fourth input area I14, the input information is output from the user's terminal 30 to the control unit 42 via the network 20.

[0052] When it is determined that the information on the first application country, the filing date of the first application country, the second planned application country, and the planned filing date of the second planned application country has been acquired (YES in STEP 11), the control unit 42 specifies the number of days required in the first application country and the second planned application country from the main database 411 (STEP 12). For example, when Japan is entered as the first application country and China and the United States as the second planned application countries on the input screen IS shown in Fig. 12, the number of days required is specified to be 10 months in Japan, 4 months in China, and 2 years in the United States based on the main database 411.

[0053] Next, the control unit 42 calculates the predicted publication date in the first application country and the predicted publication date in the second application country based on the application date in the first application country and the planned application date and the number of days required in the second application country (STEP 13). For example, if the application date in Japan is input as January 10, 2021 in the input screen IS shown in FIG. 12, the predicted publication date in Japan is calculated as November 10, 2021, 10 months after January 10, 2021. Similarly, if the application date in China is input as July 10, 2021, the predicted publication date in China is calculated as November 10, 2021, 4 months after July 10, 2021. Similarly, if the application date in the United States is input as July 10, 2021, the predicted publication date in the United States is calculated as July 10, 2023, two years after July 10, 2021.

[0054] Next, the control unit 42 outputs information on the predicted publication dates of the first application country and the second planned application country (STEP 14). The user's terminal 30 acquires information on the predicted publication dates of the first application country and the second planned application country via the network 20, and displays the information as an image on the output device 32. FIG. 13 shows an example of a screen S displayed on the output device 32 of the user's terminal 30. For example, on the output screen OS, the predicted publication dates of the first application country (Japan) and the second planned application country (China, the United States) are each represented by a bar graph extending from the application date or planned application date to the predicted publication date. Note that instead of or in addition to the bar graph display, other display forms may be adopted, such as displaying a predetermined mark at the application date or planned application date and the predicted publication date.

[0055] Since the examination system and publication system differ in each country, the time when the applied design is published in the design gazette differs. Therefore, there may be cases where the application of the country where the application was filed later is published before the country where the application was filed earlier. As a result, for example, if a procedure to delay publication is performed in the country where the first application is filed so that the application is not published before the product publication of the design, it may be necessary to similarly perform a procedure to delay publication in the country where the application is filed later. According to the above configuration, in addition to the predicted publication date of the earlier application, the predicted publication date of the later application is calculated. As a result, for example, if the predicted publication date of the later application is earlier than the predicted publication date of the earlier application, it is possible to consider whether or not to use a priority claim, whether or not to use a procedure to delay the publication date, and whether or not to refile, in accordance with the planned product publication date of the design. As a result, it is possible to reduce the risk of the application of the design being published before the product related to the design is published while securing an earlier filing date.

[0056] In this embodiment, the input receiving unit 421 may further acquire information on the article related to the design. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the input screen IS may include a fifth input area I15 for the user to input the article related to the design. The information on the article related to the design input in the fifth input area I15 is output from the user's terminal 30 to the control unit 42 via the network 20. The required number of days specification unit 422 specifies the number of days required for the article related to the design in the planned filing country by referring to the main database 411 based on the planned filing country and the article related to the design acquired by the input receiving unit 421.

[0057] In this embodiment, the predicted publication date may be calculated based on the possible application publication delay period in addition to the number of days required from the filing date to the publication date of the design application. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the storage unit 41 may have a delay database 412. In the delay database 412, similar to the delay database 112 in the first embodiment, countries that have a design application publication delay system and the possible delay period of the countries are recorded. When the predicted application publication date calculation unit 423 refers to the delay database 412 and determines that the first application country or the second planned application country corresponds to a country that has a publication delay system, it identifies the possible delay period from the delay database 412 and calculates the predicted application publication date based on the filing date or planned application date, the required number of days, and the possible delay period. On the output screen OS, the possible delay period and the required number of days may be displayed in different forms, and the application timing and cost of the application publication delay system may be displayed together.

[0058] In this embodiment, the second planned application country and the planned filing date are input by the user. However, the second planned application country may be set in advance. A country with a large number of applications may be set in advance as the second planned application country, or the second planned application country may be set in advance for each user. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the system for providing predicted publication date of application 40 is connected to terminals 30 of multiple users, and the storage unit 41 may store a user database 413. The user database 413 includes the user's identification information and the default planned application country of the user, similar to the user database 113 in the first embodiment. The input receiving unit 421 may acquire the user's identification information, identify a default planned second application country corresponding to the identification information from the user database 413, and set the identified default planned second application country as the planned application country. The planned filing date may also be set automatically. For example, the planned filing date of the second planned application country may be set to a date obtained by adding six months, which is the priority period, to the filing date of the first application country.

[0059] In addition, in this embodiment, as exemplified in FIG. 14, the planned product release date of the design may be displayed on the output screen OS. The input screen IS may include a sixth input area I16 for the user to input the planned product release date. The planned product release date input in the sixth input area I16 may be displayed on the output screen OS together with the predicted application publication dates of the first application country and the second application country. In this way, by displaying the planned product release date of the design together with the predicted application publication date on the user's terminal, the user can consider whether to use the priority claim of the design, whether to use the procedure to delay the publication date, re-file, etc. so that the application of the design is not published before the publication of the product related to the design.

[0060] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it goes without saying that the technical scope of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited by the description of the embodiment. The embodiment is merely an example, and it is understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications of the embodiment are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims. The technical scope of the present invention should be determined based on the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

[0061] In the above first and second embodiments, the recommended filing date or predicted application publication date in each country is calculated for an application relating to one design. However, the recommended filing date or predicted application publication date may be calculated for applications relating to multiple designs. For example, in the recommended filing date providing system 10, user input data including information on multiple design cases shown in FIG. 15 may be output from the user's terminal 30 to the input receiving unit 121.

[0062] In the first embodiment described above, the recommended filing date providing system 10 is connected to a user's terminal 30 via a network 20. However, for example, the control unit 12 of the recommended filing date providing system 10 may be incorporated in the user's terminal 30. Alternatively, the recommended filing date providing system 10 may include the user's terminal 30.

[0063] In the above-described second embodiment, the system for providing predicted application publication dates 40 is connected to the user's terminal 30 via the network 20. However, for example, the control unit 42 of the system for providing predicted application publication dates 40 may be incorporated in the user's terminal 30. Alternatively, the system for providing predicted application publication dates 40 may include the user's terminal 30.

[0064] The output device 32 of the user's terminal 30 displays various information as images, but may also output audio in addition to the image display. [Explanation of symbols]

[0065] 10. System for Providing Recommended Application Dates 11 Storage section 12 Control section 20 Network 30 User Devices 31 Input Devices 32 Output Device 40 Application Publication Prediction Date System 41 Storage section 42 Control section 111 Main Database 112 Delayed Database 113 User Database 121 Input reception section 122 Required number of days specified section 123 Recommended Filing Date Calculation Division 124 Output section 125 Application period specification department 126 Priority Judgment Division 411 Main Database 412 Delay Database 413 User Database 421 Input reception section 422 Required number of days specified part 423 Application Publication Date Calculation Division 424 Output section

Claims

1. A system for providing a recommended filing date for a design that is to be published after the product publication of the design, a memory unit in which a main database including the number of days required from the filing date to the publication date of a design application in each country is recorded; a control unit that calculates the recommended filing date for at least one design; Equipped with The control unit is An input receiving unit for acquiring a planned product release date of the design and a planned country of application of the design; a time required specification unit that specifies the time required in the country where the application is planned from the main database; a recommended filing date calculation unit that calculates a recommended filing date for the design in the country where the application is planned based on the planned product release date of the design and the required number of days; A system for providing recommended application dates.

2. The main database includes the number of days required for each article related to a design, The input receiving unit acquires product information relating to the design, 2. The system for providing recommended filing dates according to claim 1, wherein the required number of days specifying unit specifies the required number of days for the article related to the design in the country where the application is planned from the main database.

3. The input receiving unit acquires a plurality of the planned application countries, the required number of days specification unit specifies the required number of days in each of the plurality of planned application countries from the main database, 3. The system for providing recommended filing dates according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recommended filing date calculation unit calculates the recommended filing date based on a planned product release date of the design and the number of required days in each of the plurality of planned application countries.

4. the storage unit includes a delay database including countries that have a system for delaying publication of a design application and the period of delay allowed in the country; 4. The system for providing recommended filing dates according to claim 1, wherein the recommended filing date calculation unit refers to the delay database, and determines whether the country in which the application is to be filed corresponds to a country that has the publication delay system, and if the country in which the application is to be filed corresponds to a country that has the publication delay system, identifies the allowable delay period from the delay database, and calculates the recommended filing date based on the planned product release date of the design, the required number of days, and the allowable delay period.

5. The delay database includes the application timing of the design application publication delay system; 5. The system for providing a recommended filing date according to claim 4, wherein the control unit has an application time identification unit that identifies the application time from the delay database, and an output unit that outputs the application time together with the recommended filing date.

6. The control unit is A system for providing recommended filing dates as described in claim 3, comprising a priority judgment unit that judges whether or not priority can be claimed in each of the plurality of planned filing countries based on the country with the earliest recommended filing date, and an output unit that outputs the judgment result on whether or not priority can be claimed together with the recommended filing date.

7. 1. A method for providing a recommended filing date for a design to be published after product publication of the design, using a storage unit storing a main database including a number of days required from a design filing date to a publication date in each country, a processor, and a non-transitory storage means storing computer readable instructions executed by the processor, the method comprising: Obtain the planned product release date of the design and the planned country of application for the design; Identifying the number of days required in the country where the application is to be filed from the main database; A method for providing a recommended filing date, which calculates a recommended filing date for the design in the country where the application is planned based on the planned product release date of the design and the required number of days.

8. a memory unit in which a main database including the number of days required from the filing date to the publication date of a design application in each country is recorded; A control unit that calculates a predicted publication date of at least one design application; Equipped with The control unit is an input receiving unit for acquiring a first filing country where the design was first filed, a filing date of the first filing country, a second filing country where the design will be filed after the filing of the first filing country, and a planned filing date of the second filing country; a required number of days specification unit that specifies the required number of days in each of the first filing country and the second planned filing country from the main database; an application publication predicted date calculation unit that calculates an application publication predicted date in the first application country and an application publication predicted date in the second application country based on the application date in the first application country, the planned application date in the second application country, and the required number of days; A system for providing predicted publication date of an application, comprising:

9. an input device for acquiring a planned product release date of the design from a user; and an output device that outputs the predicted publication date of the design to the user, 9. The system for providing a predicted application publication date according to claim 8, wherein the output device outputs the first application country, the second application planned country, the predicted application publication date in the first application country, the predicted application publication date in the second application planned country, and a planned product publication date of the design.

10. A method for providing a predicted publication date for a design application using a storage unit storing a main database including a number of days required from the filing date to the publication date in each country of a design application, a processor, and a non-transitory storage means for storing computer readable instructions executed by the processor, the method comprising: Obtain a first filing country where the design was first filed, the filing date of the first filing country, a second filing country where the design will be filed after the first filing country, and the planned filing date of the second filing country; Identifying the number of days required in each of the first filing country and the second filing country from the main database; A method for providing a predicted application publication date, which calculates a predicted application publication date in the first application country and a predicted application publication date in the second planned application country based on the application date in the first application country, the planned application date in the second planned application country, and the required number of days.

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