A device for supporting trademark applications, a method for supporting trademark applications, a computer program for causing a computer to execute the trademark application support method, and a computer-readable medium on which the computer program is stored.

Abstract

To provide a trademark application assistance device, application assistance method, program, and a computer-readable recording medium that assist in applying for, while reducing the chance of possible occurrence of reasons for refusal regarding a designated commodity service.SOLUTION: In an application assistance system, an application assistance device 20 comprises: a recording unit 231 that records belonging information in which a plurality of specific countries among countries where trademarks-related applications are possible and where expressions of approvable designated goods or services are mutually different are established respectively as a base country, and other countries are grouped depending on which base country the expressions of approvable designated goods or services are close to; an input unit 22 for inputting a scheduled application country and a designated good or service; a determination unit 232 that determines the base country to be referred to, on the basis of the scheduled application country inputted to the input unit 22 and the belonging information; and a generation unit 233 that generates a designated good or service plan on the basis of the designated good or service inputted to the input unit 22 and the expression of the approvable designated good or service in the base country determined by the determination unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an application support device for trademarks, an application support method for trademarks, a computer program for causing a computer to execute the application support method for trademarks, and a computer-readable medium storing the computer program.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a trademark registration application support system that enables a trademark registration application to be easily realized for an applicant using the Internet.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, in recent years, the attention to industrial property rights including patent rights and trademark rights has been increasing. Also, in recent years, there has been a growing trend to acquire industrial property rights not only in one's own country but also overseas. In particular, trademarks generally tend to have a larger number of application countries compared to patents and designs. However, since the practices for trademark applications vary from country to country, it is difficult to make an optimal application that conforms to the practices of all application countries. In particular, the practices regarding the description of designated goods and services vary greatly from country to country, so it is difficult to file an application with optimal designated goods and services that conform to the practices of each application country. Also, generally, an applicant wants to obtain a trademark right with as wide a scope of rights as possible, so applications are often made with a wide range of designated goods and services including inclusive indications. However, when applying overseas with such a wide range of designated goods and services, it is highly likely that the designated goods and services will not be accepted in the foreign country, and formal rejections such as unclear descriptions of the designated goods and services often occur.

[0005] Therefore, before filing a trademark application, it is advisable to consider how to describe the designated goods and services for each country in which the application will be filed. However, since the requirements for describing designated goods and services differ from country to country, it is extremely difficult to consider how to describe the designated goods and services appropriately for each country in which the application will be filed.

[0006] This disclosure aims to provide a trademark application support device, a trademark application support method, a computer program for causing a computer to execute the trademark application support method, and a computer-readable medium on which the computer program is stored, which assist in filing an application in a manner that reduces the likelihood of grounds for rejection relating to the designated goods and services. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A trademark application support device relating to one aspect for achieving the above objective is: Among the countries where trademark applications can be filed, several specific countries with different expressions for approved goods and services are designated as reference countries, and a record section records the grouping information of other countries based on which reference country their expressions for approved goods and services are closest to. An input section for entering the country where the application is to be filed and the designated goods and services, A determination unit determines the reference country to be referenced based on the country where the application is planned to be filed and the affiliation information entered in the input unit, The system includes a generation unit that generates a draft of designated goods and services based on the designated goods and services entered into the input unit and the representation of the designated goods and services that can be approved in the reference country determined by the determination unit.

[0008] Furthermore, a trademark application support method relating to one aspect for achieving the above objective is: A method for assisting trademark applications performed by a computer, Steps to enter the country where the application is to be filed and the designated goods and services, A step to determine the reference country to be referenced based on the entered country where the application is to be filed, and the grouping information of other countries based on which reference country the expression of the approved goods and services is closest to, in which several specific countries among the countries where trademark applications can be filed have different expressions for approved goods and services are set as reference countries, and other countries are grouped accordingly. The process includes the step of generating a draft of designated goods and services based on the input designated goods and services and the determined representation of the designated goods and services that are authorized in the reference country.

[0009] Furthermore, a computer program relating to one aspect for achieving the above objective is: The above trademark application support method will be executed by a computer.

[0010] Furthermore, a computer-readable medium relating to one embodiment for achieving the above objective is: The above computer program is stored.

[0011] According to the trademark application support device with the above configuration, the generation unit generates proposed designated goods and services information based on the input designated goods and services and the expressions of designated goods and services that are permissible in a reference country determined based on the input intended application country and affiliation information. In other words, the generation unit generates proposed designated goods and services information based on the expressions of designated goods and services that are permissible in a reference country that has practices similar to those of the intended application country. Therefore, even if the user is not familiar with the practices of all the intended application countries, it is possible to prevent filing a trademark application with clearly inappropriate designated goods and services. Thus, with the above configuration, it is possible to support the filing of a trademark application while reducing the likelihood of grounds for rejection regarding the designated goods and services. Furthermore, the trademark application support method, computer program, and computer-readable media with the above configuration can achieve similar effects. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an application support device for trademarks that supports filing an application while reducing the possibility of occurrence of reasons for refusal regarding designated goods or services, an application support method for trademarks, a computer program for causing a computer to execute the application support method for trademarks, and a computer-readable medium storing the computer program.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an application support system for trademarks according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the affiliation information and reference national condition information stored in the affiliation group database. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the approval description information in the reference country stored in the approval description database. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the synonym information stored in the synonym database. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram illustrating the processing executed by the application support device in the present embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a designated goods or services plan. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a designated goods or services plan.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] While referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the application support system 1 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an application support system 1 for trademarks according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the belonging information and reference national conditions information stored in the belonging group database. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the approval description information in the reference country stored in the approval description database. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the synonym information stored in the synonym database. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the application support system 1 includes an external database 10, an application support device 20, and a user terminal device 30. The external database 10 and the application support device 20 can communicate with each other via, for example, the Internet or the like. The application support device 20 and the user terminal device 30 can communicate with each other by wire or wirelessly.

[0016] The external database 10 is, for example, a database of the Japan Patent Office, a database of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, a database of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a commercial database provided by a trademark service provider, or the like. The external database 10 stores approval description information regarding the expression of designated goods and services that can be approved in at least one country. In the present embodiment, the "country" is a concept that includes not only independent countries but also organizations consisting of a plurality of countries such as unrecognized countries internationally and the European Union. For example, the database of the Japan Patent Office stores designated goods and services publicly announced by the Japan Patent Office as being approvable and designated goods and services that the Japan Patent Office has approved in the past.

[0017] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the application support device 20 includes an acquisition unit 21, an input unit 22, a control unit 23, a display unit 24, and an output unit 25. These are connected to each other via a bus 26 so as to be communicable with each other.

[0018] The acquisition unit 21 acquires authorization description information stored in the external database 10, for example. The acquisition unit 21 may acquire authorization description information from the external database 10 at predetermined time intervals, or it may acquire authorization description information from the external database 10 at any time. The acquisition unit 21 transmits the acquired authorization description information to the control unit 23.

[0019] The input unit 22 is configured to receive user input operations to the application support device 20 and to generate a request signal corresponding to said input operations. The input unit 22 is, for example, a touch panel placed on top of the display unit 24, or an input device such as a keyboard electrically connected to the application support device 20. The user inputs the country of application and the designated goods and services into the input unit 22. The input unit 22 transmits the input country of application and the designated goods and services to the control unit 23.

[0020] The control unit 23 comprises a memory and a processor as its hardware configuration. The memory consists of, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which various computer programs are stored, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) having multiple work areas in which various computer programs executed by the processor are stored. The processor is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) which is configured to load a specified computer program from the various computer programs embedded in the ROM onto the RAM and execute various processes in cooperation with the RAM. The control unit 23 comprises a recording unit 231, a determination unit 232, and a generation unit 233.

[0021] In this embodiment, computer-readable media may be used. Computer-readable media refers to any type of physical memory (RAM, ROM, etc.) that can store information and data that a processor can read. Computer-readable media can store instructions related to processing performed by one or more processors. The term "computer-readable media" includes tangible items but excludes carrier waves and temporary signals (i.e., it refers to non-temporary items). Examples of non-temporary computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (e.g., flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CD-ROMs (Read Only Memory), CD-Rs, CD-R / Ws, and semiconductor memory (e.g., mask ROMs, PROMs (Programmable ROMs), EPROMs (Erasable PROMs), flash ROMs).

[0022] The recording unit 231 includes a group database containing group information and reference country information, an authorization description database containing authorization description information, and a synonym database containing synonym information. The group database and synonym database are pre-configured, for example, by the creator of these databases. The authorization description database is constructed, for example, by obtaining authorization description information from an external database 10 via the acquisition unit 21. Group information refers to information used to group countries based on which reference country their authorizationable designated goods and services are closest to, with each of several specific countries designated as reference countries having different expressions for authorized goods and services among the countries where trademark applications can be filed. A reference country is a country that represents the region to which the country belongs (for example, North America, Europe, the Middle East, etc.) or a country with distinctive trademark practices. Trademark applications include, for example, trademark registration applications and trademark registration applications. The description of eligible goods and services is based on an approval description list compiled for each reference country and at least one of the eligible goods and services previously approved in each reference country. The approval description list is a list of eligible goods and services that the relevant government office (such as the Patent Office or Trademark Office) in the reference country has publicly announced as eligible for approval. Eligible goods and services previously approved are those that the relevant government office in the reference country has previously approved. Record section 231 records reference country information for each country where trademark applications can be filed, indicating whether each country is a reference country or a non-reference country. A non-reference country is any country other than a reference country.

[0023] Here, with reference to Figures 2 and 3, the affiliation information, reference country information, and authorization description information will be explained in detail. As illustrated in Figure 2, in this embodiment, the reference countries are the United States, Japan, the European Union, and China. In this embodiment, the United States is Group A, Japan is Group B, the European Union is Group C, and China is Group D. These Groups A, B, C, and D correspond to the affiliation information. In Figure 2, Canada and Algeria are illustrated as non-reference countries. As illustrated in Figure 2, each non-reference country is also assigned a group to which it belongs. For example, Canada belongs to Group A. In this embodiment, the creator of the affiliation group database recorded in the recording unit 231 determines which group a non-reference country belongs to based on which reference country the non-reference country is most closely related to. Trademark practices based on trademark laws, trademark examination standards, and case precedents of geographically close countries tend to be similar to those of geographically distant countries. Also, trademark practices of former dependent countries tend to be similar to those of former colonial powers. Therefore, in this embodiment, taking these trends into consideration, the relationship between reference countries and non-reference countries is determined by geographical and historical relationships. For example, Canada is geographically closest to the United States among the four reference countries mentioned above, and therefore belongs to the same group A as the United States. Since Algeria's former colonial power was France, which belongs to the European Union, Algeria belongs to the same group C as the European Union.

[0024] As illustrated in Figure 3, the external database 10 or the recording unit 231 comprehensively records the approval description information in the reference country. As illustrated in Figure 3, for example, the designated goods and services of Class 5, "pharmaceutical preparations for suppressing tumors," is the approval description in the United States.

[0025] The recording unit 231 stores synonym information, as illustrated in Figure 4. Synonym information is information about words that have different forms but similar meanings, and indicates words that can replace at least a part of the designated goods and services entered into the input unit 22. In this embodiment, the synonym information indicates, for example, that "medicines" can be replaced with "pharmaceutical preparations" and "cars" can be replaced with "motor vehicles".

[0026] Returning to Figure 1, let's explain the determination unit 232. The determination unit 232 determines the reference country to be referenced based on the country where the application is to be filed entered in the input unit 22 and the affiliation information recorded in the record unit 231. For example, if the country where the application is to be filed entered in the input unit 22 is Nicaragua (an example of a country belonging to Group C), the determination unit 232 determines that the reference country to be referenced is the European Union, which belongs to Group C.

[0027] The generation unit 233 generates a draft of designated goods and services based on the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 and the representation of the authorized designated goods and services in the reference country determined by the determination unit 232. If the draft of designated goods and services includes designated goods and services different from those entered in the input unit 22, the generation unit 233 generates identification information. Identification information is information for distinguishing between designated goods and services that have not been changed from those entered in the input unit 22 and designated goods and services that are different from those entered in the input unit 22.

[0028] The generation unit 233 determines whether the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 are the same as the approval description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232. The generation unit 233 determines whether there is an approval description in the approval description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 that includes the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22. If there is an approval description in the approval description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 that includes the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22, the generation unit 233 determines to change the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 to that approval description. The generation unit 233 determines whether there is an approval description in the approval description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 that includes a part of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22. If there is an approval description in the approval description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 that includes a part of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22, the generation unit 233 determines to change the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 to designated goods and services that approximate that approval description. In this embodiment, a designated goods and services that approximate an approval description that includes a portion of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 is referred to as an approximate description. An approximate description is, for example, a designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 with a portion of an approval description that includes a portion of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 added to it. If there is no approval description that includes a portion of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 among the approval descriptions of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232, the generation unit 233 determines that the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 should be deleted.

[0029] If the generation unit 233 changes the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 to an approximate description, it may generate degree of agreement information indicating the degree of agreement between the approximate description and the approval description corresponding to that approximate description. For example, if the approximate description consists of four words, and the approval description corresponding to that approximate description consists of five words including the four words that make up the approximate description, the generation unit 233 will determine that the degree of agreement between the approximate description and the approval description corresponding to that approximate description is 80%. In addition, if the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 are not changed, or if the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 are changed to the approval description of the reference country, the generation unit 233 may generate degree of agreement information indicating that the degree of agreement between the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 or the changed designated goods and services and the approval description is 100%.

[0030] When the generation unit 233 changes the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 to an approximate description, it may generate distinction information to distinguish between the authorized description and the approximate description. Distinguishing information may include differences in the color, size, and font of the characters in the authorized description and the approximate description.

[0031] Based on the degree of agreement information and the reference country information, the generation unit 233 can determine the likelihood (likelihood of approval) that at least one of the approval descriptions and approximate descriptions in the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 will be approved in the country where the application is planned to be filed, as entered in the input unit 22. Once the generation unit 233 has determined the likelihood of approval, it generates likelihood of approval information based on that determination, indicating the likelihood that at least one of the approval descriptions and approximate descriptions in the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 will be approved in the country where the application is planned to be filed, as entered in the input unit 22. For example, if the degree of agreement is 100% and the country where the application is planned is a reference country, the generation unit 233 determines that the likelihood of approval is 100%. If the degree of agreement is 100% and the country where the application is planned is not a reference country, the generation unit 233 determines that the likelihood of approval is 90%. In other words, when the country where the application is planned is a reference country, the likelihood of approval and the degree of agreement are the same value, but when the country where the application is planned is not a reference country, the likelihood of approval is the value obtained by subtracting 10% from the value of the degree of agreement. However, the value to be subtracted is not limited to 10% and can be determined arbitrarily.

[0032] The generation unit 233 may change at least a portion of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 to other words or phrases, based on the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 and the synonym information recorded in the recording unit 231. If at least a portion of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 is changed to other words or phrases, the generation unit 233 will perform the above-mentioned judgments and generate various types of information based on the changed designated goods and services.

[0033] The generation unit 233 transmits the generated designated goods and services proposal to the display unit 24 or output unit 25. If the generation unit 233 generates at least one of the identification information, degree of matching information, distinction information, and authorization possibility information, the designated goods and services proposal transmitted from the generation unit 233 will include at least one of the identification information, degree of matching information, distinction information, and authorization possibility information.

[0034] The display unit 24 is, for example, a touchscreen type display such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. The display unit 24 is configured to display, for example, a designated product and service proposal received from the generation unit 233.

[0035] The output unit 25 outputs the specified product and service proposal received from the generation unit 233 to the user terminal device 30.

[0036] The user terminal device 30 is a terminal device operated by the user of the application support device 20. The user terminal device 30 is an electronic device such as a desktop PC, notebook PC, tablet terminal, or smartphone. The user terminal device 30 is equipped with a display unit 31. The display unit 31 is, for example, a liquid crystal display. The display unit 31 is configured to display the designated goods and services proposal received from the generation unit 233.

[0037] (First example) Next, with reference to Figures 5 to 7, the processing related to the application support method executed by the application support device 20 in the first embodiment will be described. Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating the processing executed by the application support device 20 in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the countries where the application is to be filed are Japan and Canada, and the designated goods and services entered into the input unit 22 are three items from Class 9: "computer programs," "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks," and "computer peripherals."

[0038] As illustrated in Figure 5, the acquisition unit 21 of the application support device 20 acquires approval description information from the external database 10 (STEP 01).

[0039] The countries where the application is to be filed and the designated goods and services are entered into the input unit 22 (STEP 02). As illustrated in Figure 6, in this embodiment, the user enters two countries, Japan and Canada, as the countries where the application is to be filed, and three items, "computer programs," "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks," and "computer peripherals," as the designated goods and services. Once the user has entered the countries where the application is to be filed and the designated goods and services into the input unit 22, the input unit 22 transmits the entered countries where the application is to be filed and the designated goods and services to the control unit 23.

[0040] As illustrated in Figure 5, the determination unit 232 of the control unit 23 determines the reference country to be referenced based on the information of the country where the application is to be filed received from the input unit 22 and the membership information recorded in the recording unit 231 (STEP 03). In this embodiment, the countries where the application is to be filed are Japan and Canada. Since Japan is a reference country and the group to which Japan belongs is Group B, the determination unit 232 determines that the reference country to be referenced for Japan is Japan. On the other hand, since Canada is a non-reference country and the group to which Canada belongs is Group A, the determination unit 232 determines that the reference country to be referenced for Canada is the United States.

[0041] The generation unit 233 determines, for each country where an application is to be filed, whether the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 are the same as the approval description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 (STEP 04). In this embodiment, for Japan, all three designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 are the same as the approval description of Japan, so it is determined that these three designated goods and services are the same as the approval description of Japan, which is the reference country for Group B (YES in STEP 04). On the other hand, for Canada, the generation unit 233 determines that "computer peripherals" is the same as the approval description of the United States, which is the reference country for Canada (YES in STEP 04), but determines that "computer programs" and "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks" are not the same as the approval description of the United States (NO in STEP 04).

[0042] If the generation unit 233 determines that the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 are the same as the approval description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 (YES in STEP 04), it generates matching degree information and approval possibility information (STEP 05). After executing STEP 05, the generation unit 233 executes STEP 13. On the other hand, if the generation unit 233 determines that the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 are not the same as the approval description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 (NO in STEP 04), it executes STEP 06.

[0043] In this embodiment, for Japan, since all designated goods and services are Japanese approval descriptions (YES in STEP 04), the generation unit 233 generates matching information indicating that the degree of matching is 100% and approval possibility information indicating that the approval possibility is 100% for all designated goods and services (STEP 05).

[0044] In this embodiment, for Canada, since "computer peripherals" is the US approval description, which is Canada's reference country (YES in STEP 04), the generation unit 233 generates matching information indicating that the degree of matching for "computer peripherals" is 100%, and approval possibility information indicating that the approval possibility is 90% (STEP 05). On the other hand, for "computer programs" and "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks," the descriptions are not the same as the US approval descriptions, which is Canada's reference country (NO in STEP 04), so the generation unit 233 executes STEP 06.

[0045] In STEP 06, the generation unit 233 determines whether there is an authorization description in the authorization description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 that includes the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22. If there is an authorization description in the authorization description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 that includes the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 (YES in STEP 06), the generation unit 233 determines to change the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 to the authorization description (STEP 07). After executing STEP 07, the generation unit 233 generates identification information, matching degree information, and authorization possibility information (STEP 08). After executing STEP 08, the generation unit 233 then executes STEP 13. On the other hand, if there is no authorization description in the authorization description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 that includes the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 (NO in STEP 06), the generation unit 233 executes STEP 09.

[0046] In this embodiment, in Canada, "computer programs" is included in the US approval description "downloadable computer programs for connecting remotely to computers or computer networks" (YES in STEP 06), which is the standard country for Canada. Therefore, the generation unit 233 decides to change "computer programs" to "downloadable computer programs for connecting remotely to computers or computer networks" (STEP 07). The changed designated goods and services, "downloadable computer programs for connecting remotely to computers or computer networks," is the approval description for the US, which is the standard country for Canada. Therefore, for "computer programs," the generation unit 233 generates identification information, matching information indicating that the degree of matching for the changed designated goods and services is 100%, and approval probability information indicating that the approval probability for the changed designated goods and services is 90% (STEP 08). On the other hand, for "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks," there is no approval description that includes this in the US approval description, which is the standard country for Canada (NO in STEP 06), so the generation unit 233 executes STEP 09.

[0047] In STEP 09, the generation unit 233 determines whether there is an authorization description in the reference country's authorization description determined by the determination unit 232 that includes a portion of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22. If there is an authorization description in the reference country's authorization description determined by the determination unit 232 that includes a portion of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 (YES in STEP 09), the generation unit 233 determines to change the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 to an approximate description that approximates the authorization description that includes a portion of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 (STEP 10). After executing STEP 10, the generation unit 233 generates identification information, distinction information, degree of agreement information, and authorization possibility information (STEP 11). After executing STEP 11, the generation unit 233 then executes STEP 13. On the other hand, if the approval description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 does not contain an approval description that includes a part of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 (NO in STEP 09), the generation unit 233 decides to delete the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 (STEP 12). After executing STEP 12, the generation unit 233 executes STEP 13.

[0048] In this embodiment, in Canada, "software for setting up and configuring local area networks," which is part of "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks," is included in the US authorization description "computer hardware and recorded software for setting up and configuring local area networks sold as a unit" (YES in STEP 09). Therefore, the generation unit 233 decides to change "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks" to "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks sold as a unit" (an example of an approximate description) by adding the "sold as a unit" part of "computer hardware and recorded software for setting up and configuring local area networks sold as a unit" to the end (STEP 10). This approximate description consists of 16 words, whereas the US authorization description "computer hardware and recorded software for setting up and configuring local area networks sold as a unit" consists of 17 words, including the 16 words that make up this approximate description.Therefore, the generation unit 233 generates identification information, distinction information, degree of agreement information indicating that the degree of agreement with the modified designated goods and services (approximate description) is 94%, and possibility of approval information indicating that the possibility of approval with respect to the modified designated goods and services is 84% ​​(STEP 11).

[0049] The generation unit 233 determines whether the processes described in STEP 04 to STEP 12 above have been performed for all the specified goods and services entered into the input unit 22 (STEP 13). If the processes described in STEP 04 to STEP 12 above have been performed for all the specified goods and services entered into the input unit 22 (YES in STEP 13), the generation unit 233 executes STEP 14. On the other hand, if there are any specified goods and services entered into the input unit 22 for which the processes described in STEP 04 to STEP 12 above have not been performed (NO in STEP 13), the generation unit 233 executes STEP 04 again. In this embodiment, if the processes described in STEP 04 to STEP 12 above have been performed for the three specified goods and services entered into the input unit 22, "computer programs" and "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks", the generation unit 233 executes STEP 14.

[0050] Based on the decisions made in STEP 04 to STEP 12 described above, the generation unit 233 generates a draft of designated goods and services for each country where the application is to be filed (STEP 14). Therefore, in this embodiment, the draft of designated goods and services generated for Japan includes degree of similarity information and appropriation information. On the other hand, the draft of designated goods and services generated for Canada includes identification information, distinction information, degree of similarity information, and appropriation information.

[0051] The generation unit 233 or output unit 25 of the application support device 20 outputs the generated designated goods and services proposal to the display unit 24 or user terminal device 30 (STEP 15). The display unit 24 or the display unit 31 of the user terminal device 30 displays the designated goods and services proposal received from the generation unit 233 or output unit 25 (STEP 16). In this embodiment, the display unit 24 or the display unit 31 of the user terminal device 30 displays the screen illustrated in Figure 7.

[0052] Here, with reference to Figure 7, the screen displayed on the display unit 24 or the display unit 31 of the user terminal device 30 in this embodiment will be described in detail. As illustrated in Figure 7, in Japan, all designated goods and services entered into the input unit 22 are identical to the approval descriptions in Japan, so the designated goods and services displayed in area R1 and the designated goods and services displayed in area R2 are the same. Furthermore, since Japan is the reference country and all designated goods and services entered into the input unit 22 are approval descriptions in Japan, the approval probability displayed in area R3 is 100% for all of them.

[0053] In Canada, among the designated goods and services entered in input unit 22, "computer peripherals" is identical to the approval description in the United States, which is Canada's standard country. Therefore, the designated goods and services displayed in area R4 and area R5 are the same. On the other hand, "computer programs" and "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks" are not identical to the approval descriptions in the United States, which is Canada's standard country. Therefore, the designated goods and services displayed in areas R6 and R7 are different from those displayed in areas R8 and R9. In this embodiment, area R8 displays "downloadable computer programs for connecting remotely to computers or computer networks." Area R9 displays "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks sold as a unit." Since "downloadable computer programs for connecting remotely to computers or computer networks" and "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks sold as a unit" are different from the designated goods and services entered in input unit 22, the words "<Change Proposal>" based on the identification information are displayed above each designated goods and services. Thus, in this embodiment, designated goods and services that have not been changed from the designated goods and services entered in input unit 22 and designated goods and services that have changed are displayed in different forms.Furthermore, since "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks sold as a unit" is an approximate description, it is displayed in a different font (HGP Gothic M) than the font (Century) used for other designated goods and services, based on the distinguishing information. Thus, in this embodiment, the authorized description and the approximate description are displayed in different forms.

[0054] Area R10 shows an approval probability (90%) based on approval probability information for "downloadable computer programs for connecting remotely to computers or computer networks". Area R11 shows an approval probability (84%) based on approval probability information for "computer hardware and software for setting up and configuring local area networks sold as a unit". Area R12 shows an approval probability (90%) based on approval probability information for "computer peripherals".

[0055] In recent years, there has been a growing trend to acquire industrial property rights, including trademark rights, not only in one's own country but also overseas. Trademarks, in particular, tend to be filed in a larger number of countries compared to patents and designs. However, since trademark application practices differ from country to country, it is difficult to file an application that is optimally tailored to the practices of all filing countries. In particular, practices regarding the description of designated goods and services vary greatly from country to country, making it difficult to file an application with the optimal designated goods and services tailored to the practices of each filing country. Furthermore, applicants generally want to acquire trademark rights with the broadest possible scope of rights, so they often file applications with a broad range of designated goods and services, including blanket indications. However, when filing an application in a foreign country with such a broad range of designated goods and services, there is a high possibility that the designated goods and services will not be accepted in that foreign country, and formal rejections often occur due to unclear descriptions of the designated goods and services.

[0056] One way to avoid the formal rejection mentioned above is to consider the description of designated goods and services for each country before filing a trademark application. However, since the requirements for describing designated goods and services differ from country to country, it is extremely difficult to consider an appropriate description of designated goods and services for each country.

[0057] According to the application support device 20 with the above configuration, the generation unit 233 generates proposed information on designated goods and services based on the input designated goods and services and the expression of the designated goods and services that can be approved in a reference country determined based on the input intended country of application and affiliation information. In other words, the generation unit 233 generates proposed information on designated goods and services based on the expression of the designated goods and services that can be approved in a reference country that has practices similar to those of the intended country of application. Therefore, even if the user is not familiar with the practices of all the intended countries of application, it is possible to prevent filing a trademark application with clearly inappropriate designated goods and services. Thus, the application support device 20 can support the filing of a trademark application while reducing the likelihood of grounds for rejection regarding the designated goods and services. Furthermore, the application support method with the above configuration, the computer program that causes the computer to execute the application support method, and the computer-readable medium on which the computer program is stored can achieve similar effects.

[0058] Furthermore, with the application support device 20 configured as described above, if the proposed designated goods and services include designated goods and services different from those entered in the input unit 22, the designated goods and services that have not been changed from those entered in the input unit 22 and the different designated goods and services will be displayed in different forms. Therefore, the user can easily distinguish between the designated goods and services that have not been changed from those entered in the input unit 22 and the different designated goods and services.

[0059] Furthermore, according to the application support device 20 with the above configuration, the proposed designated goods and services include at least one of the approval descriptions in the reference country and an approximate description that approximates the approval description including a portion of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22. Therefore, the proposed designated goods and services generated by the generation unit 233 is relatively likely to be approved in the country where the application is to be filed.

[0060] Furthermore, with the application support device 20 according to the above configuration, the user can estimate the likelihood that the approximate description will be approved in the country where the application is to be filed by utilizing the degree of similarity information generated by the generation unit 233.

[0061] Furthermore, according to the application support device 20 with the above configuration, when the designated goods and services proposal includes an approximate description, the approval description and the approximate description are displayed in different formats. Therefore, the user can easily distinguish between the approval description and the approximate description.

[0062] Furthermore, according to the application support device 20 with the above configuration, the generation unit 233 generates approval possibility information based on the degree of agreement information and reference country information, indicating the possibility that at least one of the approval description and approximate description in the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 will be approved in the country where the application is planned to be filed, as input to the input unit 22. Therefore, by using such approval possibility information, the user can infer the possibility that at least one of the approval description and approximate description in the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 will be approved in the country where the application is planned to be filed.

[0063] Furthermore, according to the application support device 20 with the above configuration, the expression of the designated goods and services that can be approved in the reference country is based on the list of approval descriptions compiled for each reference country and at least one of the designated goods and services that have been approved in the reference country in the past, also compiled for each reference country. Therefore, the draft designated goods and services generated by the generation unit 233 has a relatively high probability of being approved in the country where the application is to be filed.

[0064] Furthermore, according to the application support device 20 with the above configuration, the reference countries are the United States, which represents the North American region; the European Union, which represents the European region; and Japan and China, which have distinctive practices. In other words, the reference countries include at least the United States, Japan, the European Union, and China. The inventors noticed that the practices concerning designated goods and services in many countries are similar to the practices concerning designated goods and services in one of these reference countries. For this reason, the United States, Japan, the European Union, and China are used as reference countries in this disclosure. According to the application support device 20, even if the countries in which an application is to be filed include countries other than the reference countries, it is possible to support the filing of a trademark application while reducing the likelihood of grounds for rejection concerning designated goods and services.

[0065] (Second embodiment) Next, with reference to Figures 5, 8, and 9, the processing performed by the application support device 20 in the second embodiment will be described. In this embodiment as well, the application support device 20 performs the processing related to the application support method illustrated in Figure 5. In this embodiment, parts similar to those in the first embodiment will be described using the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment, and explanations of overlapping parts will be omitted as appropriate. In this embodiment, the countries where the application is to be filed are Japan and Canada, and the designated goods and services entered into the input unit 22 are one of the "medicines" in Class 5.

[0066] Steps 01 to 04 are the same as in the first embodiment. However, as illustrated in Figure 8, in Step 02 of this embodiment, the user enters two countries, Japan and Canada, as the countries where the application is planned, and enters only "medicines" as the designated goods and services. Note that "medicines" is not the same as the approval description in the United States, which is the reference country for Japan and Canada (NO in Step 04), so the generation unit 233 executes Step 06 after Step 04.

[0067] In STEP 06, the generation unit 233 performs the same processing as in the first embodiment, and then executes the STEP 06 process after changing "medicines" to "pharmaceutical preparations" (an example of another phrase) based on the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 and the synonym information recorded in the recording unit 231 (see Figure 4). In other words, in this embodiment, the generation unit 233 performs the STEP 06 process not only on "medicines" but also on "pharmaceutical preparations". The generation unit 233 determines for each country where an application is planned whether there is an approval description that includes the changed designated goods and services in the approval description of the reference country determined by the determination unit 232 (STEP 06). For Japan, since "pharmaceutical preparations" is included in the approval description "pharmaceutical preparations" in Japan (YES in STEP 06), the generation unit 233 determines to change "medicines" to "pharmaceutical preparations" (STEP 07). The revised designated goods and services, "pharmaceutical preparations," is the Japanese approval description. Therefore, the generation unit 233 generates identification information, degree of agreement information indicating a 100% match, and approval possibility information indicating a 100% approval possibility for "medicines (pharmaceutical preparations)" (STEP 08).

[0068] On the other hand, for Canada, "pharmaceutical preparations" is included in the approval description "pharmaceutical preparations for suppressing tumors" in the United States, which is Canada's reference country (YES in STEP 06), so the generation unit 233 decides to change "medicines" to "pharmaceutical preparations for suppressing tumors" (STEP 07). The changed designated goods and services, "pharmaceutical preparations for suppressing tumors," is the approval description in the United States, which is Canada's reference country. Therefore, the generation unit 233 generates identification information for "medicines (pharmaceutical preparations)," matching information indicating that the degree of matching with the changed designated goods and services is 100%, and approval probability information indicating that the approval probability with respect to the changed designated goods and services is 90% (STEP 08). After executing STEP 08, the generation unit 233 executes STEP 13.

[0069] Steps 13 to 16 are the same as in the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the screen displayed in step 16 on the display unit 24 of the application support device 20 or the display unit 31 of the user terminal device 30 is the screen illustrated in Figure 9.

[0070] Here, with reference to Figure 9, the screens displayed on the display unit 24 or the display unit 31 of the user terminal device 30 in this embodiment will be described in detail. As illustrated in Figure 9, the designated goods and services "medicines" entered into the input unit 22 are not identical to the approval description in Japan, so the designated goods and services displayed in area R13 and the designated goods and services displayed in area R14 are different. The designated goods and services "medicines" entered into the input unit 22 are not identical to the approval description in the United States, which is the standard country for Canada, so the designated goods and services displayed in area R15 and the designated goods and services displayed in area R16 are different. In this embodiment, "pharmaceutical preparations" is displayed in area R14, and "pharmaceutical preparations for suppressing tumors" is displayed in area R16. Since "pharmaceutical preparations" is different from the designated goods and services entered into the input unit 22, the words "<Proposed Change>" are displayed above the designated goods and services based on the identification information. Since "pharmaceutical preparations for suppressing tumors" is different from the designated goods and services entered in input unit 22, the words "<Proposed Change>" are displayed above the designated goods and services based on the identification information.

[0071] Area R17 shows the likelihood of approval (100%) based on approval possibility information for "pharmaceutical preparations" in Japan. Area R18 shows the likelihood of approval (90%) based on approval possibility information for "pharmaceutical preparations for suppressing tumors" in Canada.

[0072] In this embodiment as well, the application support device 20, the application support method, and the computer program that causes the computer to execute the application support method will produce the same effects as in the first embodiment.

[0073] Furthermore, according to the application support device 20 with the above configuration, the generation unit 233 changes the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 to a different phrase based on the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22 and synonym information. Then, the generation unit 233 generates a draft of designated goods and services based on the changed phrase and the expression of the designated goods and services that can be approved in the reference country determined by the determination unit 232. In this way, since the generation unit 233 generates a draft of designated goods and services after considering synonyms of the designated goods and services entered in the input unit 22, the application support device 20 can reduce the burden on the user of considering the designated goods and services to be entered.

[0074] The embodiments described above are provided to facilitate understanding of this disclosure and do not limit it. This disclosure may be modified or improved without departing from its intent.

[0075] In the above embodiment, the reference countries are the United States, Japan, the European Union, and China, but other countries may also be used as reference countries.

[0076] In the above embodiment, the text "<Proposed Change>" displayed above each designated product or service was used as an example of a display based on identification information, but the display based on identification information is not limited to this. For example, a geometric pattern may be displayed above each designated product or service as a display based on identification information.

[0077] In the above embodiment, an example was used to describe the approximate description using a different font (HGP Gothic M) than the font (Century) used for other designated goods and services as a representation based on distinguishing information. However, the representation based on distinguishing information is not limited to this. For example, the representation based on distinguishing information may also use characters of a different color than the characters used for other designated goods and services to display the approximate description.

[0078] In the above embodiment, when changing from one designated product or service input into the input unit 22 to another designated product or service, the number of such other designated products or services is one, but it is also possible to change to two or more other designated products or services.

[0079] In the above embodiment, the generation unit 233 generates identification information, distinction information, degree of agreement information, and authorization possibility information, but these information does not necessarily have to be generated.

[0080] In the above embodiment, STEP01 is executed before STEP02, but it may be executed after STEP02, for example. In this case, the acquisition unit 21 identifies an external database 10 in which approval description information for the prospective filing country is stored, based on the prospective filing country entered in the input unit 22, for example, and acquires the approval description information for the prospective filing country from the identified external database 10.

[0081] As explained above, the following matters are disclosed in this specification: (1) Among the countries where trademark applications can be filed, several specific countries whose expressions of approved goods and services differ from each other are designated as reference countries, and a record section records the belonging information of other countries that are grouped according to which reference country their expressions of approved goods and services are closest to, An input section for entering the country where the application is to be filed and the designated goods and services, A determination unit determines the reference country to be referenced based on the country where the application is planned to be filed and the affiliation information entered in the input unit, A trademark application support device comprising: a generation unit that generates a draft of designated goods and services based on designated goods and services entered into the input unit and the representation of the designated goods and services that can be approved in a reference country determined by the determination unit. (2) If the proposed designated goods and services include designated goods and services different from those entered in the input unit, the designated goods and services that have not been changed from those entered in the input unit and the different designated goods and services will have different display formats, as described in (1), for the application support device for trademarks. (3) A trademark application support device according to (1) or (2), wherein the proposed designated goods and services include at least one approximate description that approximates the approval description in the reference country determined by the determination unit and the approval description that approximates a portion of the designated goods and services entered into the input unit. (4) If the designated goods and services proposal includes the approximate description, the generation unit generates degree of agreement information indicating the degree of agreement between the approximate description and the approval description corresponding to the approximate description, the trademark application support device according to (3). (5) If the designated goods and services proposal includes the approximate description, the approval description and the approximate description differ in their presentation, an application support device for trademarks as described in (3) or (4). (6) The recording unit records reference country information for each country in which an application for the trademark can be filed, indicating whether each country is a reference country or a non-reference country. The trademark application support device according to (4), wherein the generation unit generates approval possibility information indicating the possibility that at least one of the approval description and the approximate description in the reference country determined by the determination unit will be approved in the country of application to be entered into the input unit, based on the degree of agreement information and the reference country information. (7) A trademark application support device relating to any one of (1) to (6), wherein the expression of the designated goods and services that can be approved in the said reference country is based on an approval description list compiled for each said reference country and at least one of the designated goods and services that have been approved in the said reference country in the past, compiled for each said reference country. (8) The aforementioned reference country includes at least the United States, Japan, the European Union, and China, and is a trademark application support device relating to any one of (1) to (7). (9) The recording unit further records synonym information, which is information indicating words that can be used to replace at least a part of the designated goods and services entered into the input unit. The generation unit changes the designated goods and services entered in the input unit to a different phrase based on the designated goods and services entered in the input unit and the synonym information. A trademark application support device according to any one of (1) to (8), wherein the generation unit generates the proposed designated goods and services based on the other phrase and the expression of the designated goods and services that can be approved in the reference country determined by the determination unit. (10) A method for assisting trademark applications performed by a computer, Steps to enter the country where the application is to be filed and the designated goods and services, A step to determine the reference country to be referenced based on the entered country where the application is to be filed, and the grouping information of other countries based on which reference country the expression of the approved goods and services is closest to, in which several specific countries among the countries where trademark applications can be filed have different expressions for approved goods and services are set as reference countries, and other countries are grouped accordingly. A trademark application support method comprising the step of generating a draft of designated goods and services based on the input designated goods and services and the appropriable representation of designated goods and services in a determined reference country. (11) A computer program that causes a computer to execute the trademark application support method described in (10). (12) A computer-readable medium on which the computer programs described in (11) are stored. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0082] 1: Application support system 10: External Databases 20: Application support device 21: Acquisition Department 22: Input section 23: Control Unit 24: Display section 25: Output section 26: Bus 30: User terminal device 31: Display section 231: Records Department 232: Decision Section 233: Generation part

Claims

1. Among the countries where trademark applications can be filed, several specific countries with different expressions for approved goods and services are designated as reference countries, and a record section records the grouping information of other countries based on which reference country their expressions for approved goods and services are closest to. An input section for entering the country where the application is to be filed and the designated goods and services, A determination unit determines the reference country to be referenced based on the country where the application is planned to be filed and the affiliation information entered in the input unit, A trademark application support device comprising: a generation unit that generates a draft of designated goods and services based on designated goods and services entered into the input unit and the representation of the designated goods and services that can be approved in a reference country determined by the determination unit.

2. If the proposed designated goods and services include designated goods and services different from those entered in the input unit, the designated goods and services that have not been changed from those entered in the input unit and the different designated goods and services are displayed in different forms, as described in claim 1, trademark application support device.

3. The trademark application support device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the proposed designated goods and services include at least one approximate description that approximates the approval description in the reference country determined by the determination unit and the approval description that approximates a portion of the designated goods and services entered into the input unit.

4. If the designated goods and services proposal includes the approximate description, the generation unit generates degree of agreement information indicating the degree of agreement between the approximate description and the approval description corresponding to the approximate description, as described in claim 3, trademark application support device.

5. The trademark application support device according to claim 3, wherein, when the designated goods and services proposal includes the approximate description, the approval description and the approximate description have different display formats.

6. The recording unit records reference country information for each country where trademark applications can be filed, indicating whether each country is a reference country or a non-reference country. The trademark application support device according to claim 4, wherein the generation unit generates approval possibility information indicating the possibility that at least one of the approval description and the approximate description in the reference country determined by the determination unit will be approved in the country of application to be entered into the input unit, based on the degree of agreement information and the reference country information.

7. A trademark application support device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the expression of the designated goods and services that can be approved in the aforementioned reference country is based on an approval description list compiled for each of the aforementioned reference country and at least one of the designated goods and services that have been approved in the aforementioned reference country in the past, compiled for each of the aforementioned reference country.

8. The aforementioned reference countries include at least the United States, Japan, the European Union, and China, and the trademark application support device relating to the trademark described in claim 1 or claim 2.

9. The recording unit further records synonym information, which is information indicating words that can be used to replace at least a part of the designated goods and services entered into the input unit. The generation unit changes the designated goods and services entered in the input unit to a different phrase based on the designated goods and services entered in the input unit and the synonym information. The trademark application support device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the generation unit generates the designated goods and services proposal based on the other phrase and the expression of the designated goods and services that can be approved in the reference country determined by the determination unit.

10. A method for assisting trademark applications performed by a computer, Steps to enter the country where the application is to be filed and the designated goods and services, A step to determine the reference country to be referenced based on the entered country where the application is to be filed, and the grouping information of other countries based on which reference country the expression of the approved goods and services is closest to, in which several specific countries among the countries where trademark applications can be filed have different expressions for approved goods and services are set as reference countries, and other countries are grouped accordingly. A trademark application support method comprising the step of generating a draft of designated goods and services based on the input designated goods and services and the determined appropriable representation of designated goods and services in the reference country.

11. A computer program that causes a computer to execute the trademark application support method described in claim 10.

12. A computer-readable medium storing the computer program described in claim 11.

Images