Control device and control method

Abstract

To provide a management device and method for reducing the burden on a customer requesting the payment of expenses required to maintain industrial property rights.SOLUTION: A management device 10 for managing the payment of expenses required to maintain the industrial property rights requested by a customer includes a control part 12 for inquiring the customer of the payment of maintenance pension based on value information representing values of the industrial property rights. When the value information which is the information indicating the value by the numerical value satisfies a first condition indicating that the value is high, the control part 12 performs the procedure for the payment of the expenses without inquiring the customer of the payment of the expenses.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a management device and a management method for managing payment of fees required to maintain industrial property rights requested by customers.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus for evaluating the value of patent rights and utility model rights, which are industrial property rights, from the contents of patent publication gazettes, patent gazettes, published utility model gazettes or utility model gazettes.

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 order to maintain industrial property rights, it is necessary to pay a predetermined fee. The right holder determines whether to maintain each case of the industrial property rights held and decides to pay a predetermined fee (so-called maintenance annuity). Since it is difficult to determine whether to maintain industrial property rights, the burden on the right holder in the work related to paying the maintenance annuity for industrial property rights is large.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to reduce the burden on a customer who requests payment of fees required to maintain industrial property rights.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The management device according to the first aspect of the present invention is a management device for managing payment of fees required to maintain industrial property rights requested by a customer, and includes a control unit that makes an inquiry about payment of the fees to the customer based on value information representing the value of the industrial property rights.

[0007] The control method according to a second aspect of the present invention is: A method for managing the payment of expenses required to maintain industrial property rights requested by a customer, using a processor and non-temporary recording means for recording computer-readable instructions executed by the processor, wherein the method involves the processor, Based on the value information representing the value of the aforementioned industrial property rights, the customer will be contacted regarding the payment of the aforementioned fees. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, the burden on customers who request the payment of maintenance annuities for industrial property rights can be reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] Figure 1 illustrates the configuration of the management device according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows an example of a value database. [Figure 3] Figure 3 illustrates the flow of the maintenance pension payment process executed by the control unit. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows an example of a display screen that the control unit displays on the customer's terminal. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows another example of the flow of the maintenance pension payment process executed by the control unit. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows an example of a display screen that the control unit displays on the customer's terminal. [Figure 7] Figure 7 shows another example of a value database. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] With reference to the attached drawings, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.

[0011] Figure 1 illustrates the configuration of the management device 10 according to this embodiment. The management device 10 is communicably connected to the customer's terminal 30 via a wireless communication network 20. The management device 10 is a device for managing the payment of expenses required to maintain industrial property rights requested by the customer (hereinafter simply referred to as maintenance annuities). The management device 10 is owned, for example, by an annuity management company. In this example, the management device 10 is notifiablely connected to multiple customer terminals 30 and manages the payment of maintenance annuities for each customer's industrial property rights.

[0012] The customer uses terminal 30 to request the pension management company to manage the payment of maintenance annuities for industrial property rights. Specifically, the customer notifies the management device 10 of the industrial property rights for which they request the management of maintenance annuity payments via terminal 30. Also, when the customer receives an inquiry from the management device 10 regarding the payment of maintenance annuities, they use terminal 30 to instruct the management device 10 whether or not the maintenance annuity payment is required. The customer is, for example, the applicant or rights holder of an industrial property right that is pending or registered, and requests the management of and instructs the payment of maintenance annuities for one or more industrial property rights that they own. Alternatively, the customer may be the application agent of the applicant or rights holder. Note that the customer's terminal 30 may be a terminal owned by the customer, or it may be a terminal that the customer does not own and to which they are logged in. The terminal may be a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a mobile phone terminal.

[0013] In this specification, the term "industrial property right" includes not only registered industrial property rights but also industrial property rights that are pending registration but not yet registered. That is, maintenance fees for industrial property rights include not only the costs incurred to maintain industrial property rights after registration but also the costs incurred to maintain industrial property rights during the application process. Hereafter, industrial property rights, including those pending registration, will simply be referred to as industrial property rights.

[0014] The management device 10 has a storage unit 11. The storage unit 11 includes a rights information database 111 and a value database 112. In the rights information database 111, bibliographic data of industrial property rights are recorded in association with management numbers assigned to each industrial property right. Each time a request is received from a customer to manage the payment of the maintenance annuity for a new industrial property right, the bibliographic data of the requested industrial property right are added to the rights information database 111.

[0015] The bibliographic data of industrial property rights include identification information of industrial property rights and maintenance annuity information. The identification information of industrial property rights includes, for example, information such as country, type of right, application number, registration number, filing date, registration date, renewal date, name of the right holder, name of the customer, and customer sorting number. The maintenance annuity information includes, for example, information such as the annual amount of the maintenance annuity of industrial property rights, due date for payment, scheduled payment amount, and payment status.

[0016] The value database 112 stores value information representing the value of industrial property rights. The value of industrial property rights is calculated by comprehensively evaluating one or more items and is represented by a numerical value or an alphabet. The value of industrial property rights is evaluated, for example, from the perspective of protecting the business of the right holder or from the perspective of restricting the business of other companies.

[0017] Figure 2 shows an example of the value database 112. Figure 2 shows value information for industrial property rights with management numbers (sorting numbers) 001 to 0003. In this example, the value of industrial property rights is represented by a numerical value obtained by comprehensively evaluating five items. Examples of the items used to calculate the value include application attention level, license status, status of implemented products, technology trend, and status of implementation by other companies. Each item is calculated and evaluated using various existing methods.

[0018] The application attention level represents the attention level related to the examination of industrial property rights. For example, the application attention level includes the attention level by the applicant, the attention level by the examiner, and the attention level by a third party. For example, when an early examination request is made, the attention level by the applicant is evaluated as high. For example, the higher the number of times cited in the rejection of other industrial property rights, the higher the attention level by the examiner is evaluated. For example, when an invalidation trial or an opposition is requested, the attention level by a third party is evaluated as high. The value of an industrial property right is evaluated higher as the application attention level is higher.

[0019] The license situation represents the situation of licensing an industrial property right to a third party. The value of an industrial property right is evaluated higher as the number of licensed objects is larger.

[0020] The situation of implemented products represents the situation of products in which an industrial property right is implemented. For example, the situation of products includes the number of products in which an industrial property right is implemented, the sales volume or the number of sales of each product, the sales volume ranking, or the proportion that the products in which an industrial property right is implemented occupy in the market. The value of an industrial property right is evaluated higher as the number of products in which an industrial property right is implemented, the sales volume or the number of sales of each product, etc. are larger.

[0021] The technology trend represents the trend in the technical field to which an industrial property right belongs. For example, the technology trend includes trends in the recent market related to the technical field to which an industrial property right belongs, trends in the recent number of applications, etc. Or, the technology trend is said to be higher as the number of publications in media such as magazines and TV is larger, or as the search ranking of keywords on the Internet is higher. The value of an industrial property right is evaluated higher as the technology trend is higher.

[0022] "Other companies' implementation status" refers to the extent to which other companies are implementing industrial property rights. For example, other companies' implementation status includes the number of products made by competitors related to the industrial property rights, the sales volume or distribution volume of each product, and the degree of relevance between the industrial property rights and the competitors' products. The value of industrial property rights is higher the more products made by competitors related to the industrial property rights, the greater the sales volume or distribution volume of each product, and the higher the degree of relevance.

[0023] In this example, as shown in Figure 2, each item is quantified such that a higher number indicates a higher value for the industrial property right. Specifically, the level of attention given to the application, the status of implemented products, the technology trend, and the status of implementation by other companies are ranked in three stages using numbers from 0 to 2. The licensing status is evaluated with a number of 0 if the industrial property right is licensed, and 1 if it is not licensed. The value of the industrial property right is represented by the sum of the values ​​for all items.

[0024] Alternatively, instead of ranking values ​​numerically as described above, you can rank them using letters (for example, A, B, C, ...). In this case as well, since the numerically assigned values ​​are simply replaced with letters, it is still considered a form of representing value numerically.

[0025] As illustrated in Figure 1, the management device 10 has a control unit 12. The control unit 12 is connected to the storage unit 11 via a network so as to be communicative. The control unit 12 may also be configured to form a single device together with the storage unit 11.

[0026] The control unit 12 is configured to handle the payment of maintenance fees for industrial property rights. Specifically, the control unit 12 makes the payment of maintenance fees to the Japan Patent Office system 40, which is connected to it via the wireless communication network 20. Alternatively, the control unit 12 issues instructions for the payment of maintenance fees to the pension payment agent system 50, which is connected to it via the wireless communication network 20.

[0027] Furthermore, the control unit 12 is configured to inquire with the customer about the payment of maintenance annuities based on the value information of the industrial property rights. Specifically, the control unit 12 determines whether to inquire about the payment of maintenance annuities based on the value information of the industrial property rights. If the control unit 12 determines that an inquiry is necessary, it will inquire with the customer about the payment of maintenance annuities. On the other hand, if the control unit 12 determines that an inquiry is unnecessary, it will not inquire with the customer about the payment of maintenance annuities and will proceed with the maintenance annuity payment procedure.

[0028] Figure 3 illustrates the flow of the maintenance pension payment process executed by the control unit 12. For example, the control unit 12 executes the maintenance pension payment process once a month.

[0029] As illustrated in Figure 3, first, the control unit 12 refers to the rights information database 111 and determines whether the payment deadline for the maintenance annuity for industrial property rights is before a predetermined period (for example, before 6 months from the present) (STEP 1). If the control unit 12 determines that the payment deadline for the maintenance annuity for industrial property rights is not before a predetermined period (NO in STEP 1), it terminates the process.

[0030] On the other hand, if the control unit 12 determines that the payment deadline for the maintenance annuity of an industrial property right is before the predetermined period (YES in STEP 1), it determines whether the value information satisfies the first condition (STEP 2). If the management device 10 manages the payment of maintenance annuities for multiple industrial property rights, the control unit 12 refers to the rights information database 111 and extracts industrial property rights whose payment deadlines are within the predetermined period from the present. Then, the control unit 12 determines whether the value information satisfies the first condition for each industrial property right.

[0031] The first condition is that the value of the industrial property right is high. For example, as illustrated in Figure 2, if the value information is represented numerically, with higher values ​​represented by larger numbers, then the first condition is that the value information is greater than the first threshold. This first threshold is set to any value smaller than the value information of the industrial property right that is likely to be maintained. Note that the first threshold may be set by the customer.

[0032] Next, if the control unit 12 determines that the value information satisfies the first condition (YES in STEP 2), it proceeds with the payment of the maintenance pension without contacting the customer regarding the payment of the maintenance pension (STEP 3). For example, if the first threshold is set to 4 in Figure 2, the control unit 12 proceeds with the payment of the maintenance pension for case number 001 without contacting the customer regarding the payment of the maintenance pension.

[0033] On the other hand, if the control unit 12 determines that the value information does not meet the first condition (NO in STEP 2), it will inquire with the customer about the payment of the maintenance pension (STEP 4). For example, if the first threshold is set to 4 in Figure 2, the control unit 12 will inquire with the customer about the payment of the maintenance pension for cases with management numbers 002 and 003.

[0034] Specifically, the control unit 12 outputs a list of industrial property rights to be queried to the customer's terminal 30. Alternatively, the control unit 12 displays a screen containing the list of industrial property rights to be queried on the web browser displayed on the customer's terminal 30. The control unit 12 may also output the web page address information of the screen containing the list of industrial property rights to the customer's terminal 30.

[0035] Figure 4 shows an example of a display screen that the control unit 12 displays on the customer's terminal 30. The list of industrial property rights contains only information on cases with management numbers 002 and 003. The statutory deadline is the deadline for payment of maintenance fees to the Japan Patent Office as stipulated by law. The response deadline is a deadline set earlier than the statutory deadline by the annuity management company to encourage a response from the customer. In this example, the response deadline is set one month before the statutory deadline.

[0036] Furthermore, if the management device 10 is requested by multiple customers to manage the payment of maintenance annuities for industrial property rights, the control unit 12 refers to the rights information database 111, creates a list of industrial property rights to be queried for each customer, and outputs it to the terminal 30 of the corresponding customer.

[0037] Next, when the control unit 12 receives instructions from the customer, if the customer's instructions are to pay the maintenance pension (YES in STEP 5), it will perform the maintenance pension payment procedure. On the other hand, if the customer's instructions are not to pay the maintenance pension (NO in STEP 5), the control unit 12 will not perform the maintenance pension payment procedure.

[0038] The control unit 12 then reports to the customer regarding the payment of maintenance annuities (STEP 6). For example, the control unit 12 outputs a list of industrial property rights for which the maintenance annuity payment procedure has been completed to the customer's terminal 30. Alternatively, the control unit 12 may output a list to the customer's terminal 30 that includes both industrial property rights for which the maintenance annuity payment procedure has been completed and industrial property rights for which the maintenance annuity payment procedure has not been completed.

[0039] Furthermore, in STEP 5, the control unit 12 may be configured to initiate the payment procedure for the maintenance pension if it does not receive instructions from the customer by the response deadline.

[0040] Furthermore, in STEP 6, the control unit 12 reports on the payment of the maintenance pension after the payment procedure for the maintenance pension has been completed (STEP 3). However, the report on the payment of the maintenance pension to the customer may be made before the payment procedure for the maintenance pension is completed (STEP 3). For example, the control unit 12 may output to the customer's terminal 30 a list of industrial property rights for which maintenance pensions are scheduled to be paid, or a list that includes both industrial property rights for which maintenance pensions are scheduled to be paid and industrial property rights for which maintenance pensions are not scheduled to be paid.

[0041] Generally, clients requesting the payment of maintenance fees for industrial property rights must determine the necessity of maintenance on a case-by-case basis and decide whether to pay the fees. Determining the necessity of maintaining industrial property rights is complex, as it involves judging the value of the rights based on various factors such as the implemented product, relationships with competitors, and future potential. Therefore, the burden on clients in the process of paying maintenance fees is significant.

[0042] According to the management device of this embodiment, inquiries regarding the payment of maintenance annuities are made to the customer based on the value information of the industrial property rights. Specifically, a decision is made based on the value information as to whether or not to make an inquiry regarding the payment of maintenance annuities. If it is determined that an inquiry is necessary, the customer is then contacted regarding the payment of maintenance annuities. This means that, compared to receiving an inquiry about the payment of maintenance annuities for each case and deciding whether or not to maintain the industrial property rights, the customer only needs to decide whether or not to maintain the industrial property rights for the cases in which they have received an inquiry. Therefore, the burden on the customer in the work related to the payment of maintenance annuities is reduced.

[0043] Furthermore, generally speaking, if the value of industrial property rights is high, it is considered beneficial to maintain those rights. In this embodiment, the decision to inquire about the payment of maintenance annuities is made based on the value of the industrial property rights. If it is determined that the value of the industrial property rights is high, the maintenance annuity payment procedure is carried out without inquiring about the payment of maintenance annuities with the customer. This reduces the burden on the customer while allowing them to maintain the rights to high-value industrial property rights.

[0044] Furthermore, generally speaking, if the value of industrial property rights is low, it is judged that there is little benefit in maintaining those industrial property rights. In this embodiment, if the value information does not meet the first condition, the control unit 12 will inquire with the customer about the payment of maintenance annuities. That is, if the control unit 12 determines that the value of the industrial property rights is low, it will inquire with the customer about the payment of maintenance annuities. This prevents maintenance annuities for industrial property rights that are of low value and may not be maintained from being paid without inquiring with the rights holder.

[0045] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the first threshold is set by the customer. That is, the control unit 12 is configured to obtain the first condition from the customer. This allows the customer to arbitrarily set the first condition that serves as the basis for inquiries regarding the payment of maintenance pensions. Therefore, maintenance pension payment processing can be performed in accordance with the circumstances of each individual customer.

[0046] In this embodiment, the control unit 12 differentiates its response to maintenance pension payments based on whether the value information satisfies the first condition. However, the control unit 12 may further differentiate its response to maintenance pension payments based on whether the value information satisfies a second condition different from the first condition.

[0047] Figure 5 shows another example of the flow of the maintenance pension payment process executed by the control unit 12. Processes that are substantially the same as those exemplified in Figure 3 are assigned the same reference numerals. A repetitive explanation of these processes is omitted.

[0048] If the control unit 12 determines that the value information does not meet the first condition (NO in STEP 2), it determines whether the value information meets the second condition (STEP 11). The second condition is set to indicate that the value information is lower than that of the first condition. For example, the second condition is set to be met when the value information is smaller than the first threshold and larger than the second threshold. The second threshold is set appropriately to be larger than the value information of industrial property rights that are unlikely to be maintained. The second threshold may be set by the customer.

[0049] Next, if the control unit 12 determines that the value information does not meet the first condition but does meet the second condition (YES in STEP 11), it will inquire with the customer about the payment of the maintenance pension (STEP 12). For example, if the second threshold is set to 3 in Figure 2, the control unit 12 will inquire with the customer about the payment of the maintenance pension for case number 002.

[0050] Next, the control unit 12 determines whether it has received instructions from the customer regarding the payment of the maintenance pension within a predetermined period (STEP 13 and STEP 14). The processes of STEP 13 and STEP 14 are repeated until instructions from the customer are received within the predetermined period. The predetermined period is set before the statutory deadline (payment deadline). For example, the predetermined period is set one month before the statutory deadline.

[0051] If the control unit 12 does not receive instructions from the customer to pay the maintenance pension within a predetermined period (YES in STEP 14), it will pay the maintenance pension (STEP 3).

[0052] On the other hand, if the control unit 12 receives instructions from the customer regarding the payment of the maintenance pension within a predetermined period (YES in STEP 13), it determines whether the customer's instructions are instructions to pay the maintenance pension (STEP 15).

[0053] If the control unit 12 determines that the customer's instruction is to pay the maintenance pension (YES in STEP 15), it proceeds with the maintenance pension payment procedure. On the other hand, if the control unit 12 determines that the customer does not wish to pay the maintenance pension (NO in STEP 15), it does not proceed with the maintenance pension payment procedure and terminates the process.

[0054] In STEP 11, if the control unit 12 determines that the value information does not meet the second condition (NO in STEP 11), it will inquire with the customer about the payment of the maintenance pension (STEP 16). For example, if the second threshold is set to 3 in Figure 2, the control unit 12 will inquire with the customer about the payment of the maintenance pension for case number 003. If there are industrial property rights that should be inquired about in both STEP 12 and STEP 16, the industrial property rights that should be inquired about in both STEPs may be compiled into a single list and inquired about to the customer, for example, as shown in Figure 4.

[0055] Next, the control unit 12 determines whether it has received instructions from the customer regarding the payment of the maintenance pension within a predetermined period (STEP 17 and STEP 18). The processes of STEP 17 and STEP 18 are repeated until instructions from the customer are received within the predetermined period. The predetermined period is set before the statutory deadline (payment deadline). For example, the predetermined period is set one month before the statutory deadline.

[0056] If the control unit 12 receives instructions from the customer regarding the payment of the maintenance pension within a predetermined period (YES in STEP 17), it determines whether the customer's instructions are instructions to pay the maintenance pension (STEP 19).

[0057] If the control unit 12 determines that the customer's instruction is to pay the maintenance pension (YES in STEP 19), it proceeds with the maintenance pension payment procedure. On the other hand, if the control unit 12 determines that the customer does not wish to pay the maintenance pension (NO in STEP 19), it does not proceed with the maintenance pension payment procedure and terminates the process after STEP 6.

[0058] In STEP 18, if the control unit 12 does not receive instructions from the customer regarding the payment of the maintenance pension within a predetermined period (YES in STEP 18), it will again inquire with the customer regarding the payment of the maintenance pension (STEP 20).

[0059] Figure 6 shows an example of a display screen that the control unit 12 displays on the customer's terminal 30 when instructions regarding management number 002 have not been received. The list of industrial property rights contains only information related to the case of management number 002. The response deadline is reset, for example, 10 days before the statutory deadline, to ensure that the pension management company (management device 10) processes the payment of the maintenance pension.

[0060] Then, if the control unit 12 does not receive instructions from the customer regarding the payment of the maintenance pension within the response deadline (NO in STEP 21), it makes the payment of the maintenance pension (STEP 3).

[0061] On the other hand, if the control unit 12 receives instructions from the customer regarding the payment of the maintenance pension within the response deadline (YES in STEP 21), it determines whether the customer's instructions are instructions to pay the maintenance pension (STEP 19).

[0062] If the control unit 12 determines that the customer's instruction is to pay the maintenance pension (YES in STEP 19), it proceeds with the maintenance pension payment procedure. On the other hand, if the control unit 12 determines that the customer does not wish to pay the maintenance pension (NO in STEP 19), it does not proceed with the maintenance pension payment procedure and terminates the process after STEP 6.

[0063] Thus, in this embodiment, if the value information satisfies the second condition, and the customer does not give instructions to pay the maintenance annuity after an inquiry about payment of the maintenance annuity, the maintenance annuity will be paid. This prevents industrial property rights from expiring in cases where the customer intends to pay but does not give instructions for payment for some reason.

[0064] On the other hand, in this embodiment, if the value information does not meet the second condition, and the customer does not give instructions to pay the maintenance annuity after being inquired about the payment of the maintenance annuity, the customer will be inquired about the payment of the maintenance annuity again. If the value information does not meet the second condition, the value of the industrial property right is low, and there is a high possibility that the right will not be maintained. Therefore, if the customer intends to abandon the right but delays giving instructions to abandon it for some reason, it is possible to prevent the payment of maintenance annuities for industrial property rights that were not intended to be maintained.

[0065] In this embodiment, a larger numerical value indicates a higher value. However, the value information may be set so that a smaller numerical value indicates a higher value. In this case, the first condition may be set to be satisfied when the numerical value indicating the value is smaller than the first threshold. The second condition may be set to be satisfied when the numerical value indicating the value is greater than the first threshold and smaller than the second threshold.

[0066] Furthermore, in this embodiment, value information is information that indicates value numerically. However, value information is information that is evaluated based on the presence or absence of multiple perspectives, and may be evaluated as having high value if at least one specific perspective is present.

[0067] Figure 7 shows another example of the value database 112. In this example, the value of industrial property rights with management numbers 001 to 003 is assessed based on the presence or absence of three perspectives. Specifically, examples of perspectives used to assess value include licenses, implemented products, and implementation by other companies. For example, if a license is granted, the value of the industrial property right is assessed as high, regardless of the status of other items used to assess value. In other words, in this example, the value of industrial property right with management number 001 is assessed as high, the value of industrial property right with management number 002 is assessed as medium, and the value of industrial property right with management number 003 is assessed as low.

[0068] In this case, the first condition (STEP 2) in the maintenance annuity payment process in Figures 3 and 5 may be set to be satisfied if the value information has at least one specific perspective. For example, the first condition may be set to be satisfied if the value information indicates that the industrial property right is licensed (or if the valuation is "high" as shown in Figure 7). Also, the second condition (STEP 11) in the maintenance annuity payment process in Figure 5 may be set to be satisfied if there is a different perspective from the first condition. For example, the second condition may be set to be satisfied if the value information indicates that there is an implemented product or implementation by another company (or if the valuation is "medium" as shown in Figure 7).

[0069] Thus, in this embodiment, if there are specific considerations regarding industrial property rights, such as licensing, the maintenance annuity payment procedure is carried out without contacting the customer. This is because, generally, when there are specific considerations regarding industrial property rights, it is determined that there is a benefit to maintaining those industrial property rights, thus reducing the burden on the customer while preserving the rights to high-value industrial property rights.

[0070] In the embodiment described above, as illustrated in Figure 4, the control unit 12 may be configured to provide value information to the customer when inquiring about the payment of maintenance pensions. Specifically, the control unit 12 refers to the value database 112 and outputs a list of industrial property rights, including value information, to the customer's terminal 30. This allows the customer to decide whether to maintain the industrial property rights while looking at the value information. In Figure 4, the value information is expressed as "medium" or "low," but it may also be expressed numerically.

[0071] Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, as illustrated in Figure 4, the control unit 12 may be configured to provide the customer with information on the planned amount of maintenance pension payments when inquiring about the payment of maintenance pensions. Specifically, the control unit 12 refers to the rights information database 111 and outputs a list of industrial property rights, including the planned payment amounts, to the customer's terminal 30. This allows the customer to decide whether to maintain the industrial property rights while looking at the planned payment amounts.

[0072] The control unit 12, which has the various functions described above, comprises a processor, a non-temporary recording means, and a temporary recording means. The non-temporary recording means and the temporary recording means can be implemented by general-purpose memory. Examples of general-purpose memory include ROM and RAM. In this case, the ROM may store a computer program (computer-readable instruction) that performs the above-described processing. The processor can be implemented by a general-purpose microprocessor that works in cooperation with the general-purpose memory. Examples of general-purpose microprocessors include a CPU, MPU, and GPU. The general-purpose microprocessor selects at least a portion of the computer program stored in the ROM and loads it onto the RAM, and then works in cooperation with the RAM to execute the above-described processing. The above-described computer program may be pre-installed in the general-purpose memory, or it may be downloaded from an external server device via a wireless communication network and then installed in the general-purpose memory.

[0073] The processor may be implemented by a dedicated integrated circuit capable of executing the above-mentioned computer program, such as a microcontroller, ASIC, or FPGA. In this case, the above-mentioned computer program is pre-installed in the memory elements included in the dedicated integrated circuit. Each processor can also be implemented by a combination of a general-purpose microprocessor and a dedicated integrated circuit.

[0074] Although embodiments of the present invention have 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 these embodiments. These embodiments are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications to the embodiments 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 the scope of its equivalents.

[0075] In the embodiment described above, the control unit 12 may be configured to acquire items such as the level of attention for each industrial property right application, licensing status, product implementation status, technology trends, and implementation status by other companies, and to evaluate the value of each industrial property right based on the acquired items to generate value information. The control unit 12 may then record the acquired items and the generated value information in the value database 112. The level of attention for each industrial property right application, licensing status, product implementation status, technology trends, and implementation status by other companies can be acquired from the Japan Patent Office system 40 or a customer's terminal 30, etc.

[0076] In the embodiment described above, the value database 112 includes not only items for evaluating value, but also value information indicating the value evaluated by those items. However, value information does not have to be recorded in the value database 112. That is, the value database 112 may only record information about items for evaluating value. In this case, the control unit 12 may be configured to refer to the value database 112 in STEP 2 of Figures 3 and 5, evaluate the value based on the information about items for evaluating value, and generate value information.

[0077] Furthermore, the quantification of the items used to evaluate value, as illustrated in Figure 2, may be weighted according to the degree of influence they have on the evaluation of value. For example, if a license is granted, the value as an industrial property right is considered to be high. Therefore, in the item of license status, if a license is granted, it may be quantified by 1 × α (where α is a weighting coefficient).

[0078] Furthermore, in Figure 2, the value of industrial property rights is represented by the sum of the values ​​for all items. However, for example, the value of industrial property rights may also be represented by the average value of all items.

[0079] Furthermore, the items used to assess value are not limited to those exemplified in Figures 2 and 7. For example, value may be assessed based on at least two of the items shown in Figure 2. Alternatively, the items used to assess value may include, for example, the amount of maintenance annuity payments for industrial property rights. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0080] 10 Management device 11 Storage section 111 Rights Information Database 112 Value Database 12 Control Unit 20 Wireless Communication Networks 30 devices 40. Japan Patent Office System 50. Pension Payment Agent System

Claims

1. A management device for managing the payment of expenses required to maintain industrial property rights requested by a customer, A control unit that determines whether to inquire with the customer about payment of the aforementioned fees based on value information representing the value of the aforementioned industrial property rights. It is equipped with, The aforementioned value information is information that indicates value using numerical values. The control unit is a management device that, when the first condition indicating that the value information is of high value is met, performs the payment procedure for the fee without contacting the customer regarding the payment of the fee.

2. A management device for managing the payment of expenses required to maintain industrial property rights requested by a customer, A control unit that determines whether to inquire with the customer about payment of the aforementioned fees based on value information representing the value of the aforementioned industrial property rights. It is equipped with, The aforementioned value information is information whose value is evaluated based on the presence or absence of multiple perspectives. The aforementioned multiple perspectives include at least two of the following items: licensing of industrial property rights, products that implement them, and implementation by other companies. The control unit is a management device that, when the value information satisfies a first condition indicating that it has at least one specific viewpoint, performs the payment procedure for the fee without contacting the customer regarding the payment of the fee.

3. The control unit, If the value information does not satisfy the first condition, the management device according to claim 1 or claim 2, which inquires with the customer about payment of the fee.

4. The control unit, If the aforementioned value information does not satisfy the first condition but satisfies the second condition, the customer will be contacted regarding payment of the aforementioned fees. If, after the aforementioned inquiry and within the prescribed period, instructions regarding payment of the aforementioned fees are not received from the customer, the payment procedure for the aforementioned fees will be carried out. If the value information does not satisfy the second condition, the system is configured to inquire with the customer about payment of the fees, and if instructions regarding payment of the fees are not received from the customer after the inquiry and within a predetermined period, the system is configured to inquire with the customer about payment of the fees again. The management device according to claim 1, wherein the value indicated by the value information that satisfies the second condition is lower than the value indicated by the value information that satisfies the first condition.

5. The control unit, If the aforementioned value information does not satisfy the first condition but satisfies the second condition, the company will inquire with the customer regarding payment of the aforementioned fees, and if the company does not receive instructions from the customer regarding payment of the aforementioned fees after the inquiry and within a predetermined period, the company will carry out the payment procedure for the aforementioned fees. If the value information does not satisfy the second condition, the system is configured to inquire with the customer about payment of the fees, and if instructions regarding payment of the fees are not received from the customer after the inquiry and within a predetermined period, the system is configured to inquire with the customer about payment of the fees again. The management device according to claim 2, wherein the second condition indicates that the value information has a viewpoint different from at least one specific viewpoint.

6. The control unit acquires information on the first condition from the customer, as described in any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The control unit provides the customer with the value information when it inquires with the customer about payment of the expenses, according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The control unit provides the customer with information on the amount of the fee to be paid when it inquires with the customer about the payment of the fee, as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The control unit acquires at least two items from among the following items: the level of attention the industrial property right has been filed for, the licensing status, the status of products in which it is being implemented, the technology trends, and the status of implementation by other companies, and evaluates the value of the industrial property right based on the acquired items to generate the value information, as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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