Information processing method and information processing device

Abstract

An information processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention: generates display information pertaining to a task assistance service on the basis of first authority information and a service type and functional specifications that each correspond to an acquired account, the first authority information setting service types which include at least two types of task assistance services related to legal affairs and functional specifications which are related to functions of the services; and provides the display information to a terminal corresponding to the account.

Description

Information processing method and information processing device

[0001] An embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information processing method and an information processing device.

[0002] For example, there is a service that supports legal work such as reviewing documents such as contracts.

[0003] Legal work is broad, and the roles of the users who handle these tasks and use the services also vary.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-212315

[0005] The problem that the present disclosure aims to solve is to provide appropriate functions for each user in a legal business support service.

[0006] The information processing method of the embodiment generates display information regarding business support services based on first authority information that sets the service type, which has at least two or more types of legal business support services, and functional specifications regarding the service functions, and the service type and functional specifications corresponding to the acquired account, and provides the display information to a terminal corresponding to the account.

[0007] According to this embodiment, in a legal business support service, it is possible to provide appropriate functions for each user.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a network configuration of a legal business support service according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of an information processing device according to this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of a user terminal according to this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer according to this embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of first authority information according to this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of second authority information according to this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the first authority information according to this embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the second authority information according to this embodiment.

[0009] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, components having substantially the same functions and configurations are designated by the same reference numerals and will be described only when necessary. In addition, the embodiments can be combined with other embodiments, modifications, and conventional techniques.

[0010] 1 is a diagram showing a network configuration of a legal business support service 100 according to this embodiment. The legal business support service 100 of this embodiment functions as, for example, a legal business management service and a support service for a user U when viewing and reviewing documents.

[0011] As shown in Figure 1, the legal business support service 100 illustratively includes an information processing device 1, an external information processing device 5, and at least one user terminal 3a to 3n that can communicate with the information processing device 1 via a communication network N.

[0012] The information processing device 1 of this embodiment is communicably connected to a user terminal 3 as a client device, and is a device that performs various processes in response to requests from the user terminal 3, for example. The information processing device 1 is, for example, one or more server devices managed by a provider (also referred to as a vendor in this specification) that provides a legal business support service 100. The information processing device 1 provides the legal business support service 100, including document creation support, to the user terminal 3, for example, in response to a document instruction received from the user terminal 3 via a communication network N.

[0013] The user terminals 3a to 3n are operated by, for example, users Ua to Un, respectively. In the following description, when describing these n user terminals 3a to 3n without distinguishing between them, some of the reference numerals may be omitted and they may simply be referred to as "user terminals 3." Similarly, when describing users Ua to Un without distinguishing between them, they may simply be referred to as "user U."

[0014] Here, a document refers to a document in any language that is created in accordance with standards such as certain rules, laws, or customs. For example, document information of a document that is the subject of legal work support such as review (sometimes referred to as a target document in this specification) includes, for example, information about the body or content of the document. Document information can include, for example, various types of information such as text information, image information, and tabular information.

[0015] The target document may include, as additional information, for example, meta information (version, creation date, update date, creator, updater, etc.), format information (decorations such as underlines and highlights, font, indentation, etc.), change history information including information on the changes, change date, and changer, comment information, chat information, etc. This additional information may be information created, updated, or edited by the document creation software that created or edited the document information, file viewing software, the legal business support service 100, etc.

[0016] The comment information includes, for example, comments added to the target document using word processing software or the like, and data associated with the document in the legal business support service 100. When a document has multiple different versions, the comment information refers to data associated with one version of the document, for example, data related to only one version of the document.

[0017] The chat information includes, for example, messages sent and received regarding a case related to the target document. More specifically, the chat information includes, for example, message information sent and received via a predetermined online communication tool in the legal business support service 100 according to this embodiment, as well as information about emails and external SNS messages imported into the legal business support service 100. The chat information may refer to data added to a case regardless of the document version, for example, data related to the entire case. In this way, in this embodiment, by handling a variety of additional information, appropriate information can be provided to the user U.

[0018] In the following, an example will be given in which the documents handled by the legal business support service 100 are legal documents (contracts) written in Japanese. However, the documents handled by the legal business support service 100 may be documents other than legal documents. Furthermore, legal documents may be, in addition to contracts, for example, internal organizational regulations. Furthermore, the legal documents handled by the legal business support service 100 may be written in any language. For example, they may be written in Japanese or English.

[0019] The legal business support service 100 according to this embodiment performs, for example, the following processes related to the document review support function: (1) Executing a first analysis process on the target document and acquiring related information about the target document based on the results of the first analysis process; and (2) Generating review information about the document information 21 based on a second analysis process (e.g., a document review process) executed on the target document.

[0020] Furthermore, the legal business support service 100 according to this embodiment can be provided with a document creation support function in addition to the document review support function described above. Here, the document creation support function includes, for example, a function for editing (correcting, adding, deleting, etc.) the contents of the target document and a function for providing information to support editing. For example, the following processes can be included: (3) Viewing or editing the document (4) Saving the edited document or providing it to the user U (5) Editing additional information of the target document (for example, meta information, comment information, chat information, format information, etc.) (6) Creating a new document (including, for example, a copy) (7) Proofreading the target document (8) Executing various processes using the translation display function

[0021] The editing function (3) above includes editing the main text of the document, for example, by the user U editing the document with reference to at least one of the displayed review information and the related information 22. The editing function (3) above includes, for example, editing using a draft sentence for a proposed revision included in the review information. The editing function (3) above includes, for example, at least one of creating, proposing, correcting, and inserting a draft sentence based on or not based on the review information using a trained model such as a large-scale language model (hereinafter sometimes referred to as LLM (Large Language Models) 7). Large-scale language models include, for example, Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT), and the like, particularly ChatGPT or GPT-4.

[0022] This trained model may be customized or fine-tuned, for example, by additional learning depending on the field of documents handled (mainly contracts and legal fields in this embodiment) or the user, or by combining it with another trained model that processes input or output.

[0023] The function of editing additional information of the target document (5) above may be, for example, to use the LLM 7 provided in the external information processing device 5 (server) shown in Figure 1 to generate and edit draft statements (e.g., draft statements of comments or chat information) regarding the reasons for editing or the reasons why risks exist, based on at least one of the related information regarding the target document and the results of the document review process regarding the document information, using the LLM 7 provided in the external information processing device 5 (server) shown in Figure 1.

[0024] Specifically, for example, a comment can be generated by inputting a portion of the text of a document for which a problem was reported in the document review process, a sentence output by the document review process, and a prompt including an instruction to generate an appropriate comment using these into the LLM 7. Such a draft can have different content depending on the purpose. It may include a function to create a draft of a "client comment" for an internal client or a "negotiation comment" for an external negotiating partner, etc. This draft can be changed, for example, by adjusting the prompt when inputting into the LLM 7.

[0025] The translation function of (8) above includes, for example, displaying document information of a document and a translation of the document in a bilingual format, and displaying translations of review information and / or additional information in a bilingual format. In the translation function of (8) above, for example, translation of at least one of the document information, review information, related information, and additional information may be performed using an external system.

[0026] For example, Japanese information to be translated can be sent to an external information processing device of an external translation system, the information translated into English can be received from the server of the translation system, and the translated information can be displayed to the user U. It is preferable that the translations are displayed side by side, with the corresponding original text and translation in a certain unit, such as the clause or paragraph of a contract. This allows the user U to easily review the document. It is also possible to have a function to output the translation or translation in a specified file format and allow the user U to download it.

[0027] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the information processing device 1 according to this embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the information processing device 1 illustratively includes an information processing unit 10 and a storage unit 20 that stores information for the information processing unit 10 to execute various processes and information resulting from the execution.

[0028] The information processing unit 10 of this embodiment includes, for example, a target document acquisition unit 12, a first analysis processing unit 14, a second analysis processing unit 16, a user management unit 17, a display unit 18, and an editing processing unit 19. Note that each of the above units of the information processing unit 10 can be realized, for example, by using a storage area such as a memory or a hard disk, or by one or more processors 41 executing a program stored in the storage area.

[0029] The storage unit 20 of this embodiment includes, for example, document information 21 , related information 22 , reference information 23 , first authority information 24 , and second authority information 25 .

[0030] The target document acquisition unit 12 of this embodiment acquires a document to be reviewed. The target document acquisition unit 12 may, for example, receive and acquire document data stored in a storage unit of another device (e.g., the user terminal 3 shown in FIG. 1 or an online storage service) via the communication network N. The target document acquisition unit 12 may also receive and acquire a document file attached to an email, or a document file sent from a chat system or SNS outside the system. The target document acquisition unit 12 may also acquire a document (e.g., document information 21) newly created in the information processing device 1 or a service and stored in the storage unit 20.

[0031] The first analysis processing unit 14 of this embodiment acquires related information 22 related to the target document. For example, the first analysis processing unit 14 executes a first analysis process and acquires the related information 22 based on the results of the information obtained. The first analysis processing unit 14 extracts, for example, information contained in the target document and necessary for analysis. Various techniques can be employed to extract information from the target document. For example, this includes performing a keyword search of the document and extracting alphanumeric characters, etc., contained near the keyword, or extracting information through at least one of morphological analysis, syntactic analysis, semantic analysis, and contextual analysis. Other examples include natural language processing using machine learning, particularly inputting data related to the review target document and commands (prompts) capable of extracting information from the review target document into a large-scale language model and obtaining the required output.

[0032] The first analysis processing unit 14 may also process document data before the above processing. For example, information necessary for analysis, such as text data related to the body of the received document, may be extracted. A process such as OCR may be performed to extract text data related to the body of the document from image data such as PDF or TIFF. The target document may also be divided into appropriate units, such as articles, paragraphs, and subdivisions of legal documents. These processes may be performed by the first analysis processing unit 14. Alternatively, they may be performed by another processing unit of the service or an information processing device outside the system. The processing may be performed during the first analysis processing. Alternatively, the processing may be performed after the file is saved in the storage unit 20 and before the first analysis processing begins.

[0033] The first analysis processing unit 14 of this embodiment, for example, uses the information extracted by the above-mentioned method to obtain, from the text of the target contract, which is the target document, the determination result of the contract type, which is an example of the related information 22. After that, the first analysis processing unit 14 obtains, for example, information on other contracts of the same or similar type as the target contract from the related information 22 stored in the storage unit 20.

[0034] Furthermore, for example, when a contract is divided into clauses, the first analysis processing unit 14 may assign to each divided clause, as attribute information, result information analyzed in the first analysis process (for example, a clause ID indicating the content of the clause or the type of clause) in addition to the related information 22. According to this configuration, when the user U selects a clause of the contract to be reviewed, the first analysis processing unit 14 can refer to the attribute information assigned to the selected clause, search the storage unit 20 for clauses that are highly related, specifically clauses with matching clause IDs, and present them to the user U.

[0035] The second analysis processing unit 16 of this embodiment generates review information regarding the document information 21. For example, the second analysis processing unit 16 uses the document information 21 of the target document acquired by the target document acquisition unit 12 to execute a second analysis process regarding the risks associated with the document information 21, thereby acquiring the review information.

[0036] Various techniques can be employed in the second analysis process (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the document review process). For example, the document review process may use the extracted information to generate review information based on a rule base. Alternatively, the document review process may use a trained model, such as a large-scale language model (LLM7), which inputs the extracted information and outputs corresponding document review information. Alternatively, a combination of a rule-based approach and a trained model may be employed.

[0037] The review information generated by the document review process performed by the second analysis processing unit 16 of this embodiment is generated based on information obtained by analyzing the target document based on, for example, the criteria applied to the document (for example, the criteria information 23 stored in the memory unit 20, which includes rules, laws, customs, etc.).

[0038] For example, contract review information includes: (1) an indication of whether the clauses included in the document (in this embodiment, the contract) are advantageous or disadvantageous to user U or the organization (the parties) to which user U belongs; (2) reference information such as guidelines for amending or deleting clauses included in the contract and draft wording in the event of amendment; (3) an indication that items that should normally be included in the contract are missing, and suggestions for items and draft wording to be added; and (4) information such as the importance and degree of recommendation of the items in each review result.

[0039] The review information exemplified in (1) to (4) above may be referred to as contract review information when the target document is a contract. By using the above information, user U can easily perform a contract review, including understanding the legal risks contained in the contract and proposing amendments. The review information may also include format information, such as whether the text format in the target document meets standards, and information such as whether specified terminology is used.

[0040] The criteria information 23 applied to these documents may be set by the vendor providing the service, or may be set by the user U or the organization to which the user U belongs. For example, the user U can register criteria indicating the review criteria for his / her company's contracts and drafts or comments related to the criteria in the service and use them in the document review process.

[0041] The document review process may include analyzing the risks contained in the completed target document (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "risk check process"). For example, examples of completed target documents include a contract that has been agreed upon, signed, or concluded with a counterparty, or an internal company regulation that has been approved through a predetermined internal company procedure or that has been implemented.

[0042] As an example, the risk check process uses a contract (hereinafter referred to as the "risk management document") on which multiple contracting parties (in this embodiment, companies A and B) have reached an agreement on the contract, and data on a document (hereinafter referred to as the "reference document") that serves as the basis for the contract of user U, one of the contracting parties (in this embodiment, company A), to determine the risk (remaining risk) remaining in the risk management document for one of the contracting parties.The results are then presented to user U.The risk information data including the results of the risk check is an example of review information.

[0043] The target risks targeted by the risk check process may include, for example, at least one of the following: (1) risks assumed from clauses, expressions, and wording that are included in the reference document but not in the risk management document, (2) risks assumed from clauses, expressions, and wording that are not included in the reference document but are included in the risk management document, (3) risks assumed from clauses, expressions, and wording that are included in both the reference document and the risk management document, and (4) risks assumed due to the presence of clauses, expressions, and wording that are not included in the reference document and the risk management document. Note that a document review process using a reference document similar to the above-mentioned risk check process may be performed on contracts, etc. that have not yet been completed (i.e., are under review).

[0044] The document review process may utilize additional information (e.g., the meta-information described above) of the target document. For example, information on the position of user U (the party involved) (e.g., the contractor or the outsourcing party in a business outsourcing contract) may be used as additional information to generate more appropriate document review information. Furthermore, the document review process may obtain the results of the first analysis process or related information 22 and review the target document based on this information. In other words, the information obtained in the first analysis process may be used in the second analysis process.

[0045] Furthermore, the second analysis processing unit 16 can also generate document review information by referring to the contents of other documents (other versions of the target document, other contracts related to the target document, etc.) Note that in this embodiment, meta-information includes information added to the document file itself by the document creator, etc., and information added by the user U, etc., by being input separately from the file, etc.

[0046] The user management unit 17 of this embodiment acquires user authentication information input by the user U from the user terminal 3. Based on the acquired user authentication information, the user management unit 17 acquires first authority information 24 defined (determined) for each piece of user authentication information stored in the storage unit 20. Furthermore, the user management unit 17 acquires the type of service and the level of functional specifications corresponding to the acquired account based on the acquired user authentication information and the first authority information 24 defined for each piece of user authentication information, generates display information for the service based on the acquired type of service and the acquired level of functional specifications, and transmits the display information to the display unit 18. Note that the display information may also be transmitted to the user terminal 3. In this specification, authentication information or user authentication information is an example of an account.

[0047] Similarly, the user management unit 17 of this embodiment acquires the user authentication information input by the user U from the user terminal 3 as the second authority information 25. Based on the acquired user authentication information, the user management unit 17 acquires the second authority information 25 defined for each piece of user authentication information stored in the storage unit 20. Furthermore, the user management unit 17 transmits the second authority information 25 defined for each piece of acquired user authentication information to the display unit 18.

[0048] The display unit 18 of this embodiment generates display information for displaying the related information 22 and the review information on the review support screen that displays the document information 21. After generating the display information, the display unit 18 transmits the generated display information to the user terminal 3. Note that the display information may be generated by the user management unit 17, or may be transmitted from the user management unit 17 to the user terminal 3.

[0049] Upon receiving the display information, the user terminal 3 can display a review support screen on a display, for example, as an input / output interface 44 (described later), based on the display information. Layout information regarding the layout of the review support screen may be included in the display information or may be different from the display information. The layout information may be generated in the information processing device 1 or the user terminal 3.

[0050] The editing processing unit 19 of this embodiment has the document creation support function described above, which includes, for example, a function for editing (correcting, adding, deleting, etc.) the contents of the target document and a function for providing information for supporting editing.

[0051] The document information 21 of this embodiment can include various types of information such as text information, image information, and tabular information.

[0052] The related information 22 in this embodiment is information related to the target document, and is particularly information that is considered to be useful when reviewing the document, such as information that can serve as a guide for determining whether the contents of the document are appropriate or for reviewing corrections.

[0053] Specifically, examples include documents or related information that have any commonalities or similarities with the target document, such as documents with similar wording, documents with the same parties involved, issues, or subject matter, etc. If the target document is a contract, examples include similar contracts, related contracts including basic contracts and individual contracts or memoranda based on the basic contract, and templates of the same contract type as the target document.

[0054] In addition, if the target document is a legal document, it also includes laws and regulations related to the document (for example, the Subcontract Act if the target document is a contract regarding a subcontract agreement), guidelines issued by government agencies, etc., precedents, etc.

[0055] The related information 22 may also include, for example, publicly available information such as websites containing content related to the target document, data on books available in electronic book services, etc. The related information 22 also includes past cases of the user U or the organization to which the user U belongs, chat information such as conversations stored within the service, comment information added to the document, emails and SNS messages sent and received with the client or the other party in contract negotiations, and data such as files held by the user U inside and outside the service.

[0056] The related information 22 may be a portion or summary of the above information. For example, it may include one or more clauses in a contract, a snippet from an e-book or website, a contract summary, a title or link indicating the above types of information, etc. In this embodiment, the related information 22 includes the contract type of the target document, the name of the contract stored in the related information 22 to be displayed for that contract type, a link from which the contract data can be obtained, the contract text, information processed from these, etc. Furthermore, the first analysis process may be performed on a computer outside the service, and the first analysis processing unit 14 within the service may only obtain the related information 22 related to the target document.

[0057] The reference information 23 in this embodiment is similar to the reference information described above. For example, the review information for the contract includes: (1) an indication of whether the clauses included in the document (the contract in this embodiment) are advantageous or disadvantageous to the user U or the organization (the parties) to which the user U belongs; (2) reference information such as guidelines for amending or deleting clauses included in the contract and draft wording in the case of amendments; (3) an indication that items that should normally be included in the contract are missing, and suggestions for items and draft wording to be added; and (4) information such as the importance and degree of recommendation of items in each review result. The first authority information 24 and the second authority information 25 will be described later.

[0058] 3 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of the user terminal 3 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the user terminal 3 according to this embodiment transmits and receives information related to document display and document editing to and from the information processing device 1 in the legal business support service 100. The user terminal 3 may constitute a part of the legal business support service 100. The user terminal 3 may be realized by, for example, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smartphone, or the like.

[0059] The user terminal 3 illustratively includes an information processing unit 30 and a storage unit 36 ​​that stores information for the information processing unit 30 to execute various processes and information resulting from the execution.

[0060] The user terminal 3 of this embodiment can set first and second authority information for the user U. The user U selects the service type 50 corresponding to the first authority information 24 displayed on the display unit. The user U also selects a folder for each area 60 corresponding to the second authority information displayed on the display unit. The selected information is sent to the user management unit 17 and stored in the storage unit of the information processing device 1.

[0061] The information processing unit 30 of the user terminal 3 of this embodiment includes, for example, a control unit 32 and a browser processing unit 34. Each of the above units of the information processing unit 30 can be realized, for example, by using a storage area such as a memory or a hard disk, or by having one or more processors 41 execute a program stored in the storage area.

[0062] The control unit 32 of the user terminal 3 of this embodiment responds to an instruction from the user U, for example, to launch an application capable of performing processing and display according to this embodiment, such as a browser processing unit 34.

[0063] The browser processing unit 34 of the user terminal 3 in this embodiment is, for example, a general web browser, and executes processing in accordance with HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data, scripts, etc. When the browser processing unit 34 is started, for example, it accesses the information processing device 1 shown in FIGS.

[0064] The browser processing unit 34 displays, for example, data including text data, image data, etc. received from the information processing device 1 in a predetermined format on the display of the user terminal 3. The browser processing unit 34 displays, for example, display information (for example, document information 21, related information 22, review information, additional information, and their layout information) received from the information processing device 1 in a predetermined format on the display of the user terminal 3. In the document editing process, the browser processing unit 34 may display, for example, display information received from the information processing device 1 in a predetermined format on the display of the user terminal 3.

[0065] The storage unit 36 ​​of the present embodiment stores, for example, a target document before review or before editing. The storage unit 36 ​​stores a target document after review or editing acquired by the browser processing unit 34. The storage unit 36 ​​may at least temporarily store display information received from the information processing device 1.

[0066] 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a computer 40 according to an embodiment. With reference to FIG. 4, an example of the hardware configuration of the computer 40 that can be used to configure the information processing device 1 and the user terminal 3 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

[0067] The computer 40 includes, as hardware resources, for example, at least one processor 41, a main storage device 42, an auxiliary storage device 43, an input / output interface 44, and a communication interface 45. These are interconnected via a bus line 46 including an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. Note that an interface circuit (not shown) may be interposed between the bus line 46 and each hardware resource as appropriate.

[0068] The processor 41 controls the entire computer 40. The processor 41 corresponds to, for example, the information processing unit 10 of the information processing device 1 and the information processing unit 30 of the user terminal 3 shown in FIG.

[0069] The main storage device 42 provides a working area for the processor 41 and is a volatile memory such as an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) or a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).

[0070] The auxiliary storage device 43 is a non-volatile memory such as an HDD, SSD, or flash memory (registered trademark) that stores software programs and data. The programs and data are loaded from the auxiliary storage device 43 to the main storage device 42 via the bus line 46 at any time. The auxiliary storage device 43 corresponds to, for example, the storage unit 20 of the information processing device 1 and the storage unit 36 ​​of the user terminal 3 shown in FIG. 2.

[0071] The input / output interface 44 presents information and / or receives input of information, and may be a camera, keyboard, mouse, display, touch panel display, microphone, speaker, or the like.

[0072] The communication interface 45 is used by the information processing device 1 and the user terminal 3 to transmit and receive various data via the communication network N shown in Fig. 1. The communication interface 45 and the communication network N can be connected via a wired or wireless connection. The communication interface 45 may also acquire information related to the network, such as information related to Wi-Fi (registered trademark) access points and information related to communication carrier base stations.

[0073] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the cooperation of the hardware resources and software exemplified above enables the computer 40 to function as desired means, execute desired steps, and achieve desired functions.

[0074] Next, Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the first authority information 24 according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 5, the first authority information 24 is provided in the storage unit 20 of this embodiment. The first authority information 24 has at least two or more service types 50 on the first axis and a user ID (account) 51 on the second axis, and the functional specifications of the service type 50 are set for each user ID 51.

[0075] The service type 50 in this embodiment is made up of, for example, a plurality of applications. As an example, the service type 50 in this embodiment is made up of legal management, review, document utilization, and the like.

[0076] The legal affairs management function, which is an example of service type 50, is a function intended to facilitate the management of legal affairs such as legal consultations and contract review. For example, this function includes accepting consultations and requests for review of legal cases (sometimes referred to as case acceptance in this specification) and managing deadlines for the conclusion of contracts. Case acceptance and various notifications may be performed via a user interface provided in the legal affairs business support service 100, or via another tool, such as email or SNS, sent to the legal affairs business support service 100.

[0077] Other features that may be provided include, for example, task management functions for individual users U, management of deadlines for response to cases, issuing notifications regarding cases with approaching deadlines, an assignment function for assigning a person among users U to be in charge of a case, a management function for managing the number and progress of cases handled or handled by all users U or by an individual, and a function for communication between requesters and parties involved in legal cases (e.g., chat, etc.).

[0078] The review of the service type 50 is, for example, the document review process described above.

[0079] The target document may be, for example, a document sent to the service from the user terminal 3 that acquires the results of the document review process or from a terminal other than the user U. For example, a document file sent by a client other than the legal department requesting the legal department to review a contract created by the other party may be received and acquired as the target document. The file format of the target document may be, for example, DOCX format, PDF format, etc. Furthermore, the target document is not limited to a file containing the document in its body, but may also be text data stored in a database. Furthermore, the target document may be, for example, a document created and edited on the service based on a document template pre-registered in the information processing device 1. Furthermore, the target document is not limited to a file, but may also be text information sent to the legal business support service 100 via a user interface, email, SNS, etc.

[0080] Document utilization service type 50 can, for example, support the appropriate management of contracts after they are concluded. Specifically, it can digitize contracts and store them in a searchable format, notify users when the renewal deadline for a concluded contract is approaching, upload documents related to each case, classify and edit folders and files, and extract and / or check contracts related to or similar to the case in question.

[0081] Next, the user ID 51 on the second axis in this embodiment is a user ID 51 linked to user authentication information. In this embodiment, the level of the functional specifications of the service type 50 is set for each user ID 51 on the second axis. In other words, for each account, multiple service types 50 and functional specifications for those service types are set by level.

[0082] The function specification in this embodiment is information that defines the functions that can be used in a service. In this embodiment, the function specification is set to a plurality of levels, each with different available functions. In this embodiment, the function specification is divided into levels 1, 2, 3, and 4. The available functions differ depending on the level of the function specification. Here, as an example, levels 2, 3, and 4, which have higher numbers than level 1, have more available functions. Furthermore, the level of the function specification also includes two levels, that is, whether the service can be used or cannot be used. For example, a user U who cannot use the service may be set to level 0.

[0083] Specifically, for example, when the functional specifications of review, which is one of the service types 50, are level 1, it is possible to compare the target document with multiple template documents. At level 2, in addition to the functions of level 1, it is possible to add comments to the target document. At level 3, in addition to the functions of levels 1 and 2, it is possible to edit the target document, display review information for the target document, and present suggested amendments to the provisions of the target document based on the review information. At level 4, in addition to the functions of levels 1 to 3, it is possible to approve the review of the target document. The functional specifications of the service may also be set to level 0, allowing only viewing.

[0084] This makes it possible to set the type of service 50 required and the level of the required functional specifications depending on the user U. For example, a user U who has a low relevance to legal work, such as a user who requests legal consultation or contract reviews, can be set to level 0, a user U who belongs to a sales department that does not generally perform legal work but who reviews predetermined template contracts can be set to level 1, a user U who has a high relevance to legal work, such as a legal department member or legal officer whose job is legal consultation or contract review, can be set to level 3, and a user U who is a leader or manager in the legal department can be set to level 4.

[0085] In addition to the embodiment in which the range of available functions is increased depending on the level, differences in functional specifications may also be present, such as different available functions. For example, if the legal management service described above has a first function for communicating about cases and a second function for allocating cases to personnel, the functional specifications may be set so that only the first function is available for one account and only the second function is available for another account.

[0086] The first permission information 24 may be set by an organization to which the user U belongs, such as a company that contracts for a legal business support service, acquiring (contracting / purchasing) a usable license for the service type 50 and functional specifications from a vendor that provides the service, and granting the license to the user U. Specifically, the user as an organization purchases multiple licenses that specify at least one or more service types and functional specifications for the service types, and grants the licenses to each user's account. This allows for flexible configuration of each user and the functions available. Note that such configuration may be performed for each user U, or multiple users U may be grouped together and set as a single group. Note that the organization may grant licenses to external users who do not belong to the organization.

[0087] As described above, each user who uses the legal business support service 100 has a different role, and the first permission information to be granted to each user varies depending on the role. Furthermore, when a single user uses multiple service types within the legal business support service 100, it can be cumbersome to acquire and assign each license type to the user. In such cases, licenses for multiple service types may be issued. For example, to assign a license to a legal affairs officer's account, the user may acquire a license with functional specifications of level 3 for all service types, including legal management, review, and document management, as the first permission information, and assign the license to the account. This allows licenses for multiple services to be set collectively.

[0088] The first authority information 24 may be set by the user U or an organization to which the user U belongs, or may be set by a vendor or service seller of the legal business support service 100. An example of a vendor is a provider that provides legal business support services to the user U. The user U includes a service user and an administrator. The administrator may be a user U who is able to set, change, and otherwise operate the first authority information 24 for each user U or group.

[0089] The first authority information 24 is set when a user U of the legal business support service 100 obtains a license from a vendor of the legal business support service 100 that specifies at least one type of service and functional specifications for that type of service, and the user U of the legal business support service 100 grants the license to an account.

[0090] 6 is a diagram showing an example of the second authority information 25 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the second authority information 25 provided in the storage unit 20 according to this embodiment is, for example, an example of second authority information set for each service type 50. In this embodiment, the second authority information 25 is configured as a table in which at least two or more folders in an area 60 are set on the first axis and a user or group 61 is set on the second axis.

[0091] Note that a group is an example of a group set up by collecting multiple users U within the same organization. A group can be set, for example, as a department, section, team, etc. Users U within a group may be added, deleted, or otherwise modified as appropriate, and may be changed in line with, for example, a change in the organizational structure.

[0092] The second permission information 25 in this embodiment is information about access permissions granted to a user or a group 61 for an area 60. Such access permission grant information can be granted, for example, for each user or group 61. The types of access permissions include, for example, operations related to an area or a project within the area, and may include multiple operations such as management, posting, deletion, viewing, commenting, editing, and full access.

[0093] For example, in the case of viewing, it is set that the cases in folder 1, which is an example of an area, can be viewed. Next, in the case of posting, it is set that the viewing authority and the ability to post cases to the folder can be granted. In the case of management, it is set that the viewing authority, the posting authority, and the ability to edit data related to the folder can be granted. If access is possible, it is set as "○", and if access is not possible, it is set as "×".

[0094] In the example of Figure 6, the access permissions set for Group 1 regarding Folder 1 are "X" for management and "O" for posting and viewing, so user or group 61 can view and post to Folder 1 but cannot edit information related to the folder.

[0095] With this configuration, the first authority information 24 sets the appropriate type 50 of support service and functional specifications according to the user U, and further, the second authority information 25 makes it possible to set access authority to an area within the items selected by the first authority information 24.

[0096] The second authority information 25 may be set by an administrator of the legal business support service 100 within the organization after a contract is signed between a vendor providing the legal business support service and the organization that is contracting for the service.

[0097] The user U includes an administrator who sets and changes the second authority information 25 within an organization, and a user who uses the granted service. An example of the user is a user U within an organization that receives legal business support services from a provider. Since changes to access authority to an area tend to occur more frequently than changes to the first authority, it may be preferable that more users can change the second authority information than the first authority information.

[0098] 7 is a flowchart related to the first authority information 24 of the legal business support service 100 according to this embodiment. Note that this flowchart is an example, and one step may be executed in multiple stages, or multiple steps may be executed at once.

[0099] 7 , first, the control unit 32 of the user terminal 3 of this embodiment launches a browser in response to, for example, an instruction from the user U. The browser processing unit 34 of the user terminal 3 transmits login information such as an initial access URL and a registration ID to the information processing device 1 (step S1).

[0100] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment executes authentication processing in response to, for example, login information from the user terminal 3. The user management unit 17 also acquires, for example, user authentication information (account) from the login information (step S2).

[0101] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment acquires the first authority information 24 from, for example, the storage unit 20 of the information processing device 1 (step S3).

[0102] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment searches the first authority information 24 for a user ID 51 associated with the authentication information of the user U from the acquired user authentication information, and selects the user ID 51. Specifically, for example, the user ID: 3 of the user ID 51 (account) is selected from the user authentication information (step S4).

[0103] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment acquires service information linked to the selected user ID 51. Specifically, it acquires the type 50 of the support service with access permission linked to the selected user ID 51. For example, in the case of user ID: 3 of the user ID 51, it acquires information on review and document utilization (step S5).

[0104] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment acquires the level of the functional specifications for each acquired support service type 50. Specifically, for example, in the case of user ID: 3 of user ID 51, information of level 1 for review and level 1 for document utilization is acquired (step S6).

[0105] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment transmits information on the service type 50 linked to the user ID: 3 of the acquired user ID 51 and the functional specification level for each service type 50 to the display unit 18. The display unit 18 generates service display (screen) information to be displayed selectably for the user U. Note that although the case where the display unit 18 generates the information has been exemplified, the information may also be generated by the user management unit 17 (step S7).

[0106] The display unit 18 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment transmits the generated screen information of the service to the browser processing unit 34 of the user terminal 3. Specifically, for example, in the case of user ID: 3 of user ID 51, screen information displaying reviews and document utilization is transmitted. Note that although the case where transmission is performed by the display unit 18 has been exemplified, transmission may also be performed from the user management unit 17 (step S8).

[0107] The browser processing unit 34 of the user terminal 3 of this embodiment displays information on the display of the user terminal 3 in a predetermined format based on the display information received from the display unit 18, for example (step S9).

[0108] In this embodiment, the browser processing unit 34 of the user terminal 3 transmits selection information of the business support service to be used to the user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1, for example, in response to an instruction from the user U. For example, the user U selects the type 50 of the service to be used from the displayed types 50 of available services, and the selected information is transmitted to the user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 (step S10).

[0109] The user management unit 17 of this embodiment executes a legal business support service 100 selected from the browser processing unit 34 of the user terminal 3. Specifically, the user management unit 17 executes a service of service type 50 such as legal management, review, or document utilization.

[0110] According to this embodiment, the user can select a service type 50 and a level of function specifications that are unique to the user. Based on the user's authentication information, the user U can use services and functions that are linked to the authentication information.

[0111] 8 is a flowchart related to the second authority information 25 of the legal business support service 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, first, the control unit 32 of the user terminal 3 according to this embodiment starts the browser processing unit 34 in response to, for example, an instruction from the user U. The browser processing unit 34 of the user terminal 3 transmits login information such as an initial access URL and a registration ID to the information processing device 1 (step S21).

[0112] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment executes authentication processing in response to, for example, login information from the user terminal 3. The user management unit 17 also acquires, for example, user authentication information from the login information (step S22).

[0113] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment searches the storage unit 20 of the information processing device 1 for the second authority information 25, for example, and acquires the second authority information 25 from the storage unit 20 (step S23).

[0114] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment searches for the user or group 61 in the second authority information 25 from the acquired user authentication information, and selects the user or group 61 linked to the user authentication information. Specifically, for example, user 1, group 1, or group 2 is selected (step S24).

[0115] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment acquires service information linked to the selected user or group 61. Specifically, information about folders in the area 60 to which the selected user or group 61 has access authority is acquired. Specifically, for example, in the case of user 1, information about folder 1 and folder 2 is acquired (step S25).

[0116] Note that area 60 is, for example, an area in the cloud storage area prepared for the organization to which the user belongs in order to use the business support service 100. Folder 1 and Folder 2 are examples of at least two areas.

[0117] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment acquires information for each folder in the area 60 for which the user has access authority. Specifically, for example, in the case of user 1, information is acquired that folder 1 in the area 60 can only be viewed, and folder 2 can be viewed and posted to (step S26).

[0118] The user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment transmits information on the area 60 with access rights associated with the acquired user or group 61 and information on folders in the area 60 to the display unit 18. The display unit 18 generates business support service display (screen) information to be displayed selectably for the user U. Note that although the case where the display unit 18 generates the information has been exemplified, the information may also be generated by the user management unit 17 (step S27).

[0119] The display unit 18 of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment transmits the screen information of the generated area 60 to the browser processing unit 34 of the user terminal 3. Although the case where the screen information is transmitted by the display unit 18 has been exemplified, the screen information may also be transmitted by the user management unit 17 (step S28).

[0120] The browser processing unit 34 of the user terminal 3 of this embodiment displays information on the display of the user terminal 3 in a predetermined format based on the display information received from the display unit 18, for example (step S29).

[0121] In this embodiment, the browser processing unit 34 of the user terminal 3 transmits selection information of a folder to be used to the user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 in response to, for example, an instruction from the user U. For example, the user U selects a folder to be used from the usable area 60, and the selection information is transmitted to the user management unit 17 of the information processing device 1 (step S30).

[0122] The user management unit 17 of this embodiment executes folder display from the area 60 selected by the browser processing unit 34 of the user terminal 3. Specifically, the user management unit 17 executes folder display from the area 60 to which the user or group 61 has access authority.

[0123] According to this embodiment, access authority for each area can be selected for each user or group, allowing the user U to access the area and operate data based on the user's authentication information.

[0124] In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the area to which the user has access authority includes a plurality of areas with different access authorities, but the areas to which access authorities are set may have two or more levels. For example, a folder (area) may have folders (areas) set within it, and access authorities may be set for each of these folders.

[0125] (Other Embodiments) As described above, the services provided by the legal work support service 100 according to the above embodiment are not limited to the review support function and document creation support function of the legal work support service 100 exemplified above on the web browser of the user terminal 3. For example, the services may include the aforementioned case reception and assignment of cases to personnel within a company, a function for comparing multiple documents (for example, a function for clearly indicating difference information), a file version management function, a function for recording matters to be communicated and handed over to clients and legal personnel within a company, and an electronic closing service.

[0126] The legal work support service 100 may, for example, compare different versions of a document having multiple versions, and present the differences and the same parts in a predetermined display format, such as highlighting or highlighting, to the user U. In addition, difference information summarizing the extracted differences may be generated and presented to the user U.

[0127] The legal work support service 100 may be capable of identifying differences in tabular data included in a document and performing document review processing on the tabular data. For example, the legal work support service 100 may acquire a document including tabular data and identify correspondences between cells included in the tabular data and cells included in other tabular data based on the similarity of content data included in the cells. The legal work support service 100 may compare two tabular data items and identify differences indicating the differences. The legal work support service 100 may highlight the differences and output display data for displaying the tabular data.

[0128] The table data is data related to a table. For example, it may be data that associates each cell with the content contained in each cell. The table data may be, for example, table data that organizes, by item, the subject matter and scope of legal effects that a document will produce. That is, it may be table data that organizes, by item, contract details (e.g., contract start date, contract end date, contract amount). Furthermore, if the document is contract data related to the sale or lease of real estate, the table data may be table data that organizes, by item, details of the property and the contract (e.g., property address, exclusive area, lease start date, lease end date, rent). Furthermore, if the document is contract data related to a deposit contract, the table data may be table data that organizes a list of items covered by the deposit contract.

[0129] The document includes at least table data in a tabular format that is processed by the legal business support service 100. The document may also be a legal document. Here, the legal document may be, for example, a regulation or a contract. The regulation or contract is, for example, an electronic document created using predetermined electronic document creation software, or an electronic document obtained by digitizing a paper contract using predetermined image analysis technology (e.g., OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology), and is, for example, a document that includes clauses and generates predetermined legal effects, and includes applications, memoranda, etc.

[0130] In the explanation of this embodiment, the terms and conditions or contracts include not only documents agreed upon by both parties, but also documents that are being reviewed by both parties (i.e., draft terms and conditions or contracts), documents that have been exchanged between the parties but have not resulted in an agreement, or template documents created for reference when entering into contracts with others.

[0131] The following describes a file version management function. The legal work support service 100 may include an information processing function implemented by a document processing program. The legal work support service 100 acquires a first comparison document to be compared with a target document to be reviewed, and extracts and displays a second comparison document (i.e., for example, an electronic document different from the first comparison document) in response to an operation by a user U. In other words, the legal work support service 100 switches the comparison target from the first comparison document to the second comparison document.

[0132] The legal work support service 100 can use, for example, a first similar document similar to the target document as the first comparison document. Furthermore, the legal work support service 100 can use, for example, a second comparison document that belongs to the same series of revisions as the first comparison document, such as a second similar document that belongs to the same series of revisions as the first similar document, as the second comparison document. Here, the first comparison document is the first similar document and the second comparison document is the second similar document, but the first comparison document and the second comparison document are not limited to these. That is, the first similar document and the second similar document may be appropriately interpreted as the first comparison document and the second comparison document, respectively.

[0133] When reviewing a target document, user U may refer to the revision process of an electronic document similar to the target document (a first similar document, which will be described later) and an electronic document revised through the revision process (a second similar document, which will be described later). This allows user U to review the target document by referring to revisions in past documents (e.g., past similar documents). The legal business support service 100 may include an information processing function that performs document processing related to user U's reference to the second similar document.

[0134] The legal business support service 100 may be capable of downloading various types of information. For example, the legal business support service 100 is capable of downloading an electronic file including at least one of document information 21, review information, and related information 22. For example, the legal business support service 100 is capable of downloading document information 21 after a document comparison process and an electronic file including the results of the comparison process. For example, the legal business support service 100 is capable of downloading an electronic file of a document with an edit history, an electronic file of a final or confirmed version of a document, a list of cases, a list of related information, etc.

[0135] These functions may be functions that are set as available or unavailable in the function specification settings, or may be a type of service.

[0136] The information processing method of this embodiment generates display information regarding business support services based on first authority information that sets a service type, which has at least two or more types of legal business support services, and a functional specification level related to the service functions for an account, and the service type and functional specification level corresponding to the acquired account, and provides the display information to a terminal corresponding to the account.

[0137] Therefore, the information processing method can obtain the service type and the level of the functional specifications based on the first authority information and the user information, and generate display information, thereby enabling an appropriate plan to be selected for each user.

[0138] In the information processing method according to this embodiment, display information regarding the area is further provided to a terminal corresponding to the account based on second authority information including at least two or more areas and information on access authority granted to the account for the areas.

[0139] Therefore, the information processing method can acquire an accessible area based on the second authority information and the user's account information, and generate and provide display information to the terminal, thereby displaying display information in an area appropriate for each user.

[0140] In the information processing method according to this embodiment, the first authority information is set with a service type and a functional specification level for each account.

[0141] Therefore, the type of business support service and the level of functional specifications can be set in detail for each user account from the first authority information.

[0142] In the information processing method according to the present embodiment, when a type of service is selected from a terminal, second authority information associated with the type of service is transmitted to the terminal.

[0143] Therefore, the information processing method can display the second authority information linked to the first authority information to the user from the first authority information.

[0144] In the information processing method of this embodiment, the first authority information is set when a user of a business support service obtains a license from a vendor of the business support service that specifies at least one or more service types and functional specifications for each service type, and the user of the business support service grants the license to an account.

[0145] Therefore, the user can obtain a license from the vendor and have the license granted according to the user's account.

[0146] In the information processing method according to the present embodiment, the first authority information is acquired by a user from a provider or vendor of a legal business support service, and the second authority information is set by an administrator of the legal business support service within an organization after a contract is concluded between the vendor providing the legal business support service and the organization that is subscribing to the service.

[0147] Therefore, since changes to access permissions to areas tend to occur more frequently than changes to the first permissions, the second permission information allows the administrator to set access permissions.

[0148] The information processing device 1 of this embodiment has a memory unit in which first authority information is stored that sets, for an account, a service type having at least two or more types of legal business support services and a functional specification level related to the function of the service, and a display unit that provides display information of the business support service to a terminal corresponding to the account based on the first authority information.

[0149] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to be limiting. Each embodiment can be modified by various additions, changes, substitutions, partial deletions, combinations, etc., without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope of the invention described in the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An information processing method comprising: generating display information relating to business support services based on first authority information that sets a service type having at least two or more types of legal business support services and functional specifications relating to the functions of the service, and the service type and functional specifications corresponding to an acquired account; and providing the display information to a terminal corresponding to the account.

2. The information processing method according to claim 1, further comprising providing the display information to a terminal corresponding to the account based on second authority information comprising at least two or more areas and information on access authority granted to the account for the areas.

3. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the first authority information includes the type of service and the functional specifications set for each account.

4. The information processing method of claim 1, wherein the first authority information is set when a user of the business support service obtains a license from a vendor of the business support service, the license specifying at least one type of the service and functional specifications for that type of service, and the user of the business support service grants the license to the account.

5. An information processing device having: a memory unit in which first authority information is stored that sets, for an account, a service type having at least two or more types of legal business support services and functional specifications related to the functions of the service; and a display unit that provides display information of the business support service to a terminal corresponding to the account based on the first authority information.

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