JP2001344384A - Apparatus and method of information processing, and program recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and a method of information processing and a program recording medium, capable of properly controlling information which pass across national borders. SOLUTION: The apparatus for information processing for controlling documents concerning technical information comprises a deciding means for deciding legal restrictions, related to transmissions for technical information abroad and a control means for controlling transmissions of the documents abroad.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program storage medium, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus having a document management function, an information processing method, and a program storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the digitization of patent-related documents has been rapidly progressing, and the publication of patent office publications using CD-ROM media and the publication of registered gazettes have been started. It has become common to exchange data using so-called IT technology, such as filing applications and receiving dispatch documents from the Patent Office.

Recently, a search system using the Internet and the disclosure of various types of information have been actively performed.

[0004] On the other hand, each company has been building computer systems for managing intellectual property such as patents and utility models filed by each company for a long time. Most of the systems are mainly, for example, patents and the like. Bibliographic information data, such as the application date and application number, is managed in a database or the like, and necessary expiration date management is performed while searching and displaying the data.

[0005]

However, due to the digitization of documents described above and the advancement of the network environment, the so-called patent application document portion, which is formed in a document format, is also managed electronically, and ordinary time limit management is performed. In addition, there is a need to manage proposals from the inventor and to manage application documents and documents themselves used in exchanges with the Patent Office by linking with a patent office.

[0006] However, when creating and managing documents on the Internet as described above, if the information flows freely without limitation across national borders, security cannot be maintained or technical information is exported. May conflict with laws and regulations that regulate

For example, in the United States, the so-called Export
Although AdministrationRegulation identifies strategically important technologies and regulates the export of that information, it is necessary to manage documents in compliance with such regulations. Such a problem can occur not only in the United States but also in France and the United Kingdom.

[0008] In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program storage medium that can appropriately manage information that crosses borders.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus for managing a document related to technical information, and relates to transmitting the technical information to a foreign country. It is characterized in that it has a judging means for judging the regulation of law and a control means for controlling the transmission of the document outside the country according to the judgment result by the judging means.

[0010] Other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, and from the claims.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Overall Configuration of Intellectual Property Management System) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a typical configuration of an intellectual property management system existing in each country.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 107 denotes a company that conducts economic activities such as research, development, manufacturing, and sales in a certain country, and includes a department that manages intellectual property such as patents.

Reference numeral 104 denotes an intellectual property management section, which includes a document server 114 for managing intellectual property information and a management server 11.
5, owns the servers 116, 117, 118, etc.

The document server 114 includes a document DB (database) for managing an electronically created document itself and a file wrapper composed of a series of documents generated in exchange with the JPO. The management server 115 includes an application number, a patent number, an application date, a registration date and other bibliographic information, a deadline for office actions of the JPO, and a DB for management. Server 1
Reference numeral 16 includes a general-purpose DB for storing specific publications such as Japanese patents and U.S. patents. The server 117 constitutes an application system that manages a workflow and the like described later and other databases (for example, a cited reference database). The server 118 integrally manages the servers 114 to 117 and controls the entire intellectual property information management system. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, “system” refers to a system managed by the server 118.

These components are all connected to the backbone network 119. However, the components above this department may be implemented on the same computer machine.

The documents that can be stored in the document server 114 include ordinary text documents, drawings stored as ordinary image information, mixed mode documents in which text and images are mixed, and documents in a format unique to a word processor. Documents that are electronically created and used in exchange with the Patent Office and in-house documents are stored in the document database of the document server 114 by the application system of the server 117. Normally, the document database is assigned a number for specifying the document, and is linked to the management database of the bibliographic items of the management server 115.

Reference numeral 105 denotes an intellectual property (intellectual property) right-making section, which is a section for acquiring intellectual property rights by directly and indirectly exchanging documents with the JPO.

Reference numeral 106 denotes an intellectual property right support section, which provides rights support such as digitization of patent application manuscripts and time limit management.

Reference numeral 101 denotes a research / development unit, which includes an actual research / development unit 102 and a development right support unit 103 for supporting the right of intellectual property in development.

The intellectual property right section 105 and the intellectual property right support section 106 are supposed to perform tasks such as input of information related to intellectual property and creation of documents as normal tasks, and in principle, a dedicated application screen of the client PC. You can work with On the other hand, the research and development section 102 usually conducts research and development, and the work related to intellectual property is incidental. Therefore, the servers 114 to 117 of the in-house intellectual property information management section 107 are connected to the in-house network. , And can be displayed and processed as a Web screen. The timing of opening the Web screen can be notified to the target by sending an in-house e-mail to the target.

Reference numeral 108 denotes a plurality of domestic affiliated companies existing in Japan, and 109 denotes a communication line (telephone line, telephone line) for exchanging information with an overseas affiliated company located outside Japan.
Internet etc.). Communication between domestic and overseas affiliates is possible with security guaranteed by dedicated lines (e-mail, facsimile communication, etc., for which the transmission side, reception side and data transmission path are specified). Has become.

Reference numeral 110 denotes the head office 107, domestic affiliates 10
8 is a company group.

On the other hand, reference numeral 111 denotes a plurality of external companies which conduct joint research and development with the corporate group 110. The two parties will manage joint research and development products based on mutual agreements and work on patent rights. Data can be transmitted and received to and from the above system via the Internet.

Reference numeral 112 denotes a plurality of intellectual property related offices existing in Japan. These are:
Data can be transmitted and received via the dedicated line or the Internet as described above.

Reference numeral 113 denotes a domestic patent office, which is connected to the above system by an online terminal.

Each of the above sections has a plurality of terminals PC and the like used for inputting and outputting information. Each department member has an ID and a password, and can directly or indirectly access the above-described system.

Each department has a plurality of client computers connected to the network.
4 to 118 are displayed, and the server 114
To 118 can be printed by a printer in a specific format. Also, a scanner for inputting an image is provided as needed.

(Flow of Information in Intellectual Property Management System)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating information management in a network environment connecting a plurality of countries.

In FIG. 2, 201 is Country A (for example, Japan), 202 is Country B (for example, United States), and 203 is Country C (for example, United Kingdom). Reference numerals 204, 205, and 206 denote intellectual property management systems that exist in country A, country B, and country C, respectively, and have the configuration shown in FIG. 207, 20
Reference numerals 8 and 209 denote networks connecting the intellectual property management systems of the countries A, B and C, which are connected to the communication line 109.

Hereinafter, transmission of invention information from Country B (USA) to Country A (Japan) will be described as an example.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of storage items of the management server 115 in the country B. In the management server 115,
Bibliographic information such as the proposal date, the inventor, the field of the invention, the evaluation of the invention, the application date, and the application number is stored for each patent application for each case number. In addition, US patent law
A flag indicating whether a foreign application license called Foreign Filing License has been received is also stored corresponding to each case number.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a document stored in the document server 114 in Country B. The document server 114 provides, for each case number, an idea sheet (a document describing the gist of the invention), a proposal (a document describing the detailed description of the invention), an application specification, a notice of reasons for refusal, a statement of opinion, and an amendment. Documents can be stored. In FIG. 4, for example, case number 0002 indicates that a proposal and an application specification are stored.

FIG. 5 is a table for specifying documents that are subject to information export control in Country B. For example, the idea sheet, proposal, and first country application specification are subject to regulation, and the second country application specification, notice of reasons for refusal, opinion, and amendment are not subject to regulation.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the judgment made when the server 118 of country B sends a document to another country.

First, in step S500, the idea sheet, proposal, application specification, notice of reasons for refusal, opinion statement,
Documents such as amendments are stored in the document server 114, and it is determined in step S501 whether a predetermined time has elapsed.
For example, when one day has passed and midnight is midnight, international transfer processing of the document is started. Next, in step S502,
It is determined whether or not the document is a target of overseas transmission. If not, the process is skipped and the process proceeds to a determination as to whether or not there is a next document (step S503). On the other hand, in the case of a document to be transmitted abroad, it is determined whether or not the document is a document to be transmitted abroad by referring to the table shown in FIG. 5 (stored in the management server 115). If not subject to regulation, overseas transmission is performed in step S508. In the case of a regulated document, step S5
At 04, it is determined whether a predetermined period has elapsed from the filing date. This takes into account the provisions of the United States Patent Law that, for example, if six months have passed since the filing date, the application would be exempt from regulation. If this predetermined period has elapsed,
In step S508, overseas transmission is performed. If it has not elapsed, it is determined whether or not a predetermined permit has been obtained in step S505 and transmission outside the country is possible. This is, for example, the so-called Foreig in the U.S. Patent Act.
n Based on the fact that if you have a FilingLicense, you can send overseas. This type of license is a document server 1
14, and a flag is set on the management server 115 as shown in FIG. Based on this flag, the above-described determination in step S505 is performed. If the flag has been acquired, overseas transmission is performed (step S50).
8). On the other hand, if not acquired, step S50
At 6, it is determined whether a manual transmission instruction has been issued. For example, when the technical field is a printer, as in the case number 0001 in FIG. 3, it is clear that the field is not a restricted field, so the server administrator can give a transmission instruction based on technical judgment. . When such an instruction is given, an overseas transmission is performed (step
S508). On the other hand, if there is no such instruction, transmission is suspended (step S507), and the process proceeds to the next document (step S509). If there is a next document to be processed (including a document whose transmission has been suspended by the previous judgment), the process returns to step S502; otherwise, the overseas transmission process is terminated and the next document is stored. Whether the data has been held up to the previous time (whether the data has not been transmitted) is determined by checking whether the data has been transmitted in the management table of FIG.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, whether the electronic data document can be transmitted outside the country is determined by the type of the document,
Law by managing by factors such as transmission time. Document management that strictly complies with rules can be performed.

In the above example, the first application in the United States has been described. However, the same system and algorithm apply to countries that have certain restrictions on technology exports, such as France and the United Kingdom. Applicable.

According to the present invention, a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MP) of the system or apparatus is provided.
U) can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, or the like is used. Can be.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) Performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into the memory provided in the expansion board or the function expansion unit inserted in the computer, the function expansion board or the function is written based on the instruction of the program code. The CPU or the like provided in the extension unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, the concepts of the workflow, database creation, system configuration and the like in the above embodiments may be arbitrarily modified and combined.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program storage medium capable of properly managing information that crosses borders.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a typical configuration of an intellectual property management system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining information management in a network environment connecting a plurality of countries.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of storage items of a management server 115 in country B;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a document stored in a document server 114 in Country B.

FIG. 5 is a table for specifying documents that are subject to information export restrictions in Country B.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a determination performed when a server 118 in country B sends a document to another country.

[Explanation of symbols]

 113 Japan Patent Office 104 Intellectual Property Information Management Division

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for managing a document related to technical information, comprising: a judging unit for judging a regulation of a law relating to transmitting the technical information abroad; Control means for controlling transmission of the document to foreign countries. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document is a patent application, and is transmitted in a form of electronic data. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit makes a determination based on a filing date of the patent application. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit makes a determination based on a flag stored in a server for managing the document. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the flag indicates whether a license has been acquired. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit transmits the document outside the country via a network. 7. An information processing method for managing a document related to technical information, comprising: a judging step of judging a regulation of a law relating to transmitting the technical information abroad; And a control step of controlling transmission of the document to foreign countries. 8. A program storage medium storing a program for realizing an information processing method for managing a document related to technical information, wherein a judging step of judging a regulation of a law concerning transmission of the technical information abroad. And a code for executing a control step of controlling transmission of the document to a foreign country in accordance with a result of the determination by the determination means.