TWI464601B - System and method for creating patent application files - Google Patents

Description

Patent application file generation system and method

The invention relates to a patent application file generation system and method.

The traditional patent application method often prints the patent application documents in the form of paper, and applies for patents to the intellectual property offices (or intellectual property offices) of each country by registered mail or face-to-face. The above method is inconvenient for the applicant. For example, the Intellectual Property Offices of different countries have many different requirements for the patent application documents submitted in paper form. For example, the documents such as the request form and the manual must be submitted in two copies, and the page number must be marked on the document, if the applicant or patent agency affairs If the relevant personnel are slightly careless, it will easily lead to incomplete documents and delay the application date. If the patent application is submitted by registered mail, it is easy to cause the application date because of the unclear postmark or postal delay. Disputes, and need to wait for a period of time to obtain the application number; if you choose to pay the patent application documents, although you can get the application number immediately, there are great restrictions on the geographical area.

At present, the Intellectual Property Office of most countries provides a software for electronic patent application through its official website. Applicants or patent agencies can use the software and network to apply for patents in electronic applications to the Intellectual Property Office. The traditional application method is more convenient. However, this type of software is usually made up of a specific program. The language is written, so there is a strict format requirement for the submitted documents, and the required format is often not the format commonly used by the person writing the patent application documents, which results in a difference in the format between the written documents and the application documents.

In order to resolve this difference, you need to manually convert the format of the written file, or manually fill the contents of the written file into the fields provided by the software. For a patent agency, or an intellectual property department of a company, when the number of patent applications is large, the above methods will seriously affect the efficiency, and it is impossible to avoid various types of leakage in manual operations.

In view of the above, it is necessary to provide a patent application file generation system and method, which can automatically convert the format of the written document into a patent application file suitable for electronic application, thereby applying for a patent to the intellectual property offices of various countries through the network, and can quickly obtain Application Number.

A patent application file generating system, the system comprising: a setting module, configured to establish a template of different types of extensible markup language formats according to the type of patent application and requirements of different types of patent application documents in different countries, and set the template The corresponding template identifier sets the basic requirements for the user to upload the file, and prompts the user to input information related to the patent application and uploads the file, the uploaded file includes a text file and a file file; the judgment module is used to confirm the proposed file. The type of patent application, checking the uploaded file and judging whether the uploaded file meets the basic requirements of the setting; the reading module is configured to read the input information and the content of the uploaded file, and determine whether the content of the uploaded file is Consistent with the template identifier, and open the template corresponding to the template identifier when the read content is consistent with the template identifier; the format conversion module is used for Converting the input information and the content of the uploaded file into an extensible markup language format, and sequentially filling the formatted information and content into the corresponding template; and the file generating module for filling each of the completed content The template generates a patent application file in the corresponding extensible markup language format.

A method for generating a patent application file, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a template of a different type of extensible markup language format according to the type of the patent application and the requirements of different types of patent application documents by different countries; setting a template identifier corresponding to the template Set the basic requirements for the user to upload the file; prompt the user to input the information related to the patent application and upload the file, the uploaded file includes the text file and the image file; confirm the type of the patent application filed; check the uploaded file and judge Whether the uploaded file meets the basic requirements of the setting; when the uploaded file meets the basic requirements of the setting, the input information and the content of the uploaded file are read, and the read information and the content of the uploaded file are converted into an extensible markup language. The format and the information and content after the format conversion are sequentially filled into the corresponding template; and the patent application file of the corresponding extensible markup language format is generated according to each template after the content is filled.

Compared with the prior art, the patent application file generating system and method can automatically convert the format of the written document into a patent application file suitable for electronic application, thereby applying for a patent to the intellectual property offices of various countries through the network without By printing the patent application documents on paper and applying for patents by registered mail or face-to-face, the time and cost of various types of costs are saved, and the corresponding application number can be quickly obtained, so that the patent application can be followed. For example, the process of applying for a priority document.

1‧‧‧Application Server

10‧‧‧ Patent Application Document Generation System

100‧‧‧Setup module

120‧‧‧Judgement module

140‧‧‧Reading module

160‧‧‧Format Conversion Module

180‧‧‧File Generation Module

2‧‧‧Client

3‧‧‧Database

4‧‧‧Connect

5‧‧‧Web server

6‧‧‧Network

1 is a hardware architecture of a preferred embodiment of a patent application file generating system of the present invention Figure.

2 is a functional block diagram of the patent application file generating system of the present invention.

3 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of a method for generating a patent application file of the present invention.

4 is a flow chart showing the file format conversion of the method for generating a patent application file of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of formula format conversion of the method for generating a patent application file of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, it is a hardware architecture diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present patent application file generating system. The patent application document generating system (hereinafter referred to as "the present system") 10 is installed in an application server 1. The application server 1 is connected to at least one client 2 (only one client 2 is shown) by the network 6 for receiving information input by the user from the user terminal 2, uploading files and other materials or commands. The network 6 can be an intranet, an internet, or other type of network.

The application server 1 is connected to the database 3 through a connection 4, which is a database connection, such as Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), or Java Database Connectivity (Java Database Connectivity, JDBC).

In addition, the application server 1 is also connected to at least one website server 5 via the network 6 (only one website server 5 is shown).

The system 10 is used for checking and processing the information input by the user terminal 2 and uploading the file, including the operation of converting the format of the file, and generating a format conforming to the official requirements. The application documents are filed, and the generated patent application file is sent to the website server 5 through the network 6, thereby realizing the application for the relevant patent in the form of an electronic application. The website server 5 is a server of an official website, such as a server of the official website of the USPTO (http://www.uspto.gov).

The database 3 is used for storing various types of materials, including templates of patent application documents, various types of information input by users, keywords of settings, patent application documents generated after format conversion, and the like. Independent of the application server 1, it can also be located in the application server 1, and stored on the hard disk (not shown) of the application server 1.

The user terminal 2 is configured to provide an interactive interface to the user, so that the user can input information related to the patent application, upload the file to the application server 1, and the like. Among them, the information related to the patent application includes the contents of the patent application, such as: the type of patent application, the name, the inventor, the applicant, the contact information of the applicant, and the pages of the various documents submitted. Number and number of copies, etc.

As shown in FIG. 2, it is a functional module diagram of the patent application file generating system of the present invention. The system 10 includes five functional modules, namely: a setup module 100, a determination module 120, a read module 140, a format conversion module 160, and a file generation module 180.

The setting module 100 is configured to establish different types of templates according to the types of patent applications and the requirements of different types of patent application documents by different countries. For example, first, the templates can be divided into several categories according to the country's differences, and then divided into several sub-categories according to the types of patent applications in each country and the requirements for various types of patent application documents. For example, the types of patents in Taiwan include inventions, new types and new styles. Among them, the application documents for the invention patents shall include: invention patent application, invention patent specification and If necessary, the setting module 100 can establish three templates correspondingly, including: an application template, a manual template, and a graphic template, and all the templates are in an XML (Extensible Markup Language) format. By filling in the above-mentioned various templates with content related to the patent application, a patent application file that meets the requirements is generated.

The setting module 100 is further configured to set a template identifier corresponding to each type of template. For example, the template identifier corresponding to the application template is “application form”, and the corresponding template identifier of the manual template is “instruction manual”.

In addition, the setting module 100 is further configured to set a specification of the data input to prompt and assist the user to sequentially input information related to the patent application, such as the name of the invention, the inventor, the applicant, and the like from the user terminal 2. The setting module 100 is also used to set basic requirements for user-uploaded files when applying for different types of patents, including content requirements and format requirements.

The content requirements include the requirement to have identification keywords in each file. For example, each text file should include the identification keywords of “application form” and “instruction manual”, and the “manual document” document further includes identification keywords such as “application patent scope”. The format requirements include the format that the upload file should conform to. For example, the text file is specified as a WORD file, and the image file including each drawing is a PDF file. In addition, in order to facilitate user writing and system operation, each user may be required to concentrate all the text parts of the patent application file into one WORD file, and if there is a corresponding drawing, all the drawings of the patent application file are concentrated into one PDF file. Taking Taiwan's invention patent application as an example, the WORD file includes a request form and a description, and the PDF file includes various necessary drawings.

In the present embodiment, the text file refers to a WORD file of all the text parts in the centralized patent application file, and the image file refers to a PDF file of all the drawings of the centralized patent application file.

The determining module 120 is configured to confirm the type of the proposed patent application, check the uploaded file according to the type, and determine whether the uploaded file meets the basic requirements set by the setting module 100, such as whether the file is complete or in format. Is it accurate? When the uploaded file does not meet the basic requirements of the setting, the determining module 120 is configured to prompt the user to update the file content and format accordingly.

The reading module 140 is configured to read information related to the patent application input by the user, and read the content of the user uploaded file, for example, when reading the content of the uploaded file, by using the enter key The symbol identifies each paragraph to enable a piecemeal read of the WORD file. The reading module 140 is further configured to: when the content of the uploaded file is read piece by piece, determine whether the piece of content is consistent with the template identifier. If the content is consistent, the template corresponding to the template identifier is opened, so that the content is filled in the template. .

The format conversion module 160 is configured to input the format of the information related to the patent application, and the format of the content in the WORD file read by the reading module 140 and the format of each graphic in the PDF file. Convert to XML format, and fill the formatted information and content into the corresponding template. The process of converting the graphic format in the PDF file by the format conversion module 160 includes the steps of: separating each schematic diagram, flowchart, and the like included in the PDF file one by one; converting the format of each graphic into TIFF ( Label image file format; converts the TIFF format to JPG (coded image file extension stored in JPEG file exchange format) format; processes the resolution of each graphic; records in the form of XML code The storage path of the schema; Fill the recorded storage path into the appropriate location of the corresponding template.

In addition, the format conversion module 160 is further configured to convert the format of the special content included in the WORD file into an XML format, where the special content may include a table, a formula, and the like. The XML language has a specific XML code for the TABLE object. For example, when the WORD file contains an EXCEL form, the format conversion module 160 extracts the relevant information of the EXCEL form and the content filled in the form, for example, a form. The number of rows, the number of columns, etc., and the extracted data is filled into the XML code, thereby realizing the conversion of the table format. In addition, the format conversion of the format by the format conversion module 160 can be referred to the detailed description for FIG. 5 below.

The file generating module 180 is configured to generate a corresponding patent application file in a plurality of XML formats according to each template filled in the content, and the patent application file in the XML format meets an official requirement and can be electronically The application form for the patent application documents, including the request form, the specification and the image file in XML format.

As shown in FIG. 3, it is a flowchart of a preferred embodiment of the method for generating a patent application file of the present invention. First, in step S2, the setting module 100 creates different types of templates according to the types of patent applications in various countries and the requirements of different types of patent application documents by various countries.

In step S4, the setting module 100 sets a template identifier corresponding to each type of template.

In step S6, the setting module 100 sets a basic requirement that the file uploaded by the user should have, wherein the basic requirement includes a content requirement and a format requirement.

In step S8, the setting module 100 prompts the user to input the information related to the patent application and upload the file in sequence. Relevant information may include the type of patent applied for, the name, the inventor, the applicant, and the contact information of the applicant.

The system 10 provides a memory function, stores the data input by the user into the database 3, and uses the pull-down function table for the user to select at the next input. Therefore, when the applicant is fixed, the user does not need to repeatedly input the applicant's various types. Information (for example, the name of the applicant, the contact details of the applicant, etc.), simply select or enter other information that has changed, such as the name of the invention, the inventor, and other information.

In step S10, the determining module 120 confirms the type of the proposed patent application based on the information input by the user.

In step S12, the determining module 120 checks the uploaded file, and determines whether the uploaded file meets the basic requirements set by the setting module 100, such as whether the file is complete and the format of the file is accurate.

In step S14, the reading module 140 reads the related information input by the user and the content of the file uploaded to the system 10, and converts the format of the read information and the file content into an XML format by the format conversion module 160. The formatted information and content are sequentially populated into the corresponding template (refer to Figure 4 for a detailed description of the conversion process). The contents read include: text in the WORD file, tables, formulas, and drawings in the PDF file.

In addition, when the user uploads the file from the client 2 to the system 10, the uploaded file is automatically stored in the specified or default location of the system 10, such as a folder in the database 3, and subsequent The format conversion process and various types of files and materials generated during the process of generating patent application files are stored in the same folder, and the corresponding storage paths are the same.

Step S16, the file generation module 180 generates corresponding according to each template after the content is filled. Several patent applications in XML format and end this process. The generated patent application file in XML format can be transmitted to the official website server 5 via the network 6 to complete the electronic application of the patent.

When the uploaded file does not meet the basic requirements, in step S18, the determining module 120 prompts the user to update the file content and format accordingly, and returns to step S12.

Steps S2 to S6 as described above are generally performed only when the first patent application file is generated by the system 10, and when other patent application files are subsequently generated, only steps S8 to S18 are performed without repeating Step S2 to step S6. If the official requirements for the patent application document change, the template may be updated using steps S2 to S6, or a new template may be re-established and various requirements updated.

As shown in FIG. 4, it is a file format conversion flowchart of the method for generating a patent application file of the present invention, which is a refinement process of step S12. First, in step S20, the reading module 140 reads the information related to the patent application input by the user, and the format conversion module 160 converts the format of the input information into an XML format, and fills the formatted information into corresponding In the request template.

In step S22, the file generation module 180 automatically generates a request in XML format according to the request template of the filled content.

In step S24, the reading module 140 reads the WORD file uploaded by the user, and the WORD file can be read piece by piece by recognizing each paragraph by the symbol of the enter key.

In step S26, when the reading module 140 reads the content of the WORD file piece by piece, it determines whether the piece of content is consistent with the template identifier.

If the content of the segment is consistent with the template identifier, in step S28, the reading module 140 determines and opens a template corresponding to the template identifier, for example, when the reading module 140 determines the text and template identifier of the first segment. When the book is consistent, the application template is opened. If the content of the paragraph does not match the template identifier, the flow goes to step S30.

In step S30, the format conversion module 160 converts the format of the segment content into an XML format, and sequentially fills the format converted content into the corresponding template. When converting the text format in the paragraph, the format conversion module 160 also converts the format of the special content other than the text in the WORD file, for example, a table and a formula. The process of converting the table into the XML format by the format conversion module 160 can refer to the description in FIG. 2, and the format conversion of the formula can refer to the detailed description of FIG. 5.

In step S32, the reading module 140 determines whether the reading of all the contents in the WORD file is completed. If the reading of all the contents of the WORD file has not been completed, the flow returns to step S24, and the content of the next paragraph of text is read by the reading module 140.

If the reading of all the contents of the WORD file has been completed, in step S34, the file generating module 180 generates a corresponding patent application file in a plurality of XML formats according to each template filled in the content, including an application form and an instruction format in an XML format. .

In step S36, the reading module 140 reads each graphic in the PDF file uploaded by the user.

In step S38, the format conversion module 160 converts the format of each schema in the PDF file into an XML format, wherein the format conversion process includes: separating each schematic diagram, flowchart, and the like included in the PDF file. Converting the format of each schema to TIFF format; converting the schema of TIFF format to JPG format; recording the storage path of the schema in the form of XML code, and completing the format conversion, the format conversion module 160 also fills the recorded storage path into the corresponding location of the corresponding template and ends the process.

For example, the storage path of the schema recorded in the XML code form is: <image width="40" height="53" src=".\specification_files\S0000.jpg"/>, where "instruction_files" It is the name of the folder in which the above-mentioned various types of files and materials are stored, and also indicates the relative path of the data storage, and "S0000" is the name of the schema automatically generated by the format conversion module 160.

As shown in FIG. 5, it is a flow chart of formula format conversion of the method for generating a patent application file of the present invention. First, in step S300, the format conversion module 160 extracts the formula contained in the paragraph in the WORD file. Step S302, the format conversion module 160 puts the extracted formula into the clipboard and stores it as a TIFF format image file, and the TIFF format image file can be stored in the data library 3 or the hard disk of the application server 1. .

Step S304, the format conversion module 160 converts the format of the TIFF format image into a JPG format.

In step S306, the format conversion module 160 processes the resolution of the image file, for example, adjusting the gradation, and records the storage path of the image file in the form of an XML code.

Step S308, the format conversion module 160 fills the recorded storage path into the corresponding position of the corresponding template, and then ends the process, wherein the corresponding position is determined according to the paragraph in which the formula is located.

The present invention has been described above in terms of preferred embodiments, and is not intended to limit the invention. Anyone skilled in the art will be able to make changes and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and therefore the scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims. The standard is subject to change.

Claims (17)

A patent application file generating system, the system comprising: a setting module, configured to establish a template of different types of extensible markup language formats according to the type of patent application and requirements of different types of patent application documents in different countries, and set the template The corresponding template identifier sets the basic requirements for the user to upload the file, and prompts the user to input information related to the patent application and uploads the file, the uploaded file includes a text file and a file file; the judgment module is used to confirm the proposed file. The type of patent application, checking the uploaded file and judging whether the uploaded file meets the basic requirements of the setting; the reading module is configured to read the input information and the content of the uploaded file, and determine whether the content of the uploaded file is Consistent with the template identifier, and open a template corresponding to the template identifier when the read content is consistent with the template identifier; the format conversion module is configured to convert the input information and the content of the uploaded file into an extensible markup language format, and The information and content after the format conversion are sequentially filled into the corresponding template. Converting a formula in a text file into an extensible markup language format, including: extracting a formula contained in a paragraph in a text file, placing the extracted formula into a clipboard, and storing the image as a label image file format, The image file format is converted from the label image file format to the JPG format, and the storage path of the image file is recorded in the form of a code of the extensible markup language, and the storage path of the record is filled into the corresponding position of the corresponding template; and the file generation module And a patent application file for generating a corresponding extensible markup language format according to each template after the content is filled. For example, in the patent application file generating system described in claim 1, the template created by the setting module includes: an application template, a manual template, and a graphic template. For example, in the patent application file generation system described in claim 1, the basic requirements of the uploaded file include: content requirements, which are required to require identification keywords in all uploaded files; and format requirements for specifying uploading The file should conform to the format. The patent application file generating system according to claim 1, wherein the determining module is configured to prompt the user to update the file content and format correspondingly when the uploaded file does not meet the basic requirements of the setting. For example, the patent application file generating system described in claim 1 is as follows: the reading module reads the text file in the uploaded file piece by piece, and determines whether the piece of content is consistent with the template identifier; The template identifier is consistent, and the reading module opens a template corresponding to the template identifier, and the format conversion module converts the format of the segment content into an extensible logo language format, if the segment content is inconsistent with the template identifier The format conversion module converts the format of the piece of content into an extensible markup language format; and the format conversion module sequentially fills the format converted content into the corresponding template. The patent application file generating system according to claim 1, wherein the format conversion module is further configured to convert the table in the text file into an extensible markup language format. For example, in the patent application file generating system described in claim 6, the format conversion module uses the following steps to convert the table in the text file into an extensible markup language format: Extracting the relevant information of the form and the content filled in the form; and filling the extracted data into the code of the extensible markup language, thereby realizing the conversion of the form format. The patent application file generating system according to claim 1, wherein the reading module is further configured to read each graphic pattern included in the image file in the uploaded file, and the format conversion module Everything is divided, the format of each schema is converted into a label image file format, and the format of the converted label image file format is JPG format, and the storage path of the schema is recorded in the code form of the extensible markup language, and the record is recorded. The storage path is populated in the appropriate location of the corresponding template. A method for generating a patent application file, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a template of a different type of extensible markup language format according to the type of the patent application and the requirements of different types of patent application documents by different countries; setting a template identifier corresponding to the template Set the basic requirements for the user to upload the file; prompt the user to input the information related to the patent application and upload the file, the uploaded file includes the text file and the image file; confirm the type of the patent application filed; check the uploaded file and judge Whether the uploaded file meets the basic requirements of the setting; when the uploaded file meets the basic requirements of the setting, the input information and the content of the uploaded file are read, and the read information and the content of the uploaded file are converted into an extensible markup language. The format, and the formatted information and content are sequentially filled into the corresponding template, including: converting the formula in the text file into an extensible markup language format, including: extracting the formula contained in the paragraph in the text file, and extracting Formula is placed in the clipboard and stored as A tagged image file format of the image file, the image file format used by The label image file format is converted into a JPG format, and the storage path of the image file is recorded in the form of a code of the extensible markup language, and the storage path of the record is filled into the corresponding position of the corresponding template; and generated according to each template after the content is filled A corresponding patent application file in a scalable markup language format. The method for generating a patent application file according to claim 9 , the method further comprising the steps of: prompting the user to update the content and format of the file and returning the check when the uploaded file does not meet the basic requirements of the setting; step. For example, in the method for generating a patent application file according to claim 9 of the patent application, the information input and the content of the uploaded file are converted, and the content of the read information and the uploaded file are converted into an extensible markup language format, and the format is The step of filling the translated information into the corresponding template in sequence includes: reading the text file in the uploaded file piece by piece; determining whether the piece of content is consistent with the template identifier; if the piece of content is consistent with the template identifier, Opening a template corresponding to the template identifier, and converting the format of the segment content into an extensible markup language format; if the segment content is inconsistent with the template identifier, directly converting the format of the segment content into an extensible markup language format; The formatted content is sequentially populated into the corresponding template. The method for generating a patent application file according to claim 9, wherein the step of converting the formula in the text file into the extensible markup language format further comprises: processing the sharpness of the image file. For example, the method for generating a patent application file described in claim 9 of the patent scope, the read and lose The information of the input information and the content of the uploaded file, the content of the read information and the uploaded file are converted into the extensible markup language format, and the information and content converted by the format are sequentially filled into the corresponding template. The steps further include: Convert the table in the text file to an extensible markup language format. The method for generating a patent application file according to claim 13 , wherein the step of converting the form in the text file into the extensible markup language format comprises the steps of: extracting relevant information of the form and the content filled in the form; And the extracted data is filled into the code of the extensible markup language, thereby realizing the conversion of the table format. For example, in the method for generating a patent application file according to claim 9 of the patent application, the information input and the content of the uploaded file are converted, and the content of the read information and the uploaded file are converted into an extensible markup language format, and the format is The step of filling the converted information and content into the corresponding template in sequence includes: reading each schema included in the image file in the uploaded file; separating the schemas one by one; converting the format of each schema into a label map Like file format; the format of the converted label image file format is JPG format; the resolution of each pattern is processed; the storage path of the pattern is recorded in the form of code of the extensible markup language; and the storage path of the record is filled Go to the appropriate location of the template. The method for generating a patent application file according to claim 9 of the patent application, the template for the establishment includes: an application template, a template of the specification, and a schema template. For the method for generating a patent application file described in claim 9 of the patent application, the basic requirements for the uploaded document include: Content requirements are required to require identification keywords for all uploaded files; and format requirements for specifying the format in which the uploaded files should conform.