FR3013485A1 - SYSTEM FOR STORING AND INTERROGATION OF A DATABASE - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a system (2) for storing and interrogating a trademark database (6), comprising: a database (6) including information for a set of marks (16), information relating to each of the marks being associated with respective fields; an interrogation interface inviting the user to define several filtering criteria, inviting the user to define for each filtering criterion at least one field of the database and a value identified for this field, displaying all of the criteria; database fields and requiring the selection of one of these fields for the definition of the field of each filtering criterion, further inviting the user to select logical operators between the different criteria defined by the user, inviting the user to user to validate its filtering criteria and the interface returning a list of brands meeting the validated filtering criteria.

Description

The invention relates to systems for storing and interrogating databases of trademark portfolios taking account of national or regional legislation. In order to be able to track and process information about a portfolio of brands, systems are known to store information about these brands in databases and information about the laws in force for these brands at the local or regional level. , and to allow the extraction of stored information. The extraction of information contained in the database is most often made possible by two different interfaces in known systems. A first interface allows the user to enter database filtering information for the most commonly accessed fields in that database. In practice, this first interface has functionalities that are too limited to perform certain complex filtering operations of the information of the database. A second interface makes it possible to enter queries (for example in the form of scripts) into an expert database language, in order to be able to carry out complex filtering operations. Such systems, however, have disadvantages. Thus, the use of the second interface requires a relatively long learning and a good knowledge of the expert language to avoid making erroneous extractions. Such learning is relatively difficult to implement for the episodic user of the system. It is thus realistic to be able to learn the operation of the system in a reasonable time for a user realizing only sporadic access to the system, particularly when these people are not related to the organization administering the system. . The invention aims to solve one or more of these disadvantages. The invention thus relates to a system for storing and interrogating a trademark database, comprising: a database including information relating to a set of marks, the information relating to each of the marks being associated with to respective fields of the database; a query interface of the database, the interface inviting the user to define several filtering criteria, the interface inviting the user to define for each filtering criterion at least one field of the database and a value identified for this field, the interface displaying all the fields of the database and requiring the selection of one of these fields for the definition of the field of each filtering criterion, the interface inviting furthermore the user to select logical operators between the various criteria defined by the user, the interface inviting the user to validate its filtering criteria and the interface returning a list of brands meeting the validated filtering criteria. According to a variant, the system further comprises a parameterization interface inviting the user to define the name of one of the fields of the data base, and storing in the database the name of the defined field. According to another variant, the database stores chronological information associated with a mark and stores the identification of legislation associated with that mark, the database also storing delay calculation rules associated with respective legislations, the system 15 further comprising a delay calculating device based on the chronological information associated with a mark, according to the identification of the legislation associated with this mark, and according to the delay calculation rules associated with this identified legislation. . According to another variant, the parameterization interface prompts the user to define time calculation rules associated with the legislations and storing in the database the defined time calculation rules. According to another variant, the parameterization interface prompts the user to select one or more territories excluded by legislation stored in the database, and stores in the database the selected excluded territories. According to one variant, the system comprises a device for processing the signals generated by a pointing device of the user, comprising a display interface for the stored information relating to a mark, the display interface displaying a pointer superimposed on the information displayed according to the signals processed by the processing device, the display interface displaying the identification of a field associated with a class of products and services of the brand, the display interface automatically displaying the associated information to the class of products and services of the mark when the pointer is superimposed on the identification of said field. Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge clearly from the description which is given below, by way of indication and in no way limiting, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the architecture of a system according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is an illustration of an exemplary interrogation interface of a database of information relating to a set of marks of a database; FIG. 3 is a close-up of part of the interface of FIG. 2 during a selection phase of an interrogation field; FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example of an information consultation interface relating to a mark according to a variant of the invention; FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary interface for setting legislative information associated with marks of the database. FIG. 1 represents a system 2 for enriching, storing and interrogating a trademark database. The system 2 comprises a computer server 4 able to search in a database 6 for information according to search criteria, and able to enrich the information contained in the database 6. For example, the server 4 is a server Web capable of exchanging information with remote human-machine interfaces using hypertext transfer protocol (http). For example, database 6 is a database containing information on national and regional trademark law and procedure 14, and containing information about a set of stored marks 16. Database 6 is typically OLTP type. The data of the database 6 is advantageously stored with cryptographic encryption. The server 4 comprises a module 8 for enriching and interrogating the database 6. This module 8 is implanted in an electronic computer 10. Typically, the module 8 is a software module corresponding to instructions executed by the computer 10. For this purpose, the computer 10 is connected to a memory 12 comprising the instructions of a computer program necessary for the execution of various enrichment process and interrogation of the database 6. The module 8 is for example of type 35 MySQL. The system 2 also comprises at least one man-machine interface 20 connected to the server 4 via an information transmission network 22. For example, the network 22 is the Internet network. To simplify FIG. 1, only one interface 20 has been shown.

The interface 20 comprises: a screen 24, a pointing device 26 such as a computer mouse, an alphanumeric keyboard 28, a central unit 30 connected to the screen 24, to the device 26 and to the keyboard 28. and a memory 32 connected to the unit 30. The unit 30 comprises a module 34 for displaying a geographical map on the screen 24. The geographical map is for example stored in the form of a picture in the format jpg in the database. This map locates, relative to each other, different countries selectable by a user. The unit 30 also comprises an acquisition module 36 of the selected countries, on the geographical map displayed by the module 34, using the device 26 or the keyboard 28.

The unit 30 is for example made from a programmable electronic computer capable of executing instructions recorded on an information recording medium such as the memory 32. Here, the memory 32 includes computer program instructions. which, when executed by the electronic computer, make it possible to produce the modules 34 and 36. For example, the modules 34 and 36 are made using an Internet browser. The database 6 therefore includes information 16 relating to a set of marks stored in the database. The information relating to each of the marks is associated with respective fields of the database. For example, the filing dates of the different brands will be associated with a field called 'deposit date'. Many other fields will of course be available for the information relating to each of the marks.

Advantageously, the server 4 comprises a module 18 for calculating delays. This module 18 is implanted in the electronic computer 10. Typically, the module 18 is a software module corresponding to instructions executed by the computer 10. The delay calculation module 18 accesses on the one hand the information 16 relating to the marks stored in the database 6, and in particular to chronological information associated with one or more marks. This chronological information includes dates and possibly states of acknowledgment of delays. Module 18 also accesses information identifying one or more legislations applicable to the different brands. Module 18 also accesses information 14 on the laws and procedures for issuing national or regional marks. The information 16 includes rules for calculating deadlines for different legislations. The module 18 can then proceed to the calculation of delays by following the calculation rules associated with the legislations applicable to a mark, according to the chronological information associated with this mark. The module 18 can then send back to the user a list of calculated delays, for example by eliminating from the display the delays for which an acknowledgment status is stored. Advantageously, the module 18 has a parametering interface.

This configuration interface makes it possible, for example, for the user to add new fields of information relating to each of the marks in a personalized manner, for example by allowing the format of the information of the field to be specified. The parameterization interface also advantageously makes it possible to rename each of the fields in a personalized way.

The added fields and / or the new field names defined via the parameterization interface are stored in the database 6. The parameterization interface can also invite a user to define the rules for calculating associated delays. 14. The parameterization interface then stores the user-defined time calculation rules for a given legislation among the information 14. Legislation information 14 is associated with a country or a group of country. The parameter setting interface advantageously makes it possible to exclude one or more territories of the country or group of countries, excluded from legislation stored among the information 14 for this country or group of countries. FIG. 5 is an example of a screen 24 displayed to the user for defining the geographical scope of a legislation for the parameterization interface of the module 18. On the screen 24, a geographical map is displayed to the user. The screen 24 displays an identification idl (here a legislation named 'Ig') of the legislation whose geographical definition is in progress. A pointer po is displayed above the card, its position being controlled in a manner known per se by the pointing device 26 (the pointing device 26 generating, in a manner known per se, signals which are then processed by the central unit 30 and its operating system). When the po pointer points to a country on the map, an Ap popup menu automatically appears. To identify the country on the map, the country designated by the pointer can be highlighted. The user can click on the country via the pointing device 26 to have access to the contextual menu Ap. The contextual menu Ap first identifies the name of the country (here Ps2) and proposes action buttons ( here icons in the form of arrows) to insert or remove the country from a provisional list Ps of countries concerned by the legislation and displayed in a provisional table Dlap. The contextual menu Ap then displays any Tae territories that may be excluded from legislation for that country. For the country Ps2, the user can thus exclude the territories Ti, T2 and T3, by means of action buttons (here in the form of arrows). For a given country (here Ps2), the list of excluded territories Tae (here Ti and T2 for the country Ps2) in the table Dlap is thus modified via the contextual menu Ap. When the list of selected countries Ps and excluded territories Tae displayed in the table Dlap satisfied the user, it validates these lists for the legislation being defined by means of a validation button 13v displayed on the screen. The countries and territories of the table Dlap are then stored for the legislation Ig in among the information 14. Advantageously, the legislations can be defined with chronological conditions of validity. For example, the user may define that legislation is valid only until a certain date. Therefore, the use of a delay calculation rule for a given mark may be conditioned by the value of a chronological information associated with a field of this mark, for example its filing date. Different time calculation rules will therefore be applied to different brands based on the chronological information associated with a given field for each of these marks. The enrichment and interrogation module 8 of the database 6 proposes a database interrogation interface, displayed on the screen 24 of the man-machine interface 20 for a user. An example of an interrogation interface displayed on the screen 24 is shown in FIG. 2. The interrogation interface prompts the user to define several filtering criteria for accessing marks stored in the database 6 with an appropriate sorting. A filter criterion is defined by the user in the query interface through a combination of a database field, a sort value for that field, and a condition to apply for this value. Thus, to define the filtering criterion C1, the user is invited to define a field by a selection in a drop-down menu MC1 (for example 'deposit date'), at least one value associated with this field by a contextual menu MV1 according to the defined field (for example '13 October 2010 '), and a condition Mcd1 to apply to this value (for example' equal to '). The drop-down menus for the different filtering criteria may display all the fields of the database defined and may be associated with information relating to the different brands. An enlarged view is shown in FIG. 3 for an exemplary drop-down menu for selection of a field for the selection criterion Ci. By selecting the pull-down menu MC1 by means of its pointing device 26, the user obtains the display a set of field names (here Chpl 1, Chp12, Chp13, Chp14), and can scroll through the drop-down menu to view more field names, until you find and select the desired field name for the criterion of selection Cl.

The database query interface also prompts the user to define logical operators between multiple filtering criteria. The screen 24 thus has an Opl drop-down menu allowing the user to define a logical operator between the filter criteria C1 and C2. The user can thus define logical operators such as OR or AND between the different filtering criteria. Once the user has defined all of his filtering criteria with logical operators, he can validate his request by means of the validation button Bv, in order to start the filtering. The module 8 then returns a list of marks of the database 6 that satisfy the request of the user.

As the user can access all the fields identifying information associated with the different brands, he can easily define complex queries without having extensive knowledge in the native language to access the database 6.

The module 8 proposes an information consultation interface relating to a selected mark, among the information 16. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a consultation interface displayed on the screen 24 of the user. On the screen 24, a set of information relating to a mark is displayed. The screen 24 displays a idm identification of a mark (here a mark designated by `Mk ') whose information is being viewed. The screen 24 also displays a table Dla. In the table Dla, the list of countries or groups of countries for which a trademark registration has been made is identified by a list Ps. The countries present in the list Ps are here Psi, Ps2, Ps3 and Ps4. In table Dla, lists of excluded territories Tae are displayed for each country in the list Ps. In this example, the territories Ti and T2 are excluded for the country Ps2. The screen 24 also displays a list Lc of product classes and / or services Cl. Classes 1, 7, 12 and 23 are here stored in the database 6 for the mark `Mk '. When the pointer Po is positioned above one of the classes of the list Lc (each of the classes of the list Lc corresponding to a field of information relating to the mark), an Lps bubble is automatically displayed. The Lps bubble displays the precise label of the products and services stored in the database 6 for the class pointed to by the pointer Po, which corresponds to the wording of the goods and services indicated in the trademark filing made. By clicking on the class pointed to by the Po pointer, the user will be able to access an editing interface of the field, in order to be able to modify the content of the labels of the products and services for this class.

Claims (6)

REVENDICATIONS1. System (2) for storing and interrogating a trademark database (6), characterized in that it comprises: a computer server (4), comprising: a digital storage device storing with cryptographic encryption a database (6) including information relating to a set of marks (16) including chronological information, the information relating to each of the marks being associated with respective fields of the database; a software module (8) for enriching and interrogating the database (6); a software module (18) for calculating delays based on chronological information stored in the database; An electronic calculator (10) configured to execute instructions of the enrichment software module and the delay calculation software module; a human-machine interface (20) for querying the database, connected to the server via an information transmission network (22), the interface inviting the user to define several criteria filter, the interface inviting the user to define for each filtering criterion at least one field of the database and a value identified for this field, the interface displaying all the fields of the database and requesting the selection of one of these fields for the definition of the field of each filtering criterion, the interface further inviting the user to select logical operators between the different criteria defined by the user, the interface inviting the user. user to validate its filtering criteria and the interface returning a list of brands meeting the validated filtering criteria. 30 2. System (2) according to claim 1, further comprising a parameter interface inviting the user to define the name of one of the fields of the database, and storing in the database (6) the name of the defined field. 35 The system (2) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the database (6) stores chronological information associated with a mark and stores the identification of legislation associated with that mark, the database (6). ) further storing delay cafetti rules associated with respective legislations, the system further comprising a delay calculating device (18) from the chronological information associated with a mark, depending on the identification of the legislation associated with this mark, and according to the delay calculation rules associated with this identified legislation. 4. System according to claim 3, wherein the parameterization interface prompts the user to define rules for calculating delays associated with the legislations and storing in the database (14) the defined delay calculation rules. The system (2) of claim 4, wherein the pararnage interface prompts the user to select one or more excluded territories (Tae) by legislation stored in the database, and storing in the database the territories excluded. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a device for processing the signals generated by a pointing device (26) of the user, comprising an interface for displaying the stored information relating to a mark, the interface a display displaying a pointer (Po) superimposed on the information displayed as a function of the signals processed by the processing device, the display interface displaying the identification of a field associated with a class of products and services of the mark, the display interface automatically displaying the information (Lps) associated with the class of goods and services of the mark when the pointer is superimposed on the identification of said field.