JP2001306557A - Device and method for processing information and program storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a person to speedily confirm a latest document, without having to refer to the document of each of histories by automatically updating a part to be changed such as a range of a patent demand concerning the specified document of a patent or the like. SOLUTION: This device has a first storage means for storing a first document, a second storage means for storing a second document for changing contents in at least one part of the first document, a replacing means for replacing the contents of the first document with the changed contents of the second document, and a third storage means for storing a third document provided through replacement by means of the replacing means, and even after the third document is stored in the third storage means, the first and second storage means preserve the first and second documents.

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 function of managing a specific document, 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 above-mentioned digitization of documents and the progress of network environments, documents are constructed in a document format.
The text of the so-called patent application (claims, detailed description of the invention, embodiments of the invention, etc.), that is, the document part of the patent application, is also managed electronically, and not only from the usual time limit management, but also from the inventor. The idea of managing proposals and managing the application documents and the documents used in exchanges with the Patent Office by linking with a patent office is becoming more common.

[0006]

A general method of document management is to store the generated document itself in a file, a database, or the like, give the document a specific name, and specify the date and type of the document. It manages the system together with various information related to the system, and enables users to search and inquire.

The advantage of this management method is that since the generated document itself, that is, the original text, is securely managed, it can be referred to at any time in the same format as when it was generated.

In other words, the conventional management method in which paper is managed by a binder is stored electronically as it is, and inherits the convenient point of paper as it is.

However, when it is desired to refer to the latest information on a specific document having a document form in which a part of the document changes one after another in a time series, all the documents generated in the past must be reviewed and People had to think and assemble them in their heads while thinking about how they had changed, which was very time-consuming and put a mental burden on workers.

[0010] For example, as typified by the claims, information that changes from time to time until a patent is finally converted from the document at the time of filing and the content of the application that specifies the patent right is determined For, in order to refer to the latest claim information, all the procedural amendments related to it must be opened, the user must examine and judge the contents, and assemble the final claim .

[0011] This is a very troublesome task for an operator who wants to know the latest claims and those who are not familiar.

Similarly, the same can be said for the text portion of the application specification (section for detailed description of the invention).

The present application has been made in view of such circumstances, and with respect to such a specific document such as a patent, by automatically updating a changed part such as a claim, a document of each history can be manually updated. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program storage medium which can promptly check the latest document without referring to the information.

[0014]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus for handling a document in a specific format, and a first storage means for storing a first document. (Corresponding to the document database 14 in the embodiment) and second storage means (also the document database 14) for storing a second document for changing at least a part of the content of the first document. Replacement means (also server 11) for replacing the content of the first document with the content changed in the second document, and a third means for storing a third document obtained by the replacement by the replacement means. (Also the management database 15), and the first and second storage means store the first and second documents even after the third document is stored in the third storage means. Features to save documents To.

[0015] Other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, and from the claims.

[0016]

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

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a typical configuration of the patent management system of the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a server for managing patents, which is a document server 12 for managing electronically created documents themselves and wrappers made up of a series of documents generated in exchange with the Patent Office. And the application number, patent number,
The management server 13 has a DB for managing the filing date, the registration date, other bibliographic information, and the time limit for office actions with the JPO. The document server 12 includes a document database 14 for storing each document, and the management server 13 includes a management database 15 for managing bibliographic items of patents.

Note that the document server 12 and the management server 13 may be managed by the same computer machine.

Reference numerals 16 to 18 denote client computers connected to a network, respectively, which have a function of displaying data of the server 11 and printing the data of the server 11 in a specific format by a printer 19.

Documents generated by exchanges with the Patent Office, documents reviewed in-house, memos, and the like are stored in the document server 12.

The documents that can be stored in the document server 12 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.

The electronically created documents used in the exchange with the Patent Office and in-house documents are stored in the document database 14 of the document server 12 by the application system of the server 11.

Usually, the document database 14 is assigned a number for specifying the document, and is linked to the bibliographic item management database 15 of the management server 13.

On the other hand, the management database 15 managed by the management server 13 manages the latest claims 20, the latest specification 21, and the latest selection diagram 22. These items are managed by the client computers 16-18. Displaying or printing by the printer 19 makes it possible to browse the latest claims and other items described in the specification.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the mechanism of the server 11 for updating the present claims and specifications every time a change is made by amendment and maintaining the latest claims and specifications. In this document, the claims (claims) and selected drawings (representative drawings) are used.

The following processing is executed based on a program stored in the storage means inside the server 11.

In step 21 of FIG. 2, when the digitized document is input to the document server 12, the type of the document is determined.

If the relevant document is an application document, at step 22 all the text parts of the claims are extracted from the relevant document and stored in the management database.

The extraction method is as follows: [Claims]
Until the next title part such as [Detailed description of the invention] or [Industrial application field] appears from the title part, it can be realized by judging it as a text part in the claims.

Next, in step 23, the drawing number of the selected figure is extracted from the [selected figure] portion in the abstract of the application document and stored in the management database 15. Further, an image (image data for each pixel) corresponding to the drawing number extracted from the drawing document is extracted, and similarly, the management database 15 is extracted.
To be stored.

If the input document is a correction document such as a procedural correction document, the process proceeds to step S24.

In step 24, a corrected document is searched for,
It is determined whether or not the claims have been corrected.

If the correction has been made, in step 25, it is determined which claim has been corrected, and a process for replacing the corresponding portion with the corrected content is performed.

The outline of the processing performed in steps 24 and 25 is shown in FIGS.

FIG. 3 shows a case where the claims are corrected. In this case, the portion of the claims is extracted and replaced. FIG. 4 shows a correction to claim 1.
In this case, only claim 1 is replaced. FIG. 5 shows a case in which correction is applied to the entire text. In this case, as in the case of filing, the process of extracting and replacing the “claims” is performed. In addition, when it is not possible to identify the replacement part (for example, when it is written so that it cannot be replaced in the claim unit), take a method such as inserting an amended part at the top of the current latest claim Is also possible.

After the above-described replacement, both the full text before correction and the correction document are continuously stored in the document database 14.

The correction can be performed a plurality of times. For the third and subsequent corrections, a changed part of the specification reflecting the correction up to immediately before is extracted and replaced.

Next, in step 26 of FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not the drawing number of the selected drawing itself has been changed.

By comparing the drawing number of the selected drawing written in the correction document with the drawing number of the selected drawing stored in the management database, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the drawing has been changed.

If it has been changed, the drawing number of the selected drawing in the management database is overwritten with the drawing number extracted from the correction document, and the corresponding drawing is stored in the management database as the selected drawing.

If there is no change in the selected drawing in step 26, it is determined in step 28 whether or not the drawing is corrected. If there is a correction in the drawing, it is determined whether or not the drawing is a selected drawing. Is determined. (Step 29)

If the drawing number designated as the selected drawing has been corrected, the corresponding drawing is extracted in step 30.
It is stored in the management database 15.

FIG. 6 shows a case in which the drawing specified in the selected drawing is corrected.

On the other hand, if the document is a document of the registered gazette at step 21, the complaint is extracted from [Claims] in the registered gazette in the same manner as at the time of filing, and the management database 1
5 is overwritten and stored (step 31).

Further, if it is determined in step 21 that the document is an objection decision gazette, the claims are replaced by the claim unit in the same manner as in the case of the amended document (step 3).
2, step 33).

Further, since the claims are processed after registration, a method may be considered in which the content determined by the opposition decision gazette is inserted in the upper part of the latest claim instead of directly rewriting.

The same processing as described above can be performed on the related documents of the utility model.

In the above-described method, the type of the document is determined at the time of inputting the document, the extraction process is performed, and the latest claim is edited. When there is a request to display or print a claim, selection drawing, the data can be used as it is,
Display and print can be processed at high speed.

On the other hand, when the response at the time of inputting the document is emphasized or the document once input is deleted, the processing is not performed at the timing of inputting the document as described above, but the display or printing is performed. Can be solved by performing the processing at the time when the request is made.

In this case, since it is not necessary to have the latest claims, selection drawings, and the like in the management database, it is possible to save computer resources.

Further, while the embodiment has been described with reference to Japanese patents, foreign patents such as the United States have substantially the same processing as long as they are electronic text data, even if the legal documents are different. Is possible.

In this case, it becomes possible by identifying the country of the case concerned and providing a branch before step 21 for changing the processing logic.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, a specific document such as a patent is automatically updated with a changed portion such as a claim so that a person can refer to a document of each history. The latest document can be checked quickly without the need.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration of a patent management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an example of correcting claims according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view showing an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an example of correction of claims in the embodiment of the present invention (full text).

FIG. 6 is an example of correcting a selection diagram according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 Document server 13 Management server

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Toshifumi Fukui 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Kanako Hayakawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5B009 SA14 5B082 GA05

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for handling a document in a specific format, comprising: a first storage unit for storing a first document; and an information processing device for changing at least a part of the content of the first document. Second storage means for storing a second document; replacement means for replacing the content of the first document with the content changed in the second document; and replacement means obtained by the replacement means. A third storage unit that stores a third document, wherein the first and second storage units are configured to store the third document even after the third document is stored in the third storage unit. An information processing apparatus for storing a second document. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document includes a text part and a drawing part. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second documents and the third document are managed as different types of databases. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second documents are managed in a document database for collectively managing the documents themselves, and the third document is managed in a management database for managing the documents. Item 2. The information processing device according to item 1. 5. An information processing method for handling a document in a specific format, the method comprising: storing a first document in a first storage means; and changing a content of at least a part of the first document. The second document is stored in the second storage unit, the content of the first document is replaced with the content changed in the second document, and the third document obtained by the replacement is stored in the third storage unit Wherein the first and second storage means store the first and second documents even after the third document is stored in the third storage means. Processing method. 6. A program storage medium storing a program for realizing, by a computer, an information processing method for handling a document in a specific format, wherein a code for storing a first document in a first storage means; Code for storing in a second storage means a second document for changing at least a part of the content of one document; and content of the first document with the content changed in the second document And a code for storing a third document obtained by the replacement in a third storage unit. 7. The program storage medium according to claim 6, wherein the document in the specific format is a specification of a patent application. 8. The program storage medium according to claim 7, wherein said third storage means stores the latest claims in the order of claims. 9. The program storage medium according to claim 7, wherein said third storage means stores the latest claims submitted to the Patent Office in the order of claims. 10. The program storage medium according to claim 6, wherein the second document is a patent gazette or an opposition decision gazette.