JP2003233713A - Patent application business support system and patent application business management method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a patent application business support system and a patent application business management method for easily and surely performing patent application business and management business for foreign application requiring a complicated processing procedure. <P>SOLUTION: According to a patent application system of an application objective country, right authorizing input data are filed. On the basis of the patent application system of the application objective country and the filed right authorizing input data, a process required for application business to the application objective country is shown for supporting the patent application business, and consequently, a load of an operator is lowered. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an application business support system and an application business management method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as patent applications, the number of domestic applications has increased, while the number of foreign applications filed in foreign countries has also continued to increase. Under such circumstances, the foreign application business involves a wide variety of types of applications (applications based on the Paris Convention, PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications, etc.), processing procedures in accordance with the laws of each country to which the application is applied, and the processing thereof. The degree of complexity of is increasing.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] For example, in a foreign application under the Paris Convention, it is necessary to carry out procedures in accordance with the law of the country in which the application is made, and at the national stage after filing an international application under the PCT. Must perform processing in accordance with the laws of each designated / selected country. In such a case, in the application work, even if applications with the same content,
It has been necessary to perform extremely complicated processing such that processing and management for the number of application countries are individually performed. Further, in the PCT application, when "Japan" is included in the final designated country, it is necessary to perform a process of newly creating a file for domestic processing when the country is shifted to the domestic stage.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an application business support system and an application business management method capable of more easily and reliably performing application business and management business of foreign applications having complicated processing procedures. The purpose is to provide.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The application work support system of the present invention is based on an application system of an application target country that supports application work concerning intellectual property rights, from application to acquisition of rights and subsequent maintenance and pension management. File the input data required for the work, and present the processing required for the application work in the application target country based on the filing system of the application target country and the filed input data. And adopt a configuration for performing.

According to this structure, by just inputting the data necessary for the operations from application to acquisition of rights and subsequent maintenance and pension management, processing support in accordance with the application system for each application target country is provided. As a result, the work load of the operator can be reduced.

Further, the application business support system of the present invention is
For the presentation of the processing required for the application work, all or part of the flow of the procedure processing procedure based on the application system of the applicable country is visually displayed, and among the processing procedures visually displayed, it has already been processed. A configuration in which the display form of a display element representing a certain process is changed is adopted.

According to this structure, the operator can simply call up the file of each item, and the progress of the current processing is displayed on the display screen in accordance with the application system of the country to which the application is applied. Can be reduced.

Further, the application business support system of the present invention is
An input screen for inputting the information of the document to be submitted as an IDS (Information Disclosure Statement) is displayed, and the information of the document input through the displayed input screen is converted into a database, and the information of the document is input. When searching, the information of the same document input in the past is searched from among the information of the document stored in the database, and if there is no same document, based on a part of the information of the input document. The source of the document is determined, and a document acquisition request is transmitted to the determined source through the network.

According to this structure, when information of a new document is input, a part of the document (for example, US representing a country) is input.
The source of the document is searched based on
It is possible to prevent the acquisition request from being forgotten and the like by transmitting the acquisition request of the document to the searched acquisition source, and it is possible to reduce the work load of the operator.

Further, the application business management method of the present invention is an application business management method for supporting application business related to intellectual property rights, wherein rights are acquired from an application and maintained thereafter based on the application system of the application target country. Based on the step of filing input data required for business up to pension management, the application system of the application country and the filed input data, obtaining rights from the application in the application country and thereafter The step of presenting the processing required for the operations up to maintenance and pension management is provided.

According to this method, the operator only needs to input the data required for the operations from application to acquisition of rights and subsequent maintenance and pension management, and the processing support in accordance with the application system for each application country can be supported. By being performed, the work load on the operator can be reduced.

Further, in the application work management method of the present invention, in the step of presenting the processing required for the application work, the whole or a part of the flow of the procedure processing procedure based on the application system of the applicable country is visually displayed. Then, the display form of the display element representing the processing that has already been processed is changed among the visually displayed processing procedures.

According to this method, the operator can simply call up the file of each item, and the progress of the current processing is displayed on the display screen in accordance with the application system of the country to which the application is applied. Can be reduced.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The essence of the present invention has a country-specific business flow in accordance with the law of each country to which an application is applied, and the bibliographic items registered in the parent file are reflected in the file for each country. By doing so, the filing and management of foreign applications having complicated processing procedures can be further facilitated.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an application work support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, each of the application work support systems 10 has a LAN (Local Area Network).
rk) connected to the server 13, a plurality of terminal devices 11A,
11B, 11C, ..., An output device 12 such as a printer and a firewall 14. The filing application support system 10 is connected to a network such as the Internet via a firewall 14 so that information can be transmitted / received to / from a terminal device 15 outside the system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the server 13 of the application work support system 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the server 13 has a C connected to the data bus.
It has a PU (Central Processing Unit) 22
The PU 22 executes various programs stored in a storage unit 21 or a ROM (Read Only Memory) 23 configured by a hard disk device or the like. RAM (Random Acc
The ess Memory) 24 is for temporarily storing various variables used in the processing executed by the CPU 22.

The input unit 25 is composed of a keyboard or a mouse, and it can send commands entered by the operator to the CP.
Supply to U22. The execution status of each program executed by the CPU 22 is displayed on the display unit 26 including a liquid crystal display device or the like.

The storage unit 21 is a processing program prepared for each type of application that is required when performing foreign application work, and a processing program that supports procedures, and processing that supports procedures according to the laws of each country. It stores a parent file for each case created corresponding to each type of program and each application, a file for each case created for each country derived from the parent file, and the like.

The interface (I / F) 27 is an LA
Information is exchanged with the N server, so that the server 13 can communicate with the server 13 via the LAN.
Other terminal devices 11A, 11B, 11 connected by
Information can be exchanged with C, ..., Output device 12 or firewall 14.

The terminal devices 11A, 11B, 11C,
.. each have a computer configuration similar to that of the server 13 described above with reference to FIG. 2, and various processing programs provided by the server 13 and the respective terminal devices 1 are provided.
Various processing programs respectively stored in the storage units 1A, 11B, 11C, ... Are executed. Each terminal device 11A, 11B, 11C, ...
By logging in to the filing application support program executed by the server 13, various data necessary for executing the filing application support is received from the server 13 and the processing is advanced, while updating the data as necessary. Then, the result is returned to the server 13.

Application business support system 10 having such a configuration
Executes a process for realizing the application work management method according to the present invention according to the application work support program of the server 13. That is, FIG. 3 shows the application work support system 10
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing application work support processing executed in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, each terminal device 1
1A, 11B, 11C, ... Or in the server 13,
When the operator specifies the creation of the parent file F1 on the creation (new creation) screen of the parent file F1 in the menu for creating the parent file F1, the terminal devices 11A, 1
1B, 11C, ... Or the server 13 stores the input screen serving as a template for creating the parent file F1 in the storage unit 21 of the server 13 by the application work support program.
It is read from and is displayed on the display unit 26. Then, when the operator inputs the input data for creating the parent file F1 according to the displayed template, the terminal devices 11A, 11 that have received the input data.
B, 11C, ... Or the server 13 produces the parent file F1 based on the said input data. Incidentally, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the operator is operating the terminal device 11A.

That is, the terminal device 11A creates the parent file F1 based on the input data input by the input operation of the operator. This parent file F1 is, for example, a file for a first country application when it is a file for a foreign application based on the Paris Convention, and a PCT.
When it is a file for application, it is a file for international application based on PCT, and the operator is the terminal device 11
Items for creating these parent files F1 are selected according to the menu displayed on the display section of A. As a result, the terminal device 11A causes the storage unit 21 of the server 13 to display the creation screen (template) of the parent file F1 according to the type of the specified application by the application work support program.
Received and displayed on the display unit 26.

The operator inputs the necessary items as input data on the screen for creating the parent file F1 displayed on the display unit 26, thereby creating the parent file F1 corresponding to the type of the application to be created at this time. Can be created.

The parent file F1 created in the terminal device 11A is supplied from the terminal device 11A to the server 13 and stored in the storage unit 21 by the application work support program executed in the server 13. By the way,
As a method of recognizing whether or not the file stored in the storage unit 21 is the parent file F1, a flag indicating that the file is the parent file F1 is set in the file at the terminal device 11A when the file is created. Can be identified by.

When the parent file F1 is created in this way, the application work support program executed in the server 13 is executed by the terminal devices 11A, 11B, 11C,
A child file derived from the parent file F1 is created in response to a request from ...... (when requested when creating the parent file F1). For example, if the parent file F1 is a file for a first country application of a foreign application based on the Paris Convention, this child file is a file of another country with the same priority claim as the first country application. For example, in FIG. 3, the file F11 for country A, the file F12 for country B, and the file F13 for country C are child files. Further, when the parent file F1 is an international application based on PCT, it becomes a file for each country application when shifting to the national phase of the designated country.

Further, for example, when the parent file F1 is a file for international application based on PCT and Japan is designated as the final designated country, the server 1
3 creates the domestic file F20 shown in FIG. 3 as a child file and provides it for domestic application work when the domestic application work is performed for the application.

Each of the created child files (file F11 for country A, file F12 for country B, file F1 for country C)
3, ..., domestic file F20) is the parent file F1
When the content of the bibliographic item is updated, it is changed according to the updated content. That is, the terminal device 11A first updates the parent file F1 stored in the storage unit 21 of the server 13 based on the update input data that is input by designating the parent file F1.

For example, it is assumed that applicant information is added to the parent file F1. In this case, the server 13
Applicant information of each child file (file F11 for country A, file F12 for country B, file F13 for country C, ..., domestic file F20) derived from the parent file F1 stored in the storage unit 21. Are similarly updated.

Further, the server 13 stores the file contents of each child file (file F11 for country A, file F12 for country B, file F13 for country C, ..., Domestic file F20) based on the update of the parent file F1. In addition to the changes, each child file (file F11 for country A, file F for country B
12, File C for country C13, ..., File F for domestic
20) can be updated individually. In this case, the terminal device 11A updates the content of the child file stored in the storage unit 21 of the server 13 based on the input data input by designating the child file. This allows the operator to change the content of each child file based on the application system of the application country.

The parent file F1 created in this way
And child files (file F11 for country A, file F12 for country B, file F13 for country C, ..., File F20 for domestic) are part of the application work support program executed by the server 13. It is managed by a "parent file processing flow (procedure)" (not shown) and a "child file processing flow". Incidentally, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, assuming that the parent file F1 is a file for a first country application under the Paris Convention, the child file accompanies the same priority claim as that of the first country application. It is a file for application to each country, and it is processed according to the law of each country (“Country A processing flow”, “Country B processing flow”, “Country C processing flow”, ...) Managed.

Further, for example, if the parent file F1 is a file for an international application based on PCT, the child file is a processing flow in accordance with the law of each designated country / selected country in the international application (“for country A”). Processing flow ”,“ processing flow for country B ”,“ processing flow for country C ”, ...).

In the storage unit 21 of the server 13, a file for time limit management according to the law of each country (a time limit master file F31 for country A, a time limit master file F32 for country B,
The C term deadline master file F33, ..., The domestic deadline master file F40, and the parent file deadline master file (not shown) are stored, and the process flow for each country uses the corresponding deadline master file. While managing the data of the corresponding child file.

For example, in the file F11 for country A,
If the start date of a certain item is set, the processing flow for country A is the start date and the time limit master file F for country A.
The actual deadline date is calculated based on the period data of the item registered in 31 and the calculation result is set in the file F11 for country A as the deadline data. Then, the set time limit data is stored in the storage unit 21 of the server 13 as the data of the file F11 for country A. In addition,
The deadline data set for each country may be calculated by a flow for each country at a necessary timing.

Using the files for each country created and updated in this way, the flow for each country executes the output processing of letters, forms, etc. based on the input operation by the operator.

For example, the flow for each country is the terminal device 11A.
The parent file F based on the output request input in
The output device 12 outputs each data of 1 or a child file (file F11 for country A, file F12 for country B, file F13 for country C, ..., Domestic file F20).

Incidentally, FIG. 3 shows one parent file F1 and child files derived from the parent file F1 (file A for country A, file F12 for country B, file F13 for country C, ..., File F20 for domestic). However, in reality, the parent file F1 is created for each application, and the child files (file A for country A, file F12 for country B, file F13 for country C, ... .., the domestic file F20) is created by the application work support program of the server 13 as necessary (based on the setting of the designated country, etc.).

Hereinafter, a specific example of processing in the application work support system 10 will be described. FIG. 4 shows each terminal device 1.
1A, 11B, 11C, ... Is a diagram for explaining the application work support processing executed in 1A, 11B, 11C, ...
The transition states of the items displayed on the display units A, 11B, 11C, ... In the following description, it is assumed that the operator operates the terminal device 11A to log in to the application work support program executed by the server 13.

As shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 11
On the display screen of A, first, a menu of application work support processing is displayed. In this menu, there is a transition to a matter call screen for calling a matter file already registered in the storage unit 21 (a concept including a parent file and a child file; hereinafter, these are referred to as a file). Item call screen specification item G101 to specify, item input screen specification item G102 to specify transition to the item input screen for creating a new file of a new item, and deadline management for managing the deadline of each file by search processing A deadline management designation item G103 for designating a transition to a screen, a document issuance designation item G104 for designating a transition to a document issuance screen for issuing a required document at a required timing based on the contents of each file, and Accounting designation item G105 for designating a transition to an accounting screen for managing accounting for each file,
A management form specifying item G106 that specifies a shift to a management form creating screen for creating a management form, and a search main screen specifying item G107 that specifies a shift to a search main screen for searching various data by keywords. , A master maintenance designation for designating a transition to a master maintenance screen for managing and updating various databases (IDS information, applicant information, inventor information, agent information, etc.) stored in the storage unit 21 of the server 13. An item G108 and an environment setting designation item G109 for designating the shift to the environment setting screen for performing the environment setting of the other application work support system are displayed.

When the operator clicks any one of these items to specify any item, the specified screen (described later) is displayed on the display unit,
It can be set by the operator.

In FIG. 4, when the operator selects the item call screen designation item G101, a search by reference number or a part of the reference number or a narrow-down search by bibliographic items (information such as agents, customers and application numbers) is performed. The file of the specific matter is stored in the storage unit 21 of the server 13 according to
Is called from. Data regarding the acceptance status in the data of this file is displayed as acceptance item data on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. As the accepted item data, as shown in FIG. 5, the application deadline setting item G1 for setting the application deadline of the case displayed on the display unit 26.
31, a basic application setting item G132 for adding, editing and deleting an application which is the basis of the case, and an applicant information setting item G133 for adding, editing and deleting the applicant information of the case. , Add information about the inventor of the case,
Inventor information setting item G134 for editing and deleting,
There is an appointment information setting item G135 for setting information regarding acceptance of the case. Regarding the application deadline setting item G131, the application file is a child file derived based on the parent file F1 (for example, file A for country A).
11), the deadlines of various procedures are calculated based on the period information registered in the A country deadline master file F31 by the A country flow described above with reference to FIG. On the other hand, when the application case constitutes the parent file F1, on the other hand, the operator inputs it as necessary. A deadline management master file for a parent file (not shown) is also prepared, and the application work support program uses the period data according to the law of the country registered in the deadline master file for the parent file, The expiration date of each item is also calculated from the various calculation dates of the parent file F1.

In relation to the basic application setting item G132, there is an application deadline setting item G136 for setting the application deadline, and there is an applicant input item G137 related to the applicant information setting item G133. There is an inventor input item G138 related to the person information setting item G134.

In this way, the operator can confirm and set various data regarding the acceptance status of the file of the called item in the terminal device 11A.

When the operator specifies the application item G122 for the case called from the case call screen specification item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the case shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. The data relating to the application status is displayed, and it is possible to confirm and set the filing date, the publication date, etc. in the application information setting item G141 for the data.

Along with this, a deadline information setting item G142 which allows confirmation and setting of various deadlines for the data relating to the application status of the case is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. If the item displayed on the display unit 26 at this time is a child file, the information for deadline management is read from the deadline master file based on the registration data such as various calculation dates of the master file of each country. Is calculated using the period data of, and when the case displayed on the display unit 26 is the parent file F1, based on the registration data such as various calculation dates of the parent file F1, It is calculated using the term data for term management read from the term master file. By the way, these deadline information is
The operator can operate the input unit 25 to input data according to the user authority.

Thus, the operator can confirm and set various data relating to the application status of the file of the called item in the terminal device 11A.

When the operator designates the office action (OA) item G123 for the matter called from the matter call screen designation item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the display unit of the terminal device 11A is shown in FIG. Is
Data relating to the receipt status of the office action of the item is displayed, and for the data, the operator moves from the office action information setting item G151 to the office action input item G152 for adding, editing, and deleting the information, and performs various operations. Information can be set.

As described above, the operator can confirm and set various data regarding the reception status of the office action for the file of the called item in the terminal device 11A. In addition, in this application work support program, for example, after application to the United States (after registration in the file of the application date), a predetermined period (for example, 14 months) based on the patent period guarantee system registered in the corresponding deadline master file If the operator has not input information indicating the receipt of an office action after the elapse, the display unit of the terminal device 11A displays that there is no office action. In addition, the application work support program will notify you when a predetermined period (for example, 4 months) based on the patent period guarantee system registered in the deadline master file has elapsed after the operator inputs that the office action has been answered. If the operator has not input the information indicating that the notification for the response has been received, the display unit of the terminal device 11A displays that the notification for the response has not been received. Furthermore, if the application business support program exceeds the predetermined period (for example, 3 years as information based on the patent period guarantee system registered in the time limit master file) after the application, a patent is issued for the application. If the operator has not entered the effect, the terminal device 1 indicates that the patent has not been issued.
It is designed to be displayed on the display unit of 1A. And
The application business support program displays these items and extends the patent term registered in the file of the case. Thereby, the application work support system 10 can support the application work (deadline management) corresponding to the patent period guarantee system in the US application. In this case, it is also possible to perform subtraction processing of the remaining period in consideration of the reason (extension) of the applicant.

When the operator designates the free item G124 for the matter called from the matter call screen designation item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 11A
In the display section of, the data relating to the deadline independently set by the operator for the case shown in FIG. 8 is displayed, and for the data, the operator adds, edits, or edits the information from the free deadline information setting item G161. It is possible to move to the free input item G162 for deleting and set various information.

In this way, the operator can confirm and change various data relating to the set deadline for the file of the called item in the terminal device 11A.

When the operator specifies the pension item G125 for the case called from the case call screen specification item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the display unit of the terminal device 11A shows the case shown in FIG. The data regarding the deadline for the pensions (rights pension, maintenance pension) are displayed. These data are calculated based on the registration data (application date, registration date, etc.) of the case using the term data of the term master file. With respect to the data, the operator can add, edit, and delete information regarding the term of the pension from the term information setting item G171 and set information regarding the payment of the pension of each year from the pension information setting item G172. You can

In this way, the operator can confirm and change various data relating to the payment of the annuity in the file of the called item in the terminal device 11A.

When the operator designates the objection item G126 for the matter called from the matter call screen designation item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the relevant matter shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. Is displayed, and the operator can add, edit, or delete information regarding the objection from the objection information setting item G181 for the data, and from the deadline information setting item G182,
Information on the deadline of various actions for the objection can be set based on the data of the deadline master file.

As described above, the operator confirms and changes various data relating to the objection to the file of the called item in the terminal device 11A.
Can be done in.

When the operator designates the referee item G127 for the case called from the case call screen designation item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the case shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. Is displayed, and the operator can set information relating to the relevant referee information from the relevant referee information setting item G191 and the relevant party from the relevant party referee information setting item G192. It is possible to set information relating to a system referee, and further, various deadlines relating to a referee can be set based on the data of the term master file from the term information setting item G193.

In this way, the operator can confirm and change various data regarding the file of the called item in the terminal device 11A.

Thus, in the application work support system 10, various processings such as setting or changing can be performed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A for the case called in FIG. 4, and the case is set. It is also possible to perform processing such as saving and deleting the data.

That is, when the operator designates the save item G111 for the matter called from the matter call screen designation item G101 shown in FIG. 4, at that time, after addition, change, or deletion on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. Is replaced with the data of the corresponding file as new data.

When the operator designates the deletion item G112 for the matter called from the matter call screen designation item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the data specified on the display unit of the terminal device 11A at that time is stored in the file. Deleted from.

When the operator specifies the IDS issue item G113 for the case called from the case call screen specification item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the case specified on the display unit of the terminal device 11A at that time is Data of documents to be listed is displayed in an IDS (Information Disclosure Statement) form. Regarding this data, the application support program is
When the document name submitted in the past is stored in the storage unit 21 of the server 13 as a database, and the document having the same document number as the input document number exists in the database, the data is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. . This allows
The display allows the operator to know the documents that have been submitted in the past. The documents that have been submitted in the past or submitted in other cases are possessed by the operator or stored in the storage unit 21 of the server 13. Therefore, the operator searches for the documents and Can be submitted without reordering.

When the operator designates the deadline calculation item G114 for the case called from the case call screen specification item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the data specified on the display unit of the terminal device 11A at that time is displayed. , The deadline calculation is done by the application support program.

Further, regarding the matter called from the matter call screen designation item G101 shown in FIG. 4, DATA SHE
When the operator designates the ET item G115, a screen for issuing a data sheet is displayed on the display unit for the item of the file specified on the display unit of the terminal device 11A at that time. The operator can issue the data sheet via this screen.

When the operator specifies the sign form item G116 for the case called from the case call screen specification item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the file (case) specified on the display unit of the terminal device 11A at that time. ), A screen for issuing a signature form (a power of attorney, a transfer certificate, etc.) is displayed on the display unit.
The operator inputs an instruction to issue each sign form in which necessary bibliographic items are described through this screen, so that the system identifies the agent and the application type and the signature corresponding to the identification result. You can publish the form.

Further, when the operator designates the file attachment document item G117 for the matter called from the matter call screen designation item G101 shown in FIG. 4, at that time, the file specified on the display unit of the terminal device 11A ( A screen for issuing the attached document for the case) is displayed on the display unit. The operator inputs an issue instruction through this screen, and the system identifies the application type, original application number / application date (division / continuation), PCT application number / PCT application date (PCT development), and Each attached document can be issued according to the identification result.

When the operator designates the chart issuing item G118 for the case called from the case call screen designation item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the file (case) specified on the display unit of the terminal device 11A at that time is displayed. ), A screen for issuing a medical record is displayed on the display unit. The operator inputs the issue instruction through this screen,
Original application number / application date (division / continuation), PCT application number /
It is possible to identify the PCT application date (PCT development) and issue the chart according to the identification result.

When the operator designates the other letter item G119 for the item called from the item call screen designation item G101 shown in FIG. 4, the file (item) specified on the display unit of the terminal device 11A at that time. ) About various types of letters (such as delivery documents for each customer, letter for each agent, inquiry / document delivery letter for each customer, and other types of letters not included in the displayed flow chart) The screen is displayed on the display unit.
The operator can issue various letters via this screen.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 1
A case where the operator designates the item input screen designation item G102 in a state where the menu screen is displayed on the display unit of 1A will be described.

In this case, the designated input is input to the terminal device 11A.
The application work support program received via the server displays an input screen for inputting a new case in the storage unit 21 of the server 13.
And supplies it to the terminal device 11A. Thereby, the terminal device 11A displays a screen for inputting a new case on the display unit.

FIG. 12 shows a state in which a screen for inputting a new matter is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A,
It is a figure which shows the transition state of an input screen. As shown in FIG. 12, a case type specification item G201 for specifying the type of the case when inputting a new case is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A.

The operator selects this item type specific item G20.
When a desired item is selected and designated from the items 1, the application work support program causes the display unit of the terminal device 11A to display a screen for inputting the designated item. By the way, the type of new case is either a foreign application based on the Paris Convention or an international application based on the PCT, and "regular application" in which data for creating the parent file can be input, and the operator For convenience, "other applications", whose type can be set independently, and child files (files for designated countries / selected countries) based on the parent file (file for international applications) of the PCT application created by the "regular application""PCTdevelopment" for inputting bibliographic items (reference number, etc.) for creating a file for
After registration of the EP application created by the "regular application", the Convention on the Grant of European Patents (EPC) from the file
"EPC expansion" to enter the bibliographic items of a child file (file for application to a designated country of EPC) to transfer to a designated country of member states, and "division / continuation" to make divisional applications or continuation applications It consists of.

Incidentally, when the operator selects "division / continuation", the application work support program is executed by the terminal device 11
A file creation screen for division / continuation application is displayed on the display section of A. This file creation screen has items for calling the original application file (original file).
The operator reads the file of the original application from the storage unit 21 of the server 13 through the input operation to the item and displays it on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. in this case,
If the original application is a divisional application from another application,
The application business support program is further described in the file of the original application. Further, the data of the parent application is displayed on the display unit. By doing so, the operator can grasp the start date of various processing deadlines from the displayed data of the parent applications, and the application work support program is registered in the start date and deadline master file. Various deadlines can be calculated based on the existing period data.

The operator selects and designates a desired type from among these types displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A, so that the file of the selected type is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. The screen for creating is displayed.

For example, when the operator selects and designates "normal application", the parent file input item G202 is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. The operator can create a parent file by inputting necessary data for each item displayed here.

In the parent file input item G202, input items based on the Paris Convention (planned work dates, data such as application countries) and items for international application based on PCT (planned work dates, legal deadline date) , Data such as designated countries). These are automatically calculated by the system. Based on these data, the system can create a parent file for foreign applications under the Paris Convention or a parent file for international applications under the PCT. By the way, at this stage, if the information of the country of application is entered in the parent file,
In an application under the Paris Convention, a child file based on the parent file will also be created. In the PCT application, the child file is not created until the expansion processing. In addition, at this stage, when the information of the application country or the designated country is not confirmed (is not input), and the information is confirmed later, when the operator confirms the information, By inputting the necessary data in the corresponding item (application country, designated country) of the parent file, the application work support program will create the corresponding child file at this point.

As shown in FIG. 12, in the screen for inputting a new case, in addition to these new input screens, a basic application addition (input) item G203 for inputting a basic application, Applicant information addition (input) item G204 for inputting applicant information, and inventor information addition (input) item G20 for inputting inventor information
5 and a country name information confirmation item G206 for confirming the application country or the designated country, and the operator can input each information from these items.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 1
When the operator designates the deadline management designation item G103 in the state where the menu screen is displayed on the display unit of 1A, the application work support program that receives the designation input via the terminal device 11A is for performing the deadline management. The input screen is called from the storage unit 21 of the server 13 and supplied to the terminal device 11A. Thereby, the terminal device 11
A displays a deadline management screen on its display.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a transition state of the input screen in a state where the screen for time limit management is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. As shown in this FIG.
A deadline management setting item G211 for performing deadline management is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A.

The operator sets this deadline management setting item G21.
By setting the desired period and the type of the deadline from 1, the application work support program searches for a file for which the conditionally set deadline has arrived during the set period. In this case, the application support program will include the starting date for various processing procedures set in each file,
The deadlines of various procedures are calculated in advance based on the data used for the period calculation of the deadline master file described above with reference to FIG. 3, and are registered in each file.

Thus, on the display unit of the terminal device 11A,
Information on files whose conditionally set deadline has arrived during the period set by the operator is displayed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 1
When the operator designates the document issuance designation item G104 in the state where the menu screen is displayed on the display unit of 1A, the application work support program which receives the designation input via the terminal device 11A issues various documents. Is input from the storage unit 21 of the server 13 and is supplied to the terminal device 11A. As a result, the terminal device 11A displays a screen for issuing a document on its display unit.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a transition state of the input screen in a state in which the screen for issuing a document is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. As shown in this FIG.
On the display unit of the terminal device 11A, items for issuing documents for issuing various documents (invoice / invoice, letter addressed to customer, letter addressed to agent) are displayed. In this system, a workflow corresponding to the country of application of the case is incorporated, so by entering the case number, it is possible to issue a document that matches the progress status.

When the operator selects a desired document issuance item (one of the flow charts) from the document issuance items, the application work support program displays the selected document issuance screen. To be displayed on the department.

In this case, as described above with reference to FIG.
The application support program consists of each file (parent file,
The processing flow (procedure) according to the application country of the child file) is executed for each file, and the document issuing processing is executed for each processing flow.

For example, a parent file is a file of an international application case based on PCT, and an item for document issuance for a child file of an application case of a designated country (Country A) derived from the parent file (paper issue A country flow) Is selected by the operator, the application work support program
By executing the processing flow for the country, the document issuing screen in the processing procedure according to the law of the country A is displayed on the terminal device 11
It is displayed on the display section of A.

In this case, the issued document (invoice / invoice)
Documents that should be issued for application procedures (hereinafter referred to as A document), documents that should be issued for registration procedures (hereinafter referred to as B document), documents that should be issued for intermediate procedures (hereinafter referred to as C document) Referred to as written),
There are documents to be issued regarding the procedure for the rights pension (hereinafter referred to as D document) and documents to be issued regarding the procedures for maintenance pension (hereinafter referred to as E document), and these are displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. Items that can be selected are displayed, and when the operator selects an item for issuing a document regarding the desired procedure from these items, the application work support program, based on the selection result, the processing procedure of the corresponding country. A screen for issuing a corresponding document according to the above is read from the file of the relevant case and displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A.

For example, with respect to a certain application case (Paris route (foreign application under the Paris Convention) or PCT route (application for an international application under the PCT to a designated country)) for a country A (for example, USA), the operator selects document A. Then, the application business support program reads the screen for issuing the A document as shown in FIG. 15 from the file of the application (file F11 for country A shown in FIG. 3), and displays it on the terminal. It is displayed on the display unit of the device 11A.

That is, FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a screen displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A for issuing the letter A and the letters relating to the application. In this screen, country A (for example, USA) is displayed. A flowchart showing the processing procedure related to the issuance of the letter A and the letters (application procedure) in accordance with the law is displayed.

Therefore, the operator can confirm the entire flow of the application procedure for country A by looking at the displayed flow chart. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, on the display unit of the terminal device 11A,
Processing step items G11 to G14 for application processing by the Paris route (“Paris application, application IDS” item G
11, "Paris Order Letter" item G12, "Application Report" item G13, "Application Number Notification" item G14), and PCT
Process step item G1 for application processing by route
5 to G20 (“PCT at application” item G15, “deployment order letter” item G16, “IDS inquiry” item G1
7. "Application report" item G18, "Application number notification" item G1
9, "Application Report / Application Number Notification" item G20) and "Supplement"
Item G21 and "Send sign form" item G22,
The "priority certificate delivery" item G23 and the order of the processing are displayed.

Then, when the operator selects, from the displayed flowchart, a processing step indicating a processing step corresponding to the document to be issued, the application work support program which has received the selection result is selected. In the processing step, the setting screen using the template of the document to be issued is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A.

For example, when the operator selects the item “GID at the time of filing in Paris, IDS at the time of filing” item G11, the display unit of the terminal device 11A shows the application processing procedure of the file (file for country A) to be processed at this time. , A screen is displayed in which the contents to be described at the time of issuing the required documents at the application stage in the Paris route are described. The operator inputs the written contents on this screen according to a predetermined template.

Thus, the operator can confirm from the screen displayed on the display section what kind of document is required at the processing stage and what the described content is. .

When the operator designates issuance of the document and the document is actually issued, the application work support program causes the terminal device 11A to operate as shown in FIG.
"Paris application, application ID
The display color, the brightness, or the displayed shape of the "S" item G11 is changed. As a result, in the screen (FIG. 15) on which the entire flow of the application procedure is displayed, the color of the processing step item for which the document has actually been submitted changes, so that the operator who sees the screen,
It is possible to easily grasp which process is currently completed (which document has been issued).

In the flowchart shown in FIG. 15, "Paris Order Letter" item G11, "IDS Inquiry" item G17, "Sign Form Send" item G22.
Also, in each item of “Send priority certificate” item G23, the number of times the document is issued is set in the counter boxes C11, C12, C1
3, C14, and C15 are displayed respectively, and the operator can confirm the number of times of issue (that is, the number of times of delivery) of each corresponding document by the number of times displayed here. With this, the operator can easily confirm the process in which the document is frequently issued on the display screen, and thus it is possible to prevent an error in the procedure process associated with the document issuance.

Incidentally, FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a screen for issuing the B document displayed on the display section of the terminal device 11A, and this screen is in accordance with the law of the country A (for example, USA). A flowchart showing the processing procedure related to the issuance of the document (registration procedure) is displayed.

Therefore, the operator can confirm the entire flow of the registration procedure for country A by looking at the displayed flowchart. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, on the display unit of the terminal device 11A,
A "registration fee payment schedule report" item G31, a "registration fee payment report" item G32, and a "patent certificate delivery" item G33 are displayed together with the order of the processing.

Then, when the operator selects a processing step indicating a processing step corresponding to the document to be issued from the displayed flow chart, the application work support program which has received the selection result is selected. In the processing step, the setting screen using the template of the document to be issued is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A, the description content is decided based on the setting of the description content by the operator, and this is issued. Also in this case, as in the case described above with reference to FIG. 15, the color of the process step item for which the document has been actually submitted changes, so that the operator who sees the screen completes the current process for the item. It is possible to easily ascertain whether the document has been issued (which document has been issued).

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a screen for issuing a C document, which is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A, and the screen shows C according to the law of country A (for example, USA). A flowchart showing the processing procedure related to the issuance of the document (intermediate procedure) is displayed.

Therefore, the operator can confirm the entire flow of the intermediate procedure for country A by looking at the displayed flowchart. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, on the display unit of the terminal device 11A,
"Send IDS" items G41 and G42, "Confirm IDS submission" item G43, "Send IDS" item G44, "Send related countries IDS" items G45 and G46, "Send IDS item" G47, and "Transfer completed""Item G48 and" ID
S submission / transfer completion ”item G49 and“ public ”item G50
"OFFICE ACTION sending item" G51 and "OFFICE AC
TION Send comments from our office ”item G52 and“ OFFICE ACTIO
"Send N agent comment" item G53 and "OFFICE ACTION
"Send reply" item G54, "Allow notice (before payment of registration fee)" item G55, "Send permission notice" item G56,
"Registration fee payment instruction" items G57 and G58 and "trial request" item G59 are displayed together with the order of the processing.

Then, when the operator selects, from the displayed flowchart, a processing step indicating a processing step corresponding to the document to be issued, the application work support program which has received the selection result is selected. In the processing step, the setting screen using the template of the document to be issued is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A, the description content is decided based on the setting of the description content by the operator, and this is issued. Also in this case, as in the case described above with reference to FIG. 15, the color of the process step item for which the document has been actually submitted changes, so that the operator who sees the screen completes the current process for the item. It is possible to easily ascertain whether the document has been issued (which document has been issued).

In the flowchart shown in FIG. 17, the "Send IDS" item G42, the "Send IDS" item G44, the "Send related countries IDS" item G43, the "Send permission notification" item G56, and the "Registration fee payment instruction" item. In each item of G58, the number of times the document is issued is the counter box C.
41, C42, C43, C44, and C45, respectively, and the operator can confirm the number of times of issue (that is, the number of times of delivery) of each corresponding document by the number of times displayed here. With this, the operator can easily confirm the process in which the document is frequently issued on the display screen, and thus it is possible to prevent an error in the procedure process associated with the document issuance.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a screen for issuing a D document, which is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A, and this screen shows D according to the law of country A (for example, USA). A flowchart showing the processing procedure related to the issuance of the document (right annuity) is displayed.

Therefore, the operator can confirm the entire flow of the procedure relating to the right pension for country A by looking at the displayed flow chart. For example, as shown in FIG. 18, the terminal device 11A
In the display section of, a “payment of right pension” item G61 and a “send receipt of right pension receipt” item G62 are displayed together with the processing order.

Then, when the operator selects a processing step indicating a processing step corresponding to the document to be issued from the displayed flow chart, the application work support program which has received the selection result is selected. In the processing step, the setting screen using the template of the document to be issued is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A, the description content is decided based on the setting of the description content by the operator, and this is issued. In this case as well, as in the case described above with reference to FIG. 15, the display mode such as the color of the processing step item for which the document has been actually submitted changes, so that the operator who sees the screen is currently It is possible to easily grasp which process has been completed (which document has been issued).

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a screen for issuing the E document displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A, and this screen complies with the law of country A (other countries). A flowchart showing the processing procedure related to the issuance of the E document (maintenance pension) is displayed. There is no flow chart for countries that do not have a maintenance pension system.

Therefore, the operator can confirm the overall flow of the procedure relating to the maintenance pension for country A by looking at the displayed flowchart. For example, as shown in FIG. 19, the terminal device 11A
In the display part of, a “maintenance pension payment” item G71 and a “maintenance pension receipt delivery” item G72 are displayed together with the order of the processing.

Then, when the operator selects, from the displayed flowchart, a processing step indicating a processing step corresponding to the document to be issued, the application work support program which has received the selection result is selected. In the processing step, the setting screen using the template of the document to be issued is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A, the description content is decided based on the setting of the description content by the operator, and this is issued. Also in this case, as in the case described above with reference to FIG. 15, the color of the process step item for which the document has been actually submitted changes, so that the operator who sees the screen completes the current process for the item. It is possible to easily ascertain whether the document has been issued (which document has been issued).

In this way, the application business support program is
As shown in FIG. 14, on the display unit of the terminal device 11A,
While displaying the items for issuing documents for issuing various documents, the operator can select from among these items for issuing documents.
By selecting the desired document issuing item, the selected document issuing screen is displayed on the display unit, and the document is issued based on the input operation by the operator.

The display examples described above with reference to FIGS. 15 to 19 have been described for the case where the processing steps for issuing the letter to the client and the foreign agent are mixed and displayed, but the present invention is not limited to this. Not limited to this, like the processing steps for issuing documents to the client and the processing steps for issuing documents to the foreign agent, the documents may be displayed separately in different series or separately for each destination. Alternatively, these display forms can be changed according to an operator's instruction.

The display examples described above with reference to FIGS. 15 to 19 have been described for the case where all the processing steps are simultaneously displayed on one screen for each processing step (application to pension management) according to the progress. The present invention is not limited to this, and a certain processing step may be centrally displayed, and at least the processing steps before and after the processing step may be displayed on one screen. With this configuration, the operator can understand the relationship between the processing steps to be processed and the processing before and after the processing step, and the operator can perform the processing in consideration of the relationship. Further, in this case, if the displayed screen is scrolled, the operability of the operator can be further improved.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 1
When the operator designates the accounting designation item G105 in the state where the menu screen is displayed on the display unit of 1A, the application work support program which receives the designation input via the terminal device 11A is for managing the accounting. The input screen is called from the storage unit 21 of the server 13 and supplied to the terminal device 11A. Thereby, the terminal device 11
A displays a deadline management screen on its display.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a transition state of the input screen in a state where the accounting management screen is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. As shown in FIG. 20,
On the display unit of the terminal device 11A, setting items (remittance process setting item G251, data search process setting item G252, various list output setting items G253, and
Invoice issue setting item G254, statement issue advance payment creation setting item G255, foreign currency input check list setting item G2
56, the accounting statement preparation setting item G257) is displayed.

When the operator selects these setting items and makes various settings regarding accounting, the application work support program issues a document regarding accounting for the file (case) to be processed at this time. As described above, in the application work support system 10, since the relationship between each application case and the accounting process is associated, the operator only needs to specify the application case on the display screen of the terminal device 11A. You can manage your accounting.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 1
When the operator designates the management form designation item G106 in a state where the menu screen is displayed on the display unit of 1A, the application work support program which receives the designation input via the terminal device 11A manages and outputs the form. The input screen for doing so is called from the storage unit 21 of the server 13 and is supplied to the terminal device 11A. As a result, the terminal device 11A displays a form management screen on its display unit.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a transition state of the input screen when the form management screen is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. As shown in FIG. 21,
Setting items (deadline type setting item G261 and other setting items G262) for managing forms are displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A.

By the operator selecting these setting items and performing various settings, the application work support program issues various forms for the file (case) to be processed at this time. As described above, in this application work support system 10, since each application case and the form management are associated with each other, the operator only needs to specify the application case on the display screen of the terminal device 11A. The form can be managed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 1
When the operator designates the search main screen designation item G107 in the state where the menu screen is displayed on the display unit of 1A, the application support program that receives the designation input via the terminal device 11A searches for various data. The input screen for performing the above is called from the storage unit 21 of the server 13 and is supplied to the terminal device 11A. As a result, the terminal device 11A displays a search screen on its display unit.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a transition state of the input screen when the search main screen is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. As shown in FIG. 22, a search setting item G271 for performing a search is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A.

When the operator selects these setting items and inputs a keyword, the application work support program executes a search among various data stored in the storage unit 21 of the server 13, and as a result, Is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. In this way, in the application work support system 10, the data required by the operator can be easily found by the keyword search.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 1
When the operator designates the master maintenance designation item G108 in the state where the menu screen is displayed on the display unit of 1A, the application work support program which receives the designation input via the terminal device 11A is the storage unit of the server 13. An input screen for managing and updating various databases (IDS information, applicant information, inventor information, agent information, etc.) stored in 21 is called from the storage unit 21 of the server 13, and this is input to the terminal device 11A. Supply. As a result, the terminal device 11A displays the input screen on its display unit.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a transition state of the input screen in a state where the screen for managing and updating the database is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. This FIG.
As shown in, the display unit of the terminal device 11A has an input setting item G28 for managing and updating the database.
1 is displayed.

When the operator selects a corresponding data group (IDS information, applicant information, inventor information, etc.) by selecting these setting items, the application work support program is stored in the storage unit 21 of the server 13. The data group is searched from the various types of data stored, and the result is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. As described above, in the application work support system 10, when it is necessary to change the data registered in the database or to add new data, this is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 11A. It can be easily processed.

In the above-described structure, the application work support system 10 first sets the parent file F for each foreign application.
Create 1. When the parent file F1 is, for example, a file of a foreign application (first country application) based on the Paris Convention, the application work support system 10 creates the file or based on an input designation by an operator thereafter. Then, a child file (file F11 for country A, file F12 for country B, file F13 for country C, ...) For the application with the same priority claim as the first country application is created.
This eliminates the need for the operator to individually create a file (child file) for application to each country. Then, various processes such as document issuance are executed according to the process flow according to the process procedure for each country, so that the operator can perform necessary items according to the items displayed on the display units of the terminal devices 11A, 11B, 11C, .... A reliable process can be performed by a simple operation such as input or selection.

Further, this application work support system 10
As described above with reference to FIG. 3, each country has a deadline master file, and various processing deadlines according to the laws of each country are registered in the deadline master file. Therefore, the application business support program can calculate the deadline date according to the law of each country from the calculated date registered for each file of each case. As a result, the operator can easily and reliably perform other types of deadline management, from application deadline management to maintenance / rights and pension payment deadline management. Further, in this application work support system 10, since the contents of the deadline master file can be updated, even if the deadline is changed due to a revision of the law, only the contents of the deadline master file are changed. Then, the contents changed in the deadline date of the file of the applicable Item are reflected. As a result, the load on the operator can be significantly reduced.

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram for explaining a necessary document to be issued based on the child files A country file, B country file, C country file, ...
As shown in FIG. 24, for example, when the A country flow performs a document issuing process using the A country file, the A country flow is processed by various processes registered in the A country file. Starting date and deadline master file for Country A F31
The actual deadline date corresponding to the start date is calculated based on the deadline information according to the law of country A read from, and various documents are issued based on the operation of the operator using the calculation result.

As a result, the operator can easily and surely perform necessary deadline management and issue a document in accordance with the deadline only by registering the start date without performing complicated period calculation.

Further, FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram for explaining the IDS submission support process of the application work support system 10 in the US application. As shown in FIG. 25, the IDS is displayed on the display units of the terminal devices 11A, 11B, 11C, ....
In the state where the submission status is displayed, the application work support system 10 displays the display frames G301, G302, G30 for each parent file or child file created for each item.
The required document names read from each file are displayed in 3, ... Then, when the same document as the required document has already been submitted in the past, the application work support system 10 displays the document name based on the search result of each file.

As a result, the operator does not need to newly order the documents that have been submitted in the past, and can obtain the documents by searching the contents of the documents that have already been filed in the application work support system 10. it can.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an IDS input screen. This input screen is displayed in the main menu, "IDS
It can be displayed directly by designating "input" or by designating the IDS item of the case file from the screen of each case file. In FIG. 26, the operator selects which country the document belongs to from the country / document type input item G501, and the document number is input as the document name / document number input item G5.
Enter from 02.

Then, from which country's office action the document is listed in is input from the country name input item G503. In the example shown in FIG. 26, the US publication (5432) cited in the Canadian office action is used.
111). In this application work support system 10, it is determined whether or not the document input in the IDS input screen shown in FIG. 26 is already registered in the database, and if it is not registered, the display screen displays "A new reference. "Add to index" will be displayed and the data of the document will be registered in the database. In this case, the operator operates the additional item G505 to add to the database.

On the other hand, when the input document name has been registered in the past, as shown in FIG. 27, "Index has been registered. Update registered contents" on the display screen.
Is displayed. From this screen, the operator
You can edit the information about the registered document names.

Further, on the display screen shown in FIG. 26, registered documents can be obtained. That is, when the operator inputs a document name on this display screen and then clicks the document acquisition item G504, the application work support system 10 determines which country / document the input document name belongs to. Judgment is made based on the input information of the type item, and based on the judgment result, the document acquisition source corresponding to each country is designated. A table showing the relationship between this country and the source of documents is stored in the database in advance.

For example, as shown in FIG. 28, when a cited document in the United States is designated, a document acquisition source “US ***” corresponding to that country is designated, and the application work support system 10 A document acquisition request is transmitted to the document acquisition destination via the Internet.

Thus, the data of the document is downloaded from the document acquisition source to the application business support system 10, stored in the database, and displayed on the display screen.

FIG. 29 shows the application service support system 1
3 is a diagram showing the concept of IDS management in 0. FIG. As shown in FIG. 29, the reference name / number read from the database is displayed on the display screens G601, G602, G603, G604, ... For each office action.

In addition to the screen showing each office action, a document list screen G610 can be displayed. As shown in FIG. 30, this document list screen displays a list of document names and in which country the office action lists the document. For example, in FIG.
At index 01 "US Pat.
"9" indicates that it is listed in office actions in both the United States (US) and Canada (CA).

Then, the data sheet for IDS can be issued based on the information (document name, document type, country name, and the country in which the document is cited as an example) about each document stored in the database.

When the operator inputs an instruction to issue a data sheet for IDS to the application work support system 10 from the display screen, the application work support system 10 displays the information shown in FIG. 31 based on the document information stored in the database. A data sheet describing the input document name as shown is issued. In FIG. 31, “Documents Cited in the
The title of the document presented by the applicant (customer) is entered in the entry field of "International Search Report".
s Referred in the Specification '', the name of the document described as prior art in the description,
In the description column of “Documents Cited in the Corresponding”, the document names cited at the time of issuing the office action of the corresponding foreign country are retrieved from the database and described.

Further, in the application work support system 10, by the operator inputting the document number from the display screen shown in FIG. 32, which document is listed in the office action in which country of which case? Can also be retrieved from the database. When a document number is entered on the display screen shown in FIG. 32, the application work support system 10 displays the search result shown in FIG. 29 on the display screen. In this case, on the display screen, it is a part of the document name / document number, and which document the document belongs to (in the case of FIG. 28, the character "US" is added to the beginning of the document name). Therefore, the source of this document is determined based on this. For example,
As shown in FIG. 28, when the US cited document is designated, the document acquisition source “US ***” corresponding to that country is designated, and “US ***” on the display screen is designated and input. The color and brightness of the box for doing this change. The operator
By clicking the box in which the display form such as the color or the brightness has changed, the application work support application work support system 10 transmits a document acquisition request to the document acquisition source via the Internet.

If the document acquisition is designated by clicking the document acquisition item G504 on the display screen shown in FIG. 26, after shifting to the display screen shown in FIG.
The document request processing to the document acquisition source is started without operating the box of the document acquisition source. On the other hand, FIG.
When the document screen / document number is specified from the input screen shown in 2 and the display screen shown in FIG. 28 is entered, the operator is based on a box (display form is document name / document number) for specifying the document acquisition destination. By clicking (the display form has changed based on the search result), the application work support system 10 starts the document request processing for obtaining the designated document.

Further, in this application work support system 10, a flow chart showing a flow of procedures corresponding to the law of the country of the item to be processed is displayed on the display screens of the terminal devices 11A, 11B, 11C, .... Since the color of the processed process step is changed, the operator can easily understand the contents to be processed at present only by looking at this flowchart.

As described above, according to the application work support system 10 of the present embodiment, the processing according to each country can surely perform the processing in accordance with the law of each country.

Although the application business support system 10 for filing a patent application has been described in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and an application for filing a utility model registration application, a trademark registration application, or a design registration application. The present invention can also be applied to a business support system.

[0146]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to more easily perform the application work and management work of foreign applications having complicated processing procedures.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an application work support system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a server according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram used to explain the processing of file data for each country.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of an input screen displayed on the display unit of the terminal device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of a display screen of the appointment processing.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of a display screen of application processing.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing transition states of display screens related to office actions.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of a display screen regarding free information input.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of a display screen regarding pension management.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of a display screen regarding an objection.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of a display screen regarding a referee case.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of an input screen for a new case.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of a display screen regarding deadline management.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of a display screen related to a document issuance.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of a display screen showing a processing procedure relating to document issuance.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of a display screen showing a processing procedure for issuing a document.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of a display screen showing a processing procedure relating to document issuance.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of a display screen showing a processing procedure relating to document issuance.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of a display screen showing a processing procedure relating to a document issuance.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram illustrating a transition state of a display screen regarding accounting processing.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of a display screen related to management form processing.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of a display screen regarding search processing.

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram showing a transition state of a display screen regarding database management.

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram used for explaining the operation of the application work support system.

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram used to explain the operation of the application work support system.

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram showing a display screen for inputting document information.

FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram showing a display screen for inputting document information.

FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram used to explain selection of a document acquisition source.

FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram used to explain a method of displaying documents registered in a database.

FIG. 30 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of a document list.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an issued IDS sheet.

FIG. 32 is a schematic diagram showing a display screen for inputting a document name.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Application support system 11A, 11B, 11C Terminal device 12 Output device 13 servers 14 Firewall 21 Memory 22 CPU 23 ROM 24 RAM 25 Input section 26 Display 27 interfaces F1 parent file File for F11 A country F12 B country file F13 C country file F31 A country deadline master file F32 B country deadline master file F33 C country deadline master file

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Masafumi Nakano             1-24 Tsurumaki, Tama-shi, Tokyo 1 New city             Center building 5th floor

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A filing business support system for supporting filing of intellectual property rights, which is required for business from application to acquisition of rights and subsequent maintenance and pension management based on the filing system of the country of application. File the input data, and based on the filing system of the application country and the filed input data, it is necessary for operations from application in the application country to acquisition of rights and subsequent maintenance and pension management. An application business support system characterized by presenting the following processes and performing the following processes. 2. The presentation of the processing required for the application work is performed by visually displaying the whole or a part of the flow of the procedure processing procedure based on the application system of the application target country, and the visible processing procedure. The application work support system according to claim 1, wherein the display form of a display element representing a process that has already been processed is changed. 3. An IDS (Information Disclosure State)
ment) to display an input screen for inputting the information of the document to be submitted as a document, and the information of the document input through the displayed input screen is converted into a database, and when the information of the document is input, The information of the same document input in the past is searched from the information of the document stored in the database, and if there is no same document, the document is obtained based on a part of the information of the input document. The destination is determined, and a document acquisition request is transmitted to the determined acquisition source through a network.
Described application support system. 4. An application management method for supporting application operations relating to intellectual property rights, which is required for operations from application to acquisition of rights and subsequent maintenance and pension management based on the application system of the application country. The step of converting the input data into a file, and based on the application system of the application target country and the input data that has been filed, necessary for operations from application in the application target country to acquisition of rights and subsequent maintenance and pension management. And a step of presenting the following processing. 5. In the step of presenting the processing required for the application work, all or part of the flow of the procedure processing procedure based on the application system of the application target country is visually displayed, and the visually displayed processing procedure. 5. The application business management method according to claim 4, wherein a display form of a display element representing a process that has already been processed is changed.