JP2003308383A - Time limit management device and time limit management method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a time limit management device and time limit management method for automatically preannouncing an expiration by unifying time limit management devices. <P>SOLUTION: This device comprises an input means 14 for entering the identification data of a time limit name from a requester and a reference date for specifying its expiration date through a communication line; an arithmetic means 16 for calculating the expiration date and a desired date before the expiration date based on the reference date; a storage means 18 for storing at least the identification data, the reference date and the desired date; a collation means 24 for collating the desired date with the calender date outputted from a clock part 20 for clocking calender information, and outputting a matching signal 22 when the both are matched; and a reporting means 28 for automatically outputting, in response to the matching signal 22, an electronic mail 26 which preannounces the expiration to an electronic mail server optionally designated by the requester through a communication line 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a deadline management device and a deadline management method for managing deadline dates, and in particular, a deadline management device and a deadline management method for notifying a requester of an expiration notice such as a procedure or event by e-mail. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when applying for industrial property rights, for example, during the procedure period such as patent application examination request deadline and patent annuity payment deadline, patent office management installed on a computer by a patent attorney who is a professional agent. The system was operated to manage deadlines.

[0003]

However, since the above-mentioned patent office management system is installed in thousands of patent offices nationwide, the deadline management system of each patent office is updated every time the patent law is revised. It had to be done.

In addition, it is not easy to respond to a revision of the law in an individual application by an individual inventor who does not go through a professional agent. For example, even if the patent application is of the same type, the patent application date is September 2001. Patent applications filed before 30 days 10 of the same year
When patent applications after the 1st of a month are mixed, there is a certain limit in managing the deadline while grasping the difference in the application examination request period of 7 years or 3 years from the filing date, and the forgotten deadline date must be set. There was a waste of patent applications being withdrawn and missing patent rights.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a term management apparatus and a term management method that centralize the term management apparatus and automatically give a notice of expiration.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the deadline management device 10 according to the invention according to claim 1 is
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the input means 14 for inputting the identification data of the deadline name from the requester and the reference date for specifying the deadline date through the communication line; A calculation means 16 for calculating the desired date of the above; a storage means 18 for storing at least the identification data, the reference date, and the desired date; and a calendar date output from the timekeeping unit 20 for measuring the calendar information and the desired date. A matching means 24 that outputs a match signal 22 when they match; in response to the match signal 22, an e-mail 26 of the expiration notice is automatically notified to the e-mail server arbitrarily specified by the client through the communication line 12. Informing means 28 and;

With this configuration, the deadline date and the desired date before the deadline are calculated based on the reference date input by the client, and when the desired date arrives, the expiration notice is automatically requested by e-mail. Can notify the e-mail server arbitrarily designated by the person.

As the deadline name described in claim 1, the patent application number, deceased name, wedding anniversary, birth, graduation ceremony, 60th birthday, work schedule, etc. are entered. Further, as the reference date, the date of filing the patent application, the date of death of the deceased, the anniversary of the wedding, the date of birth, the date of graduation, the 60th birthday, the appointment date of the work, etc. are entered. further,
The desired date is appropriately selected in advance from 1 week, 30 days, and 2 months before the reference date.

In order to achieve the above object, the time limit management device according to claim 1 according to the invention according to claim 2 stores the identification data and the reference date as shown in the processing flow of FIG. 2, for example. 41, and collates with electronic database information 44 provided by a third party, and when it does not match electronic database information 44, automatically requests identification data or an email notifying re-input of the reference date through the communication line. Re-entry notifying means 47 for sending to a person's electronic mail server is further provided.

With this configuration, the identification data stored in the time limit management device and the reference date are collated with the electronic database information 44, and if the collation results do not match, the requester is notified of re-input of the identification data or the reference date. The e-mail can be sent automatically.

The electronic database information 44 described in claim 2 is stored in, for example, a patent information electronic library managed by an administrative agency accessed via the Internet, a patent database managed by a private company, or a commercially available compact disc. Database can be used.

In order to achieve the above object, the deadline management device according to claim 1 or 2 according to the invention of claim 3 is, for example, as shown in FIG. , And automatically notifies the electronic mail server 56 arbitrarily designated by the client via the certification authority server 52 via the communication line 54.

With this configuration, the certification authority server 5
It is possible to automatically send the e-mail 50, which has been authenticated by the sending date from 2, to the e-mail server 56 designated by the client.

The certification authority server 52 according to claim 3
Is a certification authority server operated by a public organization or a private company, and it is desirable to insert a digital watermark into the e-mail 50, for example.

In order to achieve the above object, a deadline method according to a fourth aspect of the present invention specifies identification data of a deadline name and its deadline date from a client, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, for example. An input step 14 for inputting the reference date through the communication line 12; an operation step 16 for calculating a deadline date and a desired date before the deadline based on the reference date; and storing at least identification data, the reference date, and the desired date. Storage step 18;
A collating step 35 for collating the calendar date output from the timekeeping unit 20 for timing the calendar information with the desired date, and outputting a coincidence signal when the coincidence coincides; and electronically issuing an expiration notice in response to the coincidence signal 22. And a notification step 37 of notifying the e-mail server of the mail via the communication line 12 to the e-mail server arbitrarily designated by the client.

With this configuration, the deadline date and the desired date before the deadline are calculated based on the reference date input by the client, and when the desired date arrives, the expiration notice is automatically requested by e-mail. Can notify the e-mail server arbitrarily designated by the person.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 are examples of embodiments for carrying out the invention. In the drawings, parts denoted by the same or similar reference numerals as those in the drawings represent the same or corresponding parts, and redundant description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a time limit management apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The deadline management server 10 as the deadline management device of the present embodiment is connected to the communication line 12 that connects to the Internet, the I / O unit 30 that transmits and receives data to and from the communication line 12, and the I / O unit 30. The input unit 14 as an input unit, and the arithmetic unit 1 as an arithmetic unit connected between the input unit 14 and the storage unit 18.
6, a storage unit 18, a clock unit 20, and a collating unit 24 as a collating unit that mutually connects the informing unit 28 as an informing unit.

The deadline management server 10 is connected to the Internet, which will be described later, through a communication line 12. The identification data of the deadline name and the reference date information for specifying the deadline of the deadline name are input through the I / O unit 30 from the computer terminal of the client via the Internet and the communication line 12.
To enter.

When the entered deadline name is a patent application, the deadline name is specified in the order of the year of application, hyphen, and application number, for example, "2002-00xxx" as the patent application number. Further, the input reference date may be specified by a numeral and a slash in the year display such as "2002/04 / xx" as the patent application date. "14/04 / xx"
You may specify by numbers and slashes in the year display as in. In short, you only need to enter the information that identifies the name of the procedure and the filing date.

The input unit 14 is connected to the communication line 12 and the Internet via the I / O unit 30 to form an input means. The patent application number, which is the identification data of the time limit name, and the patent application date, which is the reference date, are transmitted from the client terminal's computer terminal, and the time limit information is input.

In the case of a written application which is not an online application, a patent application number is not given at the time of application,
In this case, the deadline name is "April 2002 x Day -1"
As described above, the expiration date information is input by receiving the identification data for identifying the first patent application filed on April x 2002.

The arithmetic unit 16 comprises arithmetic means by the central processing unit of the deadline management server 10. It is connected to the input unit 14 and calculates the application examination request deadline date based on the input application date. For example, in the case of an application filed on April 1, 2002, the first day of the period is not included, and the next day is 2002.
The deadline date is April 4, 2005, so that it will start from April 2, 2016, and will expire three days after the date of responding on the date of calculation.
The calculation is output on the first day of the month. Similarly, in the calculation of the domestic priority claim date, in the case of an application on April 1, 2002, the deadline date is calculated and output on April 1, 2003, AD 2003.

The calculation unit 16 automatically sets the desired date based on the calculated deadline date. For example, the application examination request deadline is set to February 1, 2005, which is two months before April 1, 2005 in the year. For these 2 months, the client can access the deadline management server 10 in advance and specify an arbitrary period, but the calculation unit 16 is initially set to 2 months before the desired date for requesting application examination, and the domestic priority right is set. The desired date of assertion is set to 3 months before the initial date.

The storage unit 4 comprises a storage means of a medium for fixedly storing digital information such as a hard disk or a magneto-optical disk which is a magnetic storage medium, and has a patent application number, a patent application date, a desired date, and an identification data as identification data. , Remember the deadline date.

The clock unit 20 is composed of a timer driven by a backup power source such as a primary battery, and clocks the time and outputs the calendar date. For example, in the year display, "200
A calendar day is specified by combining numbers and slashes such as "2/04 / x".

The collating unit 24 constitutes collating means by the above-mentioned central processing unit, and when the calendar date output from the clock unit 20 and the desired date stored in the storage unit 18 are collated and coincident with each other. The coincidence signal 22 is output to the notification unit 28. For example, the reference date input in the year display is converted into the year display and the matching process is executed.

The notifying unit 28 constitutes a notifying means for generating an e-mail for notifying expiration notice, and for example, the storage unit 18
The patent application number, the patent application date, the desired date, and the examination request deadline date stored in
When the match signal 22 is input from the matching unit 24, the electronic mail 26 is transmitted via the I / O unit 30 and the communication line 12 in response to the match signal from the matching unit 24.

The electronic mail 26 is stored in the electronic mail server of the client connected to the Internet. The requester downloads the e-mail of the expiration notice that has been accumulated in the accumulated e-mail server and downloads the e-mail from the expiration management server 10
It is possible to know that the desired date of the patent application registered and stored in accords with the calendar date. Alternatively, the email 26 may be downloaded using the mailer software installed on the client computer. You may access the electronic mail server from the computer of the client side and browse the electronic mail by the web method. In short, if the means for knowing that the desired date of the patent application coincides with the calendar date, use the mail function of the mobile phone carried by the client to receive the electronic mail 26 via the Internet. You may comprise.

Further, as the electronic mail, the electronic mail address of the requester and the electronic mail address arbitrarily specified by the requester can be specified. For this additional e-mail address, enter the e-mail addresses of the requester's family and acquaintances, register with the deadline management server 10 with a deadline name such as birthday or anniversary, and share the deadline management with the requester, family and acquaintances. can do.

The deadline management server 10 is configured to control the deadline management program based on a predetermined operating system program by the arithmetic unit 16, the clock unit 20, and the collation unit 24. Further, the deadline management of all clients can be updated only by updating the deadline management program installed in the deadline management server 10 installed in one place so as to comply with the revision of the Patent Law.

For example, in the case of patent deadline management, the storage unit 1
The application examination request period of the deadline management information stored in 8 is changed from 7 years to 3 years. The deadline management server 10 refers to the patent application date corresponding to the patent application number of the deadline name, and the year 2
For the deadline names filed by September 30, 001, the 7 years before the revision will be applied, and for the deadline names filed on or after October 1, 2001, the application examination request period will be three years. Perform arithmetic processing to apply. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of updating each patent office management system installed in the intellectual property department of the patent office or the company.

The operation of the deadline management server 10 will be described with reference to FIG. In the deadline management server 10, the patent application number as identification data is input to the input unit 14. Further, the patent application date as the reference date is input to the input unit 14.

Further, the desired date is automatically set from one week before, 30 days before, two months before, three months before, etc. from the initially set reference date, or the requester appropriately selects in advance. You can also When the identification data of the deadline name and the reference date are input, the calculation unit 16 calculates the expiration date and the desired date based on the input identification data and the reference date.

The collation unit 24 collates the automatically set desired date with the calendar date measured by the time counting unit 20 and outputs a coincidence signal 22 to the notifying unit 28 when the two coincide with each other. The notification unit 28 creates the e-mail 26 of the notification of expiration notice.

For example, the character string of "time limit management information" is described in the title of the electronic mail 26, and the character string of "identification data: Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-00xx" is displayed on the first line of the electronic document.
On the second line, "Application examination request deadline: 2005/04 / x
"x" character string, 3rd line "Domestic priority claim deadline: 2
The character string "003/04 / xx" is automatically described, and the character string "The deadline for requesting application examination is near" is described in the comment field.

As described above, the deadline and the comment of the procedure item related to the identification data can be included in the electronic mail. In the email 26, the matching signal 22 is sent to the notification unit 28.
When it is input to, the client is notified that the patent application examination request deadline date is near before the patent application examination request date of the patent application.

According to the time limit management device of the first embodiment, as described above, the patent application number and the patent application date are input to the time limit management server 10, and when the patent application date is input, Calculate the application examination request due date that expires on the day before the date of applying the patent application date (patent application date) three years later and the desired date set two months before the application examination request due date. Then, when the calendar date measured by the timekeeping unit 20 and the desired date are collated and coincident with each other, the requester is notified via e-mail 26, so that the request due date is close before the application examination request due date. Notify the client,
It is possible to reduce the number of patent applications that are disguised as filing without requesting application examination and improve the patent rights ratio.

Further, as described above, a patent application by a written application, to which a patent application number is not given at the time of application, was filed on April x 2002, such as "April 2002 xx-1" as the deadline name. Identification data for identifying the first patent application is provisionally input to the input unit 14, and is also input to the input unit 14 using the postmark date of postal mail or the date of submission to the Patent Office as the reference date.

Since the input unit 14 also accepts temporary input,
At a later date, for example, 18 months after the patent application date, the patent application number can be automatically searched and stored in the storage unit 18 depending on the application date and the client identification number. It can be processed easily and efficiently.

In the first embodiment, the patent application number is used as the identification data of the deadline name, the patent application date is used as the reference date, and the deadline date is used as the application examination request deadline date. As an example, the identification data can be applied to the name of the deceased, the wedding anniversary, the birth, the graduation ceremony, the 60th birthday, the work schedule, etc., and the reference date is the death date of the deceased, the wedding anniversary, the birthday, the graduation. It can also be applied to anniversaries, 60th birthdays, work appointments, etc. In this case, the reference date is calculated as the deadline date. In short, the deadline management server 10 may be configured to notify the requester of the event having a deadline name and a deadline date by e-mail before the deadline date.

The operation of the deadline management server according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the system flow chart of FIG.
The members of the deadline management server 10 can be the same members as those in the first embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted.

As described in the first embodiment, the deadline management server 10 will be explained on the assumption that the first notice of expiration has been executed two months before the application examination request deadline. . Further, the second desired date is automatically set 30 days before the deadline. The deadline management program is started at least once a day, for example, in the period from midnight to 5:00 am before the start of work, and the process is executed from the start step 31.

The time limit information extraction processing step 32 is performed by the storage unit 1.
The time limit information such as the name of the time limit, the reference date, the desired date, and the processing completed data is read and extracted from 8. Next, the process shifts to the calendar information acquisition step 33 to acquire the current calendar date output from the clock unit 20.

The deadline management server 10 judges in the procedure completion judging step 34 whether or not the procedure of the deadline name has been completed, based on the identification code of the processing completed data. This processed data is managed by the identification code input from the requester's computer terminal to the input unit 14 of the term management server 10 via the Internet. Unauthorized access is prevented in advance by allowing the requester to enter the ID and password before inputting the identification code.

When the procedure completion judging step 34 judges that the procedure is completed, the processing is branched to the processing ending step 38, and when it is judged that the procedure is not completed, the processing is branched to the pre-deadline judging processing 35. The pre-deadline determination processing 35 determines whether or not the second desired date corresponding to the deadline name and the calendar date match. For example, when the date matches the date 30 days before the deadline, the expiration notice processing 37. It branches to and notifies the requester by e-mail that the deadline name exists within 30 days from the deadline. On the other hand, if the determination results do not match, the process branches to the advance notice notification progress determination process 36.

The advance notice progress determination process 36 determines whether or not seven days have elapsed from the first expiration notice day of expiration. When the determination results match, the process branches to the expiration notice processing 37, and the requester is notified by e-mail that seven days have passed since the first notification. On the other hand, if the determination results do not match, the process ends at step 37.

In this embodiment, the first notification is made two months before the deadline, the second notification is made 7 days after the first notification, and the third notification is made 30 days before the deadline. The notification and the notification by e-mail are transmitted every seven days from the third notification until the processing of the procedure is completed. in this case,
It is possible to omit the reminder date input from the client. Therefore, the deadline management server 10 can be made to function as a reminder means for automatically transmitting a plurality of notifications, and the reminder means can automatically make a plurality of notifications until the processing corresponding to the deadline name is completed. It is possible to prevent abandonment of patent rights due to the imitation of withdrawal of patent application.

The operation of the deadline management server according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to the system flow chart of FIG.
The members of the deadline management server 10 can be the same members as those in the first embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted.

The deadline management server 10 will be described on the assumption that the deadline name and the reference date have already been input to the deadline management server 10 as described in the first embodiment. The deadline information verification program is activated in the start step 40 and reads the deadline information from the storage unit 18. The deadline information includes a deadline name and a verification code indicating whether or not the reference date has already been verified.

Subsequently, the processing shifts to the verification processing step 42, and it is judged whether or not the deadline name and the reference date are correctly input by the requester based on the verification code automatically generated by the deadline management server 10. If the judgment result is yes, the process branches to the end processing step 48, and if it is judged as unverified, the electronic library searching step 43.
Branch to.

The electronic library search step 43 is the IPD of the electronic library 44 operated by the Patent Office via the Internet.
Access the L database and request a search using the patent application date, which is the reference date, as a search keyword. Subsequently, the process proceeds to the electronic library information acquisition step 45, and the search result is acquired from the electronic library 44 via the Internet. Since the search result is output as a patent application list on the same day, sort processing is performed from this patent application list by relying on the identification number of the client or the applicant's name, and the patent application number as the deadline name is specified. Even when there are multiple applications for the same date, the examination request deadline dates are all the same, so the same deadline date is set for a plurality of deadline names and deadline management is executed. In this embodiment, a patent database stored in a storage medium such as a compact disk can be used in place of the electronic library 44, and when access is concentrated in the electronic library 44, offline processing can improve efficiency. it can.

Next, the process proceeds to the deadline collation judging process 46,
It is determined whether or not the patent application number entered by the client and the patent application date correspond correctly. If the determination result is positive, the process branches to the end processing step 48 to end the processing. on the other hand,
When the determination result is negative and the patent application number and the application date do not correspond to each other, the deadline re-input notification processing 47 is performed.

However, the first patent application filed on April 4, 2002 by the requester instead of the patent application number by temporary input, such as "April 2002 x-1" as the deadline name. When it is detected that the identification data for identifying the existence is input, the patent application number obtained simply from the search result can be additionally written in the storage unit 18 and branched to the end processing step.

The deadline re-input notifying process 47 prompts the requester to re-enter the deadline by e-mail to notify that there is an error in the deadline name, and moves to the end processing step 48 to end the process. For example, an e-mail is sent with a comment of the verification result "The registered deadline name (patent application number) or reference date (application date) do not match. Please check."

In the electronic library search step 43, a search request is made using the patent application number as a search keyword. Further, the process proceeds to the electronic library information acquisition step 45, and the search result is acquired from the electronic library 44 via the Internet. As a search result, the patent application date corresponding to the patent application number is output as a patent application list. Next, the process proceeds to the deadline collation determination process 46, and it is determined whether or not the patent application number input by the client and the patent application date correspond correctly. If the determination result is positive, the process branches to the end processing step 48 to end the processing. On the other hand, when the determination result is negative and the patent application number does not correspond to the application date, the deadline re-input notification process 47 is performed.

Fourth with reference to the system block diagram of FIG.
A deadline management server will be described as an embodiment. The members of the deadline management server 10 can be the same members as those in the first embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted.

The deadline management server 10 is connected to the Internet 54 through the communication line 12. The Internet 54 is a server 56a, a server 56b, a server 56c, a server 5 of the Internet service provider ISP.
6d is connected. The computer terminal 58a managed by the applicant or patent attorney who is the client is the server 56b.
The computer terminal 58b connected to the Internet 54 via the computer and managed by the applicant or the patent attorney is a server 56.
The computer terminal 52 of the certification authority is connected to the Internet 54 via the server 56a. Further, as shown in the figure, the deadline management server 10 connects to the Internet 54 from the communication line 12 via the server 56c. However, if a leased line is used, connect directly to the Internet 54 without using the server 56c. You can also

The deadline management server 10 executes the requester registration processing from the computer terminal of the requester via the Internet 54. The registered information is the name or name of the requester,
Attribute information such as an address or whereabouts, an email address, a facsimile number, a telephone number, an identification number of the JPO and an issue date of the identification number are included. At the stage of performing the client registration process,
ID for requester to access deadline management server 10
And a password will be issued to each client. After the client registration process, the client can access the deadline information after performing the authentication process with the ID and password when registering the deadline name or the reference date or browsing the status of the registered deadline information. it can.

The deadline management server 10 displays a web screen on the display of the computer terminal 58 of the client, and provides the service desired by the client. For example, the deadline management calendar system allows the client to manage the schedule easily and efficiently from home or office. It is also possible to manage the schedule, organize a work list, and send the deadline to an acquaintance by e-mail.

Since the deadline management calendar system manages private information such as a schedule, it automatically requests the re-entry of a password after a certain period of time elapses during access.

When the deadline management calendar system is used for the first time, the deadline management calendar setup page is transmitted to the computer terminal 58 of the client. Use this setup page to make initial settings for using the deadline management calendar system. Each item set here can be changed later on the initial setting page.

The deadline management calendar system sets the time period from when the deadline management server 10 sends an e-mail for notifying expiration notice to the requester to what time. For example, a client who is active from 10 am to 9 pm can be arbitrarily set to send an email during a transmission period from 9 am to 10 pm. In addition, the storage unit 18 stores the e-mail of the expiration notice that is automatically generated by the deadline management server 10.
It is also possible to temporarily store the data in a queue in the queue and then perform batch transmission in a transmission period arbitrarily set by the requester. For example, one time zone can be arbitrarily set from 8:00 am before the business start time of the client, 11:00 pm after the business end time, or 1:00 pm within the business time to queue up. It is desirable to provide a time designation transmission means for transmitting all the existing e-mails of the expiration notice to the mail server of the requester. Further, the identification mark adding means may be configured to add the identification mark "!" Of the importance "high" to the e-mail of the notice of expiration. Needless to say, the time designation transmitting means and the identification mark adding means can be applied to the deadline information re-input notification and the electronic mail via the certification authority server described later.

The deadline management calendar system displays the deadline name in the calendar display screen when the client requests the browsing display of the deadline management status. On the display screen of the client terminal 58 of the client, it is possible to select any of day display, week display, month display, and year display in any format.

The deadline management calendar system can process deadline management for clients in Japan and overseas, and sends an e-mail notifying expiration notice to the client's time zone. For example, for the time zone, by setting the address or the city of the residence of the client who uses the deadline management calendar system, for example, the client residing in Japan adds 9 hours to the Greenwich time to set the time zone of Korea or Japan. You can choose. When the birthday of an acquaintance who lives abroad is set as the due date, the time zone of the acquaintance can be set, and the requester and the e-mail destination can be set to different e-mail addresses.

When the expiration date management server 10 sends an e-mail of expiration notice to the requester, the expiration date management server 10 initially sends an e-mail of expiration notice in advance of the expiration date. Whether or not to set.
For example, the application examination request was made 2 months ago, and the domestic priority claim was made 2
Initially set a few months ago. The expiration notice notification e-mail is a notification e-mail sent when the deadline approaches, and can be changed to any desired date by changing the setting from the client.

The deadline management server 10 can acquire calendar information from the calendar date from the timekeeping section 20 and display holidays on the deadline management calendar system. However,
In the deadline management of patent applications, even if the expiration date falls on a holiday, no procedure is required before this holiday, so the e-mail notification of expiration notice is requested based on the calendar as scheduled, ignoring holidays. It is configured to calculate the date, determine whether the calendar date from the timekeeping unit 20 matches the desired date, and transmit the electronic mail. Therefore, the deadline management functions safely even if a law change in which a public holiday is changed will come into effect in the future.

The deadline management server 10 can display a web screen on the display of the computer terminal 58 of the client, and can select four display formats of day, week, month, and year by the deadline management calendar system. Therefore, if there are multiple deadline names on the same day, the day display is simple, and when browsing many deadline names, select the week, month, and year as appropriate to check the deadline name of the other. be able to.

As an example of the procedure for adding a deadline name, when registering a regular meeting or the birthday of the person himself / herself, a family member or an acquaintance, selecting the repeat function saves the labor of inputting. That is, it is advantageous when the deadline date is regularly repeated.

When a third party other than the requester is requested to send an e-mail notifying of expiration, it can be executed by setting the date and time at which the e-mail is desired to be sent and the mail address. Internet mail or a mobile tool can be set as the destination of the e-mail notification of expiration. For example, since the e-mail of the expiration notice is sent to the mail address entered in the mobile tool field by a text mail, the e-mail of the expiration notice can be received by a mobile phone or PHS. It should be noted that the deadline management server 10 may be configured to transmit 5 minutes before the set time on the desired day in consideration of the transmission delay on the Internet.

Further, a simple registration function is set on the web screen. It is not necessary to duplicately input the attribute information already registered in the client registration process, and the deadline information can be easily added. For example, in the case of a patent application, the patent application number and the application date are entered in the boxes, and the deadline information is added by clicking the add button on the screen with a pointing device such as a mouse. The added deadline information can be displayed on the screen in the deadline information list, and the deadline name and deadline can be sorted and displayed according to the priority order of the examination request and the domestic priority, or the deadline date.

The deadline management server 10 executes a search using the deadline name as a keyword in response to a request from the computer terminal 58 on the requester side. The client can enter a patent application number in a predetermined box on the display of the computer terminal 58 and click a search button with a mouse to display a list of deadline dates including the patent application number in the deadline name.

The deadline management server 10 can delete the deadline name and the deadline date associated therewith by a request from the computer terminal 58 on the requester side. The deadline name in the calendar displayed on the display by the above deadline management calendar system is selected with a pointing device or keyboard operation, and the trash can icon adjacent to the calendar display is clicked with the pointing device. Next, the deadline name and the deadline date are displayed on the confirmation screen, and the deadline management for the deadline name can be deleted by clicking the delete button with the pointing device. For example, it applies to patent applications that do not want to be patented.

Further, in the fourth embodiment, the expiration notice is given using the commonly used HTML format or text format e-mail, but as a modification of the implementation,
The e-mail can be electronically authenticated by the certification authority to specify the transmission date and time, and the e-mail of the advance notice of expiration can be transmitted to the requester or the like.

The certification authority server 52 of the certification authority is connected to the term management server 10 via the Internet, and when the desired date and the calendar date match, the term management server 10 notifies the certification authority server 52 of the expiration notice electronically. An email is sent. The certification authority server 52 inserts and stores the electronic watermark into the received e-mail of the expiration notice, and performs tampering prevention processing, and then returns the authenticated e-mail of the expiration notice to the expiration management server 10. The deadline management server 10 that has received the reply to the e-mail automatically sends the e-mail of the expiration notice to the e-mail address of the requester or the like who is the transfer destination. Note that the authenticated expiration notice email may be transferred from the certification authority server 52 to both the requester's email server and the deadline management server 10.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the deadline name and the reference date are input from the requester's computer terminal 58 to the deadline management server 10 via the Internet 54. However, the applicant who is the requester or It is also possible for the patent attorney to send to the operator of the deadline management server 10 a document containing the deadline name and the reference date by mail delivery. The operator who receives the mailing can manually provide the deadline management server 10 with the deadline management by manually inputting the patent application number, which is the deadline name, and the patent application date, which is the reference date, to the deadline management server 10. It is desirable to use the delivery certificate for mail delivery.

The certification authority server 52 embeds a digital watermark in the expiration notice email. It is desirable to use digital watermarks for document management and security, including e-government. In other words, in the current situation where security measures for digitalized electronic documents such as encryption and electronic signature are desired, it is difficult to certify the original when an electronic mail is printed or converted into another medium. However, digital watermark authentication can reliably compensate for the originality of an electronic mail.

For example, by merging the still image data watermark technology and the printing technology, it is possible to enable the original proof and the authenticity proof. The authenticity of an expiration notice email is important when it is maliciously tampered with or if there is an unauthorized outflow. If an expired e-mail notification of an expired notice has been leaked to the outside, the damage is immeasurable.

The certification authority server 52 identifies the source of the document, the origin of the document, and the outflow route even when the document is printed by using the electronic watermark and not only the email but also the email. Can be Therefore, it is possible to secure the security that is essential to the network society by using the digital watermark.

In the above embodiment, the time limit management server 10 which gives advance notice of expiration by e-mail has been described. However, the time limit management server 10 uses automatic facsimile transmission, automatic voice telephone notification, etc. in addition to electronic mail means. It is possible to use various kinds of notification means so that the client does not forget the deadline, and it is also possible to add related service information to these notification means.

For example, when the deadline is the anniversary of the deceased person's death date, wedding anniversary, birthday, important schedule, etc., the information on the ceremonial occasion service can be transmitted to the requester by e-mail, facsimile, or automatic voice telephone. Because it is possible, we can properly introduce companies that respond to these events,
We provide so-called opt-mail outsourcing services. That is, there is provided segment means for segmenting the deadline name, and opto information adding means for reading out service information corresponding to the deadline name identified by the segment means from the storage unit 18 and describing it in the e-mail of the expiration notice. As a result, the service information required by the client, acquaintance, or the like can be accurately provided.

Further, the patent application examination request, domestic priority claim, patent fee pension management, etc. can be centrally managed by the one deadline management server 10 as described above, and the law is amended or the holiday is changed. Even in the case of supporting the above, it is possible to provide a highly reliable service to a large number of applicants, patent attorneys, and users who have important deadlines by maintaining one system. In addition, when centralizing the processing of patent deadline management, it is currently 4
It is desirable to install a plurality of deadline management servers 10 for managing 20 thousand or more deadline names for 20 years at one location.

Further, in the above embodiment, the patent application number and the patent application date are input to the deadline management server 10 by keyboard input of the client terminal 58 of the client, but the transmission record of the electronic application software is input to the computer terminal 58. Of course, it is possible to eliminate the typo by automatically obtaining the patent application number and the filing date of the electronic application. In this embodiment, in addition to patents, utility model registration,
It can also be applied to pension management for design registration and trademark registration.

In this way, the deadline management is performed by the deadline management server 10.
Since it can be provided via the Internet, and security management is performed by ID and password, the client can browse the deadline information through the Internet at home, at work or on the go, and register new deadline information. You can

According to the above embodiment, as the deadline management method, the identification data of the deadline name such as the patent application number and the like from the computer terminal 58 of the applicant or the patent attorney as a client and the standard of the application date etc. for specifying the deadline date. Communication line 12
And input step 1 input through the Internet 54
4; a calculation step 16 for calculating a deadline date and a desired date before the deadline date, for example, 2 months ago, 30 days ago, 7 days ago, etc. based on the reference date; and at least the identification data, the reference date, and the desired date. A storing step 18 of storing; a collating step 35 of outputting a coincidence signal 22 when the calendar date output from the timekeeping section 20 for timing calendar information and the desired date are collated and coincident with each other.
And; a notification step 37 of automatically notifying the e-mail of the expiration notice in response to the coincidence signal 22 to the e-mail server designated by the client through the communication line 12.

The deadline management device of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned illustrated example, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0087]

As described above, the first aspect of the present invention is as described above.
According to the deadline management device and the deadline management method described in 4 to 4, it is excellent that the deadline management device is unified and the deadline management device and the deadline management method are automatically sent to the requester to send the e-mail of the expiration notice. It can be effective.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a time limit management device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a processing flowchart of a term management device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a system flow diagram of a term management device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a system block diagram of a term management device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Deadline management server 12 communication lines 14 Input section 16 Operation part 18 Memory 20 timekeeping section 24 Collating unit 26 e-mail 28 Notification section 44 Electronic database information 50 emails 52 computer terminal 52 Certificate Authority Server 54 Internet 56 servers 58 computer terminal

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Input means for inputting identification data of a deadline name from a requester and a reference date for specifying the deadline date through a communication line; a deadline date and a desired date before the deadline date based on the reference date. Computation means for computing; at least the storage means for storing the identification data, the reference date, and the desired date; and the calendar date output from the timekeeping unit for timing the calendar information and the desired date. Collating means for outputting a signal; and informing means for automatically issuing an expiration notice notification e-mail to the e-mail server arbitrarily designated by the client through the communication line in response to the coincidence signal.
A deadline management device having a. 2. The identification data and the reference date are read out from the storage means, collated with electronic database information provided by a third party, and when they do not match the electronic database information, the identification data or the reference date. The deadline management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a re-input notifying unit that automatically transmits a re-input notification e-mail of the day to the requester's e-mail server through the communication line. 3. The e-mail of the expiration notice is
The deadline management device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electronic mail server arbitrarily designated by the client is automatically notified via the certification authority server via the communication line. 4. An input step in which identification data of a deadline name and a reference date for specifying the deadline date are input from a requester through a communication line; a deadline date based on the reference date and a desired date before the deadline date. And a storage step of storing at least the identification data, the reference date, and the desired date; and when the calendar date output from the timekeeping unit for timing the calendar information and the desired date are collated and coincident with each other. A collating step of outputting a coincidence signal; and a notifying step of automatically notifying an e-mail of expiration notice in response to the coincidence signal to an e-mail server arbitrarily designated by the requester through the communication line;
A method for managing deadlines.