JP2007108886A - Application information management system, application information management method and application information management program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an application information management system, an application information management method and an application information management program, improved in display flexibility. <P>SOLUTION: From an application case storage section, a relevant case is extracted which is related to a selected application case directly or indirectly, and the relevancy between the extracted relevant case and the selected application case is calculated. According to the relevancy and a display setting, display of the extracted relevant case is decided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an application information management system, an application information management method, and an application information management program for managing applications such as patent applications.

An application information management system that manages application information such as patents is used.
Here, a technology that enables clear and accurate expression of the family structure of a patent application by using a relationship line that connects application displays with line types and line colors according to the relation type or the like is disclosed. (See Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-76720 A

However, since the display method is fixed in the above-described technique, there is a possibility that display flexibility is lacking.
For example, it is not possible to select which application is displayed around. In addition, scrolling on the screen may be necessary to display the entire family.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an application information management system, an application information management method, and an application information management program that improve display flexibility.

The application information management system according to the present invention includes first item identification information for identifying a first application item, second item identification information for identifying a second application item associated with the first application item, and An application matter storage unit that stores information, a matter selection unit that selects an application matter stored in the application matter storage unit, and a related matter that is directly or indirectly related to the selected application case from the application matter storage unit A related matter extracting unit for extracting the relevance level, a relevance calculating unit for calculating a relevance level of the extracted related case with respect to the selected application case, the calculated relevance level and a predetermined display setting, And a display determination unit that determines the display of the extracted related matters.
A related item directly or indirectly related to the selected application item is extracted from the application item storage unit, and a degree of relevance of the extracted related item with respect to the selected application item is calculated. The display of the extracted related matters is determined according to the degree of association and display setting.
Since display is determined according to the degree of association and display settings of related items, display flexibility can be improved.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an application information management system, an application information management method, and an application information management program that improve display flexibility.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an application information management system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, the application information refers to target information including the state before the application, such as a patent proposal, and the case where the application is no longer pending examination at the Patent Office due to a rejection decision or a registration decision.
The application information management system 100 is configured by connecting a client unit 110 and a server unit 120 via a network 130.

  The client unit 110 requests the server unit 120 to search for and display a case, and displays the result. The client unit 110 includes an input unit 111, a display unit 112, a data transmission unit 113, and a data reception unit 114.

  The input unit 111 is an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and inputs information for requesting a case search or the like. This request includes, for example, a request for selecting an application item, searching for an application item related to the selected item, and displaying the application item. That is, the input unit 111 functions as a case selection unit that selects an application case stored in the application case storage unit. The information input at this time includes, for example, selected item identification information for identifying the application item to be selected, and related item search / display request information for requesting search and display of related items.

The display unit 112 is a display device such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display device, and displays the application case based on the display data generated by the server unit 120.
The data transmission unit 113 and the data reception unit 114 are for exchanging data with the server unit 120 via the network 130.

The server unit 120 searches for a case and generates display data in response to a request from the client unit 110.
The server unit 120 includes a case search unit 121, a related case file generation unit 122, a display screen generation unit 123, a data transmission unit 124, a data reception unit 125, and an application case DB 126.
The case search unit 121 searches the application case DB 126 based on a request from the client unit 110, and extracts an application case (related case) related to the selected application case (selected case). That is, the item search unit 121 functions as a related item extraction unit that extracts related items related to the selected item.

  Here, the related item means an application item directly or indirectly related to the selected item. This relationship can include parent-child relationships such as priority claim applications, continuation applications, change applications, divisional applications, and the like. That is, an application having a direct and indirect parent-child relationship with a certain application is a related matter of the application, and a so-called “family” application is applicable.

  As described above, related applications include applications that are directly or indirectly connected by legal relationship such as priority claim. However, it is also possible to include, in the related applications, substantially related applications that have no legal relationship, for example, applications that are related to the content of the invention but have no legal relationship with each other.

The related item file generation unit 122 generates a related item file (related item file) extracted by the item search unit 121. Further, the related item file generation unit 122 functions as a relevance calculation unit that calculates the relevance of the related item with respect to the selected item.
The display screen generation unit 123 generates display data to be displayed on the client unit 110 based on the related item file generated by the related item file generation unit 122. The display screen generation unit 123 functions as a display determination unit that determines the display of related cases according to the degree of association and predetermined display settings.

The data transmission unit 124 and the data reception unit 125 are for exchanging data with the client unit 110 via the network 130.
The application item DB 126 is a storage device such as a hard disk, and stores application item information (application item information) such as a patent application. Details of the application case information will be described later.

(Operation of Application Information Management System 100)
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of an outline of an operation procedure of the application information management system 100.
(1) Request for related item search / display (step S11)
An application case is selected, and an application case (related case) related to the selected application case (selected case) is searched and displayed. This selection and request is performed by inputting information from the input unit 111.

FIG. 3 is an example of buttons displayed on the display unit 112 at the time of this input.
“KOR” and “100001” specify application cases filed in Korea. “Family display” represents a request to search and display related matters. By clicking the “Display” button with the mouse, a request for searching and displaying related items related to the selected item is made. Note that when “KOR” is changed to “JP” or “USA”, an application case with Japan and the US as the application country is selected.

(2) Extracting related items and generating related item files (step S12)
Based on the selected application case (selected case), the case search unit 121 searches the application case DB 126 and extracts an application case (related case) related to the selected case. The related item file generation unit 122 generates an extracted related item file (related item file). Details of this will be described later.

(3) Determination of display state based on relevance (step S13)
Based on the related case file generated by the related case file generation unit 122, display data for the display screen generation unit 123 to display on the client unit 110 is generated. Details of this will be described later.

(4) Display of related cases based on relevance (Step S14)
Based on the display data generated by the display screen generation unit 123, the display unit 112 displays the related matters.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a related item displayed on the display unit 112.
In FIG. 4, a character display is used to represent related matters and their relevance. The character display is a display using a character code (for example, ASCII code) represented by 1-bit or multi-bit data. Characters representing each related case (“JP”, “PCT”, “KOR”, “EP”, “FR”, “DE”, “UK”), and characters (“—”, “ (└ ”,“ ┬ ”,“ ├ ”) (related indicators) are displayed correspondingly.

FIG. 4 shows that the Japanese application “JP”, the PCT application “PCT”, and the Korean application “KOR” have a parent-child application relationship. That is, the PCT application “PCT” claiming the priority of the Japanese application “JP” as the basic application has been filed, and the Korean application “KOR” has been filed as a domestic transitional application from this PCT application “PCT” ( To be exact, domestic transition procedures).
Further, an EP application “EP” has been filed (domestic transition procedure) as a transitional application from the PCT application “PCT”. Furthermore, transition applications “FR”, “DE”, and “UK” from EP application “EP” to France, Germany, and the UK have been made.
In addition to the PCT application “PCT”, the US application “USA” exists as a priority claim application from the Japanese application “JP”.
It should be noted that the Korean application “KOR” is surrounded by a frame, indicating that this case is the selected case selected in step S11.

In FIG. 4, the Korean application “KOR”, the French application “FR”, the German application “DE”, the UK application “UK”, and the US application “USA” are arranged in the vertical direction (column direction), assuming that they are siblings. Yes.
As described above, in FIG. 4, the application cases are connected by a line (related index) to express the temporal relationship between the related cases (as a result, the parent-child relationship). Moreover, sibling relationships are expressed by "columns" in the expression of relevance.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating another example of related matters displayed on the display unit 112.
The substantial display content of FIG. 5 is the same as FIG. However, in FIG. 5, the Korean application “KOR” is arranged side by side with the EP application “EP”. In FIG. 4, the display emphasizes the correspondence between the countries at the level related to the application country, whereas in FIG. 5, the display emphasizes the correspondence between the PCT application “PCT” and the application to be transferred to each country.
As described above, in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the display method is changed depending on the way of placing importance on the correspondence.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of related matters displayed on the display unit 112.
In FIG. 6, related cases and their relations are expressed using HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). That is, by HTLM, cell parts representing each related case (square frame surrounding “A001-01001PCT” etc .: □), line parts representing the relation of related cases (lines connecting related cases: “─”, “└”) , “├”) (related index) is mapped to a corresponding location (for example, designated by coordinates) and displayed.
In addition, frames surrounding “+” and “−” respectively indicate the expansion and non-expansion of the display contents. For example, “−” at the left end of FIG. 6 indicates that the parent application of the application “A001-01001PCT” is not displayed on the screen, and “−” below FIG. 5 indicates that the child application of the application “A001-01003EP” is displayed. Indicates that it is not displayed on the screen.

In FIG. 6, in addition to the identification information (for example, “A001-01002KR”) representing the case itself, the relationship with the parent application and the current state are displayed in the cell part.
For example, “corresponding”, “change”, “division” means “corresponding application” in which the selected application and the parent application are common, “change application” defined by law, ". “Application”, “Registration”, and “Rejection” indicate whether the application is in the application status (unexamined), registered status, or rejected status, and is identified by referring to the status information. Is done.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing details of step S12 in FIG.
(1) Extraction of related items (step S21)
The related item information of the selected item is extracted from the application item DB 126.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an application case file stored in the application case DB 126.
The application item file includes “basic information” and “priority information” of each item.

The basic information is the basic information for each application case, including “reference number”, “four law categories”, “case number”, “application number”, “application country”, “institution”, “original application number”. "," Parent application number ".
The column “reference number” is a number assigned to the application in the company or patent office.
The “four-law classification” column is a column indicating which jurisdiction of the patent, utility model, design, or trademark the application is for.
The “application number” column is a column indicating the application number of the application case, and can be used as information for identifying the application case.

  The columns of “application country” and “institution” are fields indicating the application country of the application and the procedural institution (for example, receiving office), respectively. Depending on the contents of the fields of “application country” and “organization”, whether the application is a normal domestic application or a regional application (procedure with international organizations such as PCT, EP) It is possible to determine which of the engines is.

  Here, “application country” and “institution” are set as separate columns, but these two can be combined into one column. That is, “application country” and “institution” are treated as the same object, and for example, both a country code such as “KOR” and an organization code such as “PCT” and “EP” can be inserted. If a country code such as “KOR” is inserted in this field, it is interpreted as a domestic application to “application country”, and if an organization code such as “PCT” or “EP” is inserted, an international “organization” To be interpreted as a regional application.

The column “parent application number” is used when the application case is a divisional application, a change application, and a continuation application, and an application number for identifying the parent application that is the basis of the division of the application case is inserted. Divisional application / change application / continuation application, identified by the application type code in the “Four statutes” column.
In the “original application number” column, an application number for identifying the original application of the application is inserted. The “original application” here refers to the basis of the parent application (if the parent application is a divisional application, etc.) Application).

The “priority information” is information related to the priority claim (Paris priority / domestic priority) of each application, and includes “application country” and “application number”.
“Application country” and “application number” represent the application country and application number of the basic application of the application. These “application country” and “application number” are not necessarily one set, and may be two, or three or more sets. It is possible to apply for priority based on multiple applications.

Depending on the “original application number”, “parent application number”, “priority information” (“application country”, “application number”), and “four law classifications”, the jurisdiction of the application and the (broadly) parent application Identification and relationships are represented. In other words, depending on whether or not the application number information is inserted in the columns of “original application number”, “parent application number”, and “priority information”, the application matter is changed from the parent application / continuation application, divisional application, priority application It is possible to determine whether the application is a right claim. Further, the parent application can be identified by the inserted application number.
As can be seen from the above, information related to related matters includes "Four categories", "Original application number", "Parent application number", "Priority information"("Applicationcountry","Applicationnumber"). it can.

Hereinafter, extraction of related item information of a selected item from the application item DB 126 will be described.
1) Search for parent case A description will be given of searching for a related case that is directly related to the selected case, particularly a related case (parent case) that is one level higher than the selected case.
The case where the application number of the selected case matches the “application number” of the “basic information” is the selected case itself. In this case, the parent case of the selected case can be specified by “original application number”, “parent application number”, and “priority information”.

2) Retrieval of child cases A description will be given of retrieval of related matters directly related to the selected case, particularly related items (child cases) one level lower than the selected case.
A case where the application number of the selected case matches any of “original application number”, “parent application number”, and “application number” (“priority information”) is a child case of the selected case. In this case, the selected case can be specified by the “application number” of the “basic information”.

3) Retrieval of related cases that are indirectly related to the selected case Further search for cases that are indirectly related to the selected case, that is, two or more of the selected cases, upper or lower cases (for example, grandchild cases) . This search is performed by searching for a parent case and a grandchild case of the related cases searched in 1) and 2). As a result, the parent item and grandchild item of the related item searched for are searched. In this way, this process is continued until there is no new related item to be searched.
As described above, related items that are directly or indirectly related to the selected item are searched and extracted.

4) Retrieval of corresponding cases that share the selected case and the parent application A search for cases that share the selected case and the parent application, that is, the corresponding cases will be described. For example, each of the divisional applications when multiple divisional applications are filed from the parent application, and each priority when the priority of multiple countries is claimed for the parent application and applications are filed in these multiple countries. Refers to rights claim applications.

Considering the example of priority applications to multiple countries based on Japanese applications, first check which country has claimed priority for each application in the corresponding country, and Search the base country and extract the priority application in Japan. Then, the priority claim applications to which the application numbers of the same Japanese application (that is, the parent application) are assigned are extracted as corresponding cases, sorted by the application numbers of the Japanese applications.
Here, the priority claim applications are extracted, but similarly, the divisional applications, the changed applications, and the continuation applications can be extracted.

  In addition, when a parent application does not exist, such as when applying to multiple countries at the same time without a basic application, the corresponding cases are extracted from basic information such as `` reference number '' within the company or patent office, and each case is extracted. Associate relationships.

(2) Generation of related matter file (step S22)
A related item file representing the extracted related item is generated. The related item file includes the selected item itself.
9 to 11 are schematic diagrams illustrating examples of related case files.
The information of each related item is divided into the columns of “Country”, “Related Type”, “Level”, “Country Type”, “Search Key”, “Parent Item”, “Child Item 1” to “Child Item 3”. It is expressed as

“Country” represents the country of application or procedural organization (international organization) of the selected item, and corresponds to “application country” and “organization” of the application item information.
The “relevant type” represents a type related to the parent application, for example, a normal application, a change application, a continuation application, a divisional application, and a priority claim application. Here, the association relating to the information of each application item can be derived from the “association type” and the “parent application number” for the item of interest. For example, if the application number of application A is entered in the “parent application number” of application B and the “related type” of application B is a divisional application, application B can be said to be an application divided from application A. .
If there is information in the “priority information” column, the application is “priority” on the “relevant type” and can be recognized as an application for which priority is claimed.

“Level” is a type of relevance, and represents the degree of relevance by a numerical value. Here, the “level” of the selected item is set to “0”, and in the item one higher than that (parent item), 1 is subtracted from the value of “level” (−1), and the item one item lower than that ( In the (sub case), 1 is added to the value of “level” (+1).
In step S22, no information is written in the “level” column, but for convenience, FIGS. 9 to 11 show the written state. That is, FIG. 9 to FIG. 11 show related matter files in a state where step S24 is completed.

The “country type” indicates whether the application corresponds to a national application (“normal”) or a wide area application (“institution”).
“Search key” indicates whether or not the matter is a selected matter. That is, the application cases “KOR”, “JP”, and “USA” are the selected cases in FIGS.

“Parent case” represents the parent application (in a broad sense) of the case, and can be determined by “original application number”, “parent application number”, and “priority information” (“application country”, “application number”). .
“Child Case 1” to “Child Case 3” represent the (broadly defined) child applications of the case, and “original application number”, “parent application number”, and “priority information” (“application country”, “ Application number ”) can be determined by“ application number ”of“ basic information ”of the case corresponding to the case.

(3) Setting the relevance of the selected case (step S23)
Set the relevance of the selected item. That is, a criterion for the degree of association is set for the selected case. For example, the relevance (level) of the selected case is set to “0”. That is, if the selected case is the Korean application “KOR”, the degree of association is set to “0”.

(4) Setting of the degree of relevance of related cases (step S24)
Set the relevance level of the related cases based on the relevance level of the selected case.
1) It is possible to determine a selected item that has a direct relationship (parent-child relationship) with the selected item from the information of the “parent item” and “child item” of the selected item.
The degree of selectivity higher than the degree of relevance of the selected case is assigned to the related case directly related to the selected case. For example, “level” -1 (= −1) of the selected case is set as the “level” of the selected case.
Assigns a lower degree of selectivity to the related item that is a direct child of the selected item. For example, “level” +1 (= 1) of the selected case is set as the “level” of the selected case.

2) It is possible to determine a selected case that is indirectly related to the selected case (eg, grandchild relationship) from the information of the “parent case” and “child case” of the related case for which the degree of relevance is set.
Assign a higher degree of selectivity than the related degree of the related case that has been set to the direct parent related case of the related case for which the related degree has been set (the set related case). For example, “level” −1 (= −2) of a related case with “level” set to “−1” is set as the “level” of the selected case.
A lower selection degree than the related degree of the set related case is assigned to the related case directly related to the set related case. For example, “level” +1 (= 2) of a related case with “level” set to “1” is set as the “level” of the selected case.

3) As described above, the degree of association is set for all of the selected selected cases.
As described above, FIGS. 9 to 11 show an example of the selected case file in a state where the relevance is set.

(5) Arrangement of related cases by relevance (step S25)
Arrange related cases based on relevance. For example, the related matters are sorted in ascending order of the set “level”.
FIG. 12 to FIG. 14 are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of a selected case file in an aligned state based on the degree of association. FIG. 13 is the same as FIG. This is because the degree of relevance corresponds to the arrangement of the cases in FIG. 10 before sorting.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing details of step S13 in FIG.
(1) Setting of display range of related items (step S31)
When there are a wide variety of related matters, there is a possibility that display on the screen may be difficult, so the display range is set as appropriate.
For example, the display range can be set based on the degree of association. For example, related items whose “level” is in the range of −2 to +2 are displayed. This display range may be set as appropriate on the spot, or may be set and stored in advance.

(2) Determination of arrangement of related matters based on the degree of relevance (step S32, FIGS. 16 to 19)
Based on the degree of relevance, determine the placement of related projects. In the case of the related item file shown in the figure, for example, the arrangement of the related item can be determined as follows.
16 to 19 are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of a display file indicating the arrangement of related matters. This display file includes an application country (related item) and an array of cells in which lines (related indicators) are alternately arranged in the column direction.

1) Place the item with the lowest “level” in the upper left country column cell (FIG. 16, “JP” in “level” -2).
2) Place the second lowest “level” case in the cell of the second country from the left. In this case, parent-child relationships are described on the same line. If there are two or more, a new row is inserted below the row and arranged in the same column (FIG. 17, “PCT”, “USA”).

3) Place the 3rd lowest “level” case in the 3rd country cell from the left. In this case, parent-child relationships are described on the same line. If there are two or more, a new row is inserted below the row and arranged in the same column (FIG. 18, “KOR”, “EP”).
4) Place the 4th lowest “level” case in the 4th country cell from the left. In this case, parent-child relationships are described on the same line. If there are two or more, a new row is inserted below the row and arranged in the same column (FIG. 19, “FR”, “DE”, “UK”).
5) As a result of the above, each case is arranged in a column corresponding to the “level”.

(3) Insertion of related index (step S33, FIG. 20)
Insert related indicators. The related index is an index indicating the relationship between the projects, and is, for example, a line or other symbol.
At this time, the insertion position of the related index is determined based on the degree of association.
In the case of the related matter file of FIG. 12, for example, a related index can be inserted as follows.

1) If there are two or more country and institution names in the lower country column relative to the upper country column, put “┬” in the cell of the line between countries.
2) Enter “-” if there is only one lower country column.
3) Put “└” in the line cell on the left side of the country listed at the bottom of each country column.
4) If a country is listed between the top and bottom of each country row, put “├” in the left cell.
5) In each line column, if there is a blank in the line between the symbols, “|” is inserted between them.
FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram showing a display file in a state where a related index is inserted.

(4) Adjustment by display setting (step S34, FIG. 21, FIG. 22)
In the previous FIG. 20, the cases are arranged in the column corresponding to “level”.
1) Here, the arrangement of the project is adjusted based on the display setting.
For example, the cases described in each cell and whose “country type” is “normal” are right-justified (“KOR” and “USA” are right-justified as shown in FIG. 21).

2) Corresponding indices are appropriately inserted in response to this change in arrangement (step S34, FIG. 22).
For example, in each row, if there is a blank cell between the country and institution and the symbol written on the left side, “-” is inserted regardless of the country and line cells.

(5) Determination of the display state of the item (step S35, FIG. 23)
The display status (for example, display color) of each item is determined based on the selected item, the category of the related item, the type of the selected item, and the like.
For example, the cell or text color of the item data of the search target key is changed to a specified color.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to display the related matters on the display unit 112.
Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the display may emphasize the correspondence with the PCT application “PCT”.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the legal relationship (“priority claim”, “change”, “division”, etc.) and the progress status (“application”, “registration”, etc.) are displayed together. May be.

  The display mode as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 can be changed by the display setting. For example, if a related case is a first international application case to a first international organization, a first application case to the first country based on the first international application case, and a second case based on the first international application case Consider a case in which a second international application case to an international organization and an application case to a second country based on the second international application case are included. In this case, the first and second display settings indicate whether the second international application case and the second country application case and the first country application case are arranged in parallel, respectively. By switching the setting, the display in FIGS. 4 and 5 can be switched.

In this embodiment, a related item (family item) can be extracted and displayed by associating a parent and child item for each item in the application item file.
Relevance of related projects can be displayed by related indicators. In addition, sibling relationships can be expressed by arranging items in “columns”. In addition, related projects are displayed based on the selected project.
As a result, various procedures for related projects can be quickly performed. In addition, in related item display (for example, patent family display), it is easy to check not only the parent-child relationship but also the brother relationship.

(Second Embodiment)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In this embodiment, in addition to the relationship between items, the progress status of each item can be displayed.
The application information management system 100a according to the present embodiment is represented in FIG. 2 as in the first embodiment.
FIG. 24 is a flowchart corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing an example of the outline of the operation procedure of the application information management system 100. Steps S41 to S43 are executed after Step 11 in FIG.
FIG. 24 is different from the first embodiment in that the progress state is extracted from the application item file in the application item DB and used for displaying related items.

(1) Relevant item search / progress display request (step S41)
An application item is selected, and a search for an application item (related item) related to the selected application item (selected item) and a request for display of the progress status are made. This selection and request is performed by inputting information from the input unit 111.

(2) Extraction of progress information on related matters (step S42)
FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an example of an application case file stored in the application case DB 126.
This application matter file includes information on the “status” and “progress” of the matter.
“Status” represents whether or not the processing of the case has been completed. For example, “raw” indicates that the case is patented or possibly possible. “Raw” is divided into “Raw (under management)” and “Raw (not under management)”, the former being managed by another company, and the latter being managed by itself. Represents. “End” indicates that there is no patent right for the case (including not only the finalization of the rejection but also the expiration of the lifetime).
“Progress” information includes, for example, “application”, “application publication”, “request for examination”, “substantive examination”, “rejection”, “patent”, “publication publication”, “pension”, etc. Contains progress information.

(3) Generation of related case progress table (step S43, FIG. 26, FIG. 27))
The related matter progress table is generated by the following procedure.
1) Expansion of basic information on related projects Expand basic information on related projects (family projects) on the left side of the related project progress table (insert application number, application date, etc.).

2) Determination of display status based on progress status information For example, based on progress data for each case, the cell in the corresponding column is changed to a specified color or mark (FIG. 27, yellow (displayed with hatching in FIG. 26)) And “(black) ☆” etc.). After that, the cell portion that has already passed in the country or institutional system of each project is changed to a designated color (FIG. 27, yellow (hatched display in FIG. 27)). That is, depending on whether the current progress status is “application”, “application publication”, “request for examination”, “substantive examination”, “rejection”, “patent”, “gazette issue”, or “pension”. Then, change to the specified color in the progress cell on the left side of the cell. However, if there is no system such as substantive examination under the Utility Model Law, the designated color will not change even on the left side.

(4) Display of related cases based on relevance (Step S14)
Based on the generated related case progress table, the display unit 112 displays the progress state of the related case.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 27, it is possible to display the progress status of the related matters. Since the status of each case is displayed, it is possible to immediately determine the handling method.

(Other embodiments)
Embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be expanded and modified. The expanded and modified embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, a patent application is taken as an example of an application, but the present invention can be applied to a utility model registration application, a design application, and a trademark application.
Such a change application between different jurisdictions may be included in the related application. As described above, as related applications, it is possible to include substantial applications having no legal relationship with each other in the related applications.

It is a block diagram showing the application information management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart showing an example of the outline | summary of the operation | movement procedure of the application information management system of FIG. It is an example of the button displayed on a display part by step S11 of FIG. It is a figure showing an example of the related case displayed on a display part. It is a figure showing the other example of the related case displayed on a display part. It is a figure showing the other example of the related case displayed on a display part. It is a flowchart showing the detail of step S12 of FIG. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the application matter file memorize | stored in application case DB. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a related matter file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a related matter file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a related matter file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a related matter file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a related matter file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a related matter file. It is a flowchart showing the detail of step S13 of FIG. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the display file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the display file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the display file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the display file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the display file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the display file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the display file. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the display file. It is a flowchart showing an example of the outline | summary of the operation | movement procedure of an application information management system. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the application matter file memorize | stored in application case DB. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a related matter progress table. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a related matter progress table.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Application information management system, 100a ... Application information management system, 110 ... Client part, 111 ... Input part, 112 ... Display part, 113 ... Data transmission part, 114 ... Data reception part, 120 ... Server part, 121 ... Case search , 122 ... related matter file generation unit, 123 ... display screen generation unit, 124 ... data transmission unit, 125 ... data reception unit, 126 ... application case DB, 130 ... network

Claims (8)

An application case storage unit for storing first case identification information for identifying a first application case and second case identification information for identifying a second application case related to the first application case;
A case selection unit for selecting an application case stored in the application case storage unit;
From the application matter storage unit, a related matter extraction unit that extracts a related matter that is directly or indirectly related to the selected application matter;
A relevance calculating unit that calculates relevance of the extracted related case with respect to the selected application case;
A display determination unit that determines display of the extracted related matters according to the calculated degree of association and a predetermined display setting;
An application information management system comprising: The application case storage unit further stores destination identification information for identifying whether the first application case is a procedure for a country or an international organization,
If the extracted related matter is a procedure to the country, arrange this application matter in parallel.
The application information management system according to claim 1, wherein: The application case storage unit further stores destination identification information for identifying whether the first application case is a procedure for a country or an international organization,
The extracted related cases are the first international application case to the first international organization, the application case to the first country based on the first international application case, and the first international application case. Including a second international application case to the second international organization based on and an application case to the second country based on the second international application case,
In accordance with the display setting, the display determination unit arranges either the second international application case and the second country application case, and the first country application case in parallel.
The application information management system according to claim 1, wherein: The first application case is one of a priority claim application, a continuation application, a change application, and a divisional application of the second application case,
The application information management system according to claim 1, wherein: Based on the fact that the selected case corresponds to either the first application case or the second application case, the related case extraction unit extracts a related case that is directly related to the selected application case. The application information management system according to claim 1, wherein: The application case storage unit further stores third case identification information for identifying a third application case, and fourth case identification information for identifying a fourth application case related to the third application case. And
The selected case corresponds to either one of the first application case or the second application case, and this one application case is either the third application case or the fourth application case. 2. The application information management system according to claim 1, wherein the related item extraction unit extracts a related item indirectly related to the selected application item based on correspondence to the item. The first case identification information for identifying the first application case and the second case identification information for identifying the second application case related to the first application case are stored in the application case storage unit. Selecting an application case to be
Extracting a related matter directly or indirectly related to the selected application matter from the application matter storage unit;
Calculating a degree of relevance of the extracted related case with respect to the selected application case;
Determining the display of the extracted related matters according to the calculated degree of association and a predetermined display setting;
An application information management method comprising: The first case identification information for identifying the first application case and the second case identification information for identifying the second application case related to the first application case are stored in the application case storage unit. Selecting an application case to be
Extracting a related matter directly or indirectly related to the selected application matter from the application matter storage unit;
Calculating a degree of relevance of the extracted related case with respect to the selected application case;
Determining the display of the extracted related matters according to the calculated degree of association and a predetermined display setting;
Application information management program for causing a computer to execute the program.

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