JP2008123144A - Patent management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a patent management system for performing the unitary management of the calculation to payment of reward money. <P>SOLUTION: This patent management system 1 is composed of: an inventor information table 21 for managing an invention by associating an inventor who has achieved invention and the degree of contribution with it; a reward money calculation function 50 for calculating temporary reward money or result reward money calculated from an income such as a license fee or benefit for every inventor; and a reward money content notification function 60 for notifying the inventor of the sum of the reward money; an approval function 61 for making the inventor who has received this notification input the presence/absence of approval for the reward money; and a reward money payment function 70 for acquiring the transfer destination (bank account) of the inventor who has approved the reward money by the approval function 61, and for executing the payment processing of the reward money to the transfer destination cooperatively with a task system 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a patent management system capable of managing a reward for an invention.

  A patent management system for companies has been developed for managing the inventions made by employees in the intellectual property department (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Such a patent management system not only manages the application and examination status, but also incorporates a database function for managing the payment results of the invention bounty to the inventor.

JP-A-11-134388

  However, in the conventional patent management system, the calculation of the invention bounty, the contact to the inventor, the acquisition of the bank account for payment, the payment of the bounty are performed by a procedure different from the management of the invention. It remains in the function of inputting and managing these results into the system. Therefore, first of all, these series of operations have many processes, and the number of exchanges between the inventor and the intellectual property department is large, which takes time and effort, and there is a possibility that mistakes may occur between these exchanges. There is a problem that it is expensive. In addition, with the amendment of the Patent Law, it is desirable to listen to the incentives from the inventor in advance for the bounty, and these procedures may increase further. Secondly, in the payment process of rewards, it is necessary to handle personal information such as a bank account, and personal information may be lost or leaked due to exchange of bank account information on a paper basis or the like. Thirdly, there are a wide variety of data to be managed, such as invention item information, inventor information, reward amount, whether or not there is payment, and these are added sequentially as the work progresses, making management difficult. There is a problem. In addition, when these pieces of information are not centrally managed, considerable time is required for checking and counting.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a patent management system that centrally manages from calculation of a reward to payment.

  In order to solve the above problems, the patent management system according to the present invention manages the invention in association with the inventor who made the invention and its contribution (for example, the inventor information table 21 in the embodiment). ) And reward amount calculation means for calculating the actual rewards calculated from the income and profits obtained from the invention, such as temporary rewards or royalties for this invention (for example, the reward calculation function 50 in the embodiment) And a reward amount notification means for notifying the inventor of the amount of the reward (for example, the reward content notification function 60 in the embodiment), and the inventor who has received the notification inputs whether or not to accept the reward. Acknowledgment processing means (for example, consent function 61 in the embodiment) and the transfer destination of the inventor who accepted the bounty by the approval processing means are acquired, and the transfer destination is obtained. Incentive payment instrument to pay processing Shokin (e.g., reward payment function 70 in the embodiment) configured to have a.

  In such a patent management system according to the present invention, the reward payment means is linked to an external system (for example, the business system 6 in the embodiment that manages employee transfer destination data in payment business such as salary). It is preferable to acquire the inventor's bank account. Further, it is preferable that the bounty payment means performs the bounty payment process for the above-mentioned transfer destination by linking with an external system (for example, the accounting system 7 in the embodiment for performing the accounting process of the company). .

  Further, it is preferable that the reward amount notification means is configured to notify the amount of the reward and the basis for calculation (for example, contribution of the invention, actual income or profit in the actual reward, etc.) by e-mail. The e-mail preferably contains information for starting the consent processing means.

  If the patent management system according to the present invention is configured as described above, a series of operations from the calculation of the reward to the payment can be performed in this patent management system. Payment omissions, account mistakes, loss / leakage of account information, etc. can be prevented.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the configuration of the patent management system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This patent management system 1 is composed of a server 2, an administrator terminal 3 used by a patent department, and an inventor terminal 4 used by an inventor, and these are connected by a network 5 comprising, for example, an in-house LAN. Yes. The patent management system 1 is configured to be linked to the business system 6 in order to obtain the inventor's bank account, and to be linked to the accounting system 7 in order to pay a reward to the inventor.

  The server 2 includes a patent management function 8 for managing an invention made by an employee, information on a license agreement when a license agreement is concluded with another company using the registered patent invention, or when the license agreement is used within the company. A license management function 9 for managing the incentive, a reward management function 10 for managing a reward for the inventor, and a database 20 for managing information related to the invention.

  The patent management function 8 is a function for managing information related to the invention made by the employee, and the information input here is stored in the inventor information table 21. The inventor information table 21 has the data structure shown in FIG. 2, and is an invention number column 210 that stores an invention number for specifying the invention, and an invention that stores information about the inventor who has made the invention. An inventor column 211 and a status column 212 in which the status of the invention is stored. The inventor column 211 further includes an inventor number column 211a in which an inventor number for identifying the inventor is stored and the inventor column 211a. A contribution column 211b that stores the contribution (ratio) of the inventor to the invention. In FIG. 2, only columns necessary for explaining the present invention are displayed. In addition, the inventor information table 21 includes an application date, an application number, a publication date, a publication number, Also, registration date, registration number, etc. are managed. In FIG. 2, up to three inventors are displayed for one invention (three inventor columns 211 are displayed), but the number of inventors is limited to three. There is no.

  The license management function 9 is, for example, a function for managing information related to a license when the company's patented invention is provided to another company. The information input here is stored in the target technology information table 22 and the royalty income table 23. Remembered. The target technology information table 22 includes a project number column 220 in which a project number for specifying a license is stored, and an invention column 221 for managing the invention provided in the license agreement. The invention column 221 further includes The invention number column 221a stores the invention number, and the distribution rate column 221b stores the distribution rate of the invention in the license agreement. Here, the number of inventions that can be managed in one project is not limited to two. The royalty fee table 23 includes a project number column 230 in which the project number is stored and an income column 231 in which the amount of revenue obtained from the license contract is stored. In addition, you may comprise this income amount column 231 with the amount of income for every year, for example.

  In the patent management system 1 according to the present embodiment, the bounty is managed by the bounty management function 10 according to the invention (the bounty for the application) managed by the above-described patent management function 8 and the license management function 9 Projects (rewards for royalty income, etc.) managed in The reward management function 10 will be described in detail below.

  In this embodiment, the reward management function 10 is configured to be activated and executed from the administrator terminal 3, and as shown in FIG. 5, the reward management screen 40 displayed on the administrator terminal 3 is displayed. Accordingly, the reward calculation function 50, the reward details notification function 60, and the reward payment function 70 are executed according to the operation of the operator of the manager terminal 3. Here, the reward management screen 40 calculates a reward by the reward calculation function 50 using the above-described inventor information table 21, the target technical information table 22, and the like, and invents an invention for each target person (inventor). The interface is configured to extract and display a list, and further execute a reward content notification function 60 and a reward payment function 70 for each invention selected from the list.

  First, the reward calculation function 50 will be described with reference to FIGS. The bounty calculation function 50 includes an actual bounty calculation function 51 that calculates an actual bounty for license revenue, and a temporary bounty calculation function 52 that calculates a temporary bounty for an application or the like.

  FIG. 6 shows a process for calculating a reward for actual revenue. When the administrator terminal 3 specifies a calculation period and the like, and the license reward calculation button is pressed, the server 2 performs an actual reward calculation function. 51 is started (step S100). The actual reward calculation function 51 distributes and calculates the actual revenue for each invention constituting the project from the royalty fee table 23 and the target technology information table 22, and calculates the actual reward based on the actual revenue. And it memorize | stores in the performance reward table 24 of the database 20 (step S101). As shown in FIG. 7, the actual reward table 24 stores a project number column 240 in which a project number is stored, an invention number column 241a in which an invention number constituting the project is stored, and an actual revenue amount. It comprises a reward column 241 for each invention comprising an actual revenue column 241b and an actual reward column 241c in which the actual reward amount is stored. For example, the project indicated by the project number “P0001” is composed of the invention of the invention number “J06001” and the invention of “J06002” with a distribution ratio of 70:30 as shown in the target technology table 22. Since the fee income is “10,000,000 yen” as shown in the fee income table 23, the income is calculated based on the distribution rate. Further, the actual reward amount is calculated based on the distribution-calculated income amount, and is stored in the actual reward amount table 24 as shown in FIG. The same applies to the project indicated by the project number “P0002”.

  Then, for each invention stored in the actual reward table 24, the inventor number and the degree of contribution are extracted from the inventor information table 21, and the incentive amount is determined based on the information using the inventor number and the inventor number as a key. It is calculated and stored in the reward individual details table 25 of the database 20 (step S102). This bounty individual detailed table 25 is a table for managing from the generation of the bounty to payment in the patent management system 1, and the data structure thereof is as shown in FIG. Number column 25b, reward type column 25c, rank column 25d, reward amount column 25e, calculation date column 25f, amount notification date column 25g, acceptance date column 25h, payment notification date column 25j, monthly fixed date column 25k, payment date column 25m and a linkage result column 25n. In the following description, the record of the individual reward detailed table 25 is referred to as “reward record”.

  For example, in the project “P0001” composed of two inventions with invention numbers “J060001” and “J060002”, the invention with “J060001” has the inventor numbers “T001”, “T002”, and “T003”. Since the invention of “J06002” was invented by the inventor of “T002”, the invention number and the inventor number were used as keys as shown in FIG. Each reward amount is calculated and a total of five reward records are stored. In this case, a “license” indicating a license award is stored in the award type column 25c, an amount obtained by distributing the actual award amount according to the contribution degree is stored in the award amount column 25e, and this date is calculated in the calculation date column 25f. The date on which the reward is calculated is stored.

  Temporary bounty paid when an employee's invention is submitted to the patent department, or when the invention is filed or registered, is entered in the invention evaluation screen 8a in the patent management function 8. This is calculated when the invention evaluation button is pressed on the administrator terminal 3, and as shown in FIG. 9, the temporary reward calculation function 52 is activated in the server 2 (step S110). At this time, the operator of the manager terminal 3 inputs the rank of the invention for each invention. Here, the rank is evaluated in the intellectual property department or the like based on the degree of contribution to the business and the like expected from the present invention in the future. As shown in FIG. 10, the amount of the temporary reward is stored in advance in the reward specified amount table 26 of the database 20, and the state of the invention (whether it has been filed or has been registered after patent assessment). ) It is preset according to 26a and rank 26b.

  When the temporary reward calculation function 52 is activated in step S110, the inventor of the invention selected by the operator, the degree of contribution, and the current state are read from the inventor information table 21, and the determined rank and state are determined. Then, the reward is determined by using the reward prescribed amount table 26, and as shown in FIG. 10 (b), the invention number and the inventor number are used as a key, and the reward individual record in the reward individual table 25 is provided. Stored (step S111). In this case, when there are a plurality of inventors in one invention, the reward is distributed according to each contribution. The reward type column 25c stores the current situation, and the rank column 25d stores the selected rank.

  Next, a reward content notification function 60 for notifying the inventor of the reward determined as described above and the calculation basis thereof (for example, the contribution of the invention and the actual income and profit in the actual reward) is shown in FIG. This will be described with reference to FIG. In the reward management screen 40 displayed on the administrator terminal 3, for example, a list of rewards to be paid to the inventor (that is, a list of reward records) using the inventor number as a key is a reward individual. It is read from the separate detailed table 25 and displayed using the invention number as a key. On the reward management screen 40, when the operator selects any invention and presses the mail notification button, the reward content notification function 60 is activated in the server 2 (step S200). Then, the amount of the bounty is read from the bounty individual detail table 25, and the contribution and inventor number are read from the inventor information table 21 to notify the contents of the bounty. A mail text is created, and as shown in FIG. 12 (a), this is displayed in the amount notification date column 25g of the bounty record of the bounty individual detail table 25 specified by the corresponding invention number and inventor number. The date when the mail is created is stored (step S201).

  Then, the e-mail address of the inventor who invented the invention is read from the inventor personal information table 27 of the database 20, and the e-mail text is sent to the address as the reward content confirmation notice 11 (step S202). Here, as shown in FIG. 13, the inventor personal information table 27 has an inventor number column 27a in which an inventor number is stored, and a mail address column 27b in which the inventor's mail address is stored. ing. At this time, the inventor personal information table 27 may be stored and managed in addition to the affiliation and telephone number of the inventor. When a plurality of inventions are selected on the reward management screen 40, the process returns to step S201, and the above processes S201 and S202 are repeated for each invention.

  In the bounty content confirmation notification 11, information for activating the consent function 61 that constitutes the bounty content notification function 60 (for example, a URL for starting the consent function 61 from the inventor terminal 4) is described. When the inventor who has received the reward content confirmation notice 11 at the inventor terminal 4 selects the acceptance function 61 (for example, clicks on the above URL), the incentive terminal 4 displays the individual reward details screen 41. When the inventor presses the consent button on the screen 41, as shown in FIG. 12 (b), the consent function 61 in the server 2 displays the acceptance date in the acceptance date column 25h of the bounty individual detail table 25. Is set (step S203).

  Finally, a reward payment function 70 for paying the incentive approved by the inventor as described above to the inventor will be described with reference to FIGS. On the reward management screen 40 displayed on the administrator terminal 3, for example, the approved reward record can be displayed in a list using the inventor as a key. In this reward management screen 40, when a payment date is set by specifying a reward record and then a monthly confirmation button is pressed, the reward payment function 70 is activated in the server 2 (step S300). The bounty payment function 70 first determines whether the invention corresponding to the selected bounty record is invented by a plurality of inventors. If there are a plurality of inventors, all inventors are determined. Is approved (step S301). If all the inventors have not accepted, the process is terminated, and if it has been accepted, a payment process is performed.

  As the payment process, first, the amount of the reward is read from the individual reward detail table 25, and the mail for notifying the payment of the reward by reading the contribution and inventor number from the inventor information table 21. The main text is created as a bounty transfer notice, and as shown in FIG. 16, a notice date is displayed in the payment notice date column 25j of the bounty record specified by the invention number and inventor number in the bounty individual detail table 25. Is set (step S302). Then, the e-mail address is read out from the inventor personal information table 27, and a bounty transfer notice that is the e-mail body is transmitted to the address (step S303). Further, as shown in FIG. 16, the current date is set in the monthly fixed date column 25k of the corresponding reward record of the reward individual individual detail table 25, and the reward management screen 40 is displayed in the payment date column 25m. The payment date input by the operator is set (step S304). In the reward management screen 40, a plurality of reward records can be selected. In this case, the above steps S302 to S304 are repeatedly executed for all the reward records.

  In this way, when the payment date is set, the server 2 starts the target person extraction function 71 by, for example, a night batch, and the reward set in the monthly fixed date column 25k is the previous day. The gold record is extracted, the inventor number set in the record is taken out, it is confirmed whether the inventor number is registered in the inventor information 21, and the inventor number is shown in FIG. Then, it writes out to the linkage file 30 (step 310).

  Next, in the server 2, the payment processing function 72 is activated by nighttime batch etc., the inventor number is read from the linkage file 30, and the payee's payee data is managed by payment such as salary using the inventor number as a key. The account number and the katakana name are extracted from the account information 80 of the business system 6, and the result is displayed in the associated result column 25n of the corresponding reward record in the reward individual details table 25 as shown in FIG. If it is read, “OK” is set, and if it fails, “NG” is set (step S320). Then, the account number and the katakana name read from the business system 6 are written in the expense payee master 31 shown in FIG. 19A (step S321), and the invention number and inventor are further drawn from the bounty individual detail table 25. The number, payment amount, payment date, etc. are read out and written in the expense sub-table 32 shown in FIG. 19B (step 322), and these files 31, 32 are transferred to the accounting system 7 for accounting of the company and paid. The process is completed (step S323).

  According to such a patent management system 1, it is possible to automatically calculate the amount of a reward by extracting the invention to be rewarded on the basis of the application and registration of the invention or the royalty income, etc. In addition, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of an invention that leaks from the target of the reward processing. In addition, the inventor who is the subject of the payment of the reward is notified by e-mail, and further, a confirmation screen is activated from this e-mail so that the approval / disapproval of the inventor is input. The consent of the inventor can be obtained with certainty. At this time, the payment account for the bounty is automatically set in conjunction with the business system 6 and the payment process is linked to the accounting system 7, thereby reducing the work of the operator and The loss or leakage of personal information can be prevented. That is, since a series of operations from the calculation of the bounty to the payment can be performed in the patent management system 1, the labor of the work is reduced, and the payment of the bounty is missed, the account is incorrect, and the account information is lost or leaked. Etc. can be prevented.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the patent management system which concerns on this invention. It is a data structure figure which shows the structure of an inventor information table. It is a data structure figure which shows the structure of an object technical information table. It is a data structure figure which shows the structure of a royalty fee amount table. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of a reward management function. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the reward calculation function with respect to a performance reward. It is a data structure figure which shows the structure of a performance reward table. It is a data structure figure which shows the structure of the detailed table according to individual reward money, (a) is the state where the actual reward amount was set, (b) is the state where the temporary reward amount was set. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the bounty calculation function with respect to a temporary bounty. It is a data structure figure which shows the structure of a reward money regulation amount table. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a bounty content notification function. It is explanatory drawing which shows the content set to a bounty individual detailed table by a bounty content notification function, (a) is the state where the amount notification date was set, (b) is the state where the acceptance date was set It is. It is a data structure figure which shows the structure of an inventor personal information table. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a reward payment function and a subject extraction function. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a payment process function. It is explanatory drawing which shows the content set to the bounty individual detailed table by a bounty payment function. It is a data structure figure which shows the structure of the linkage file output by a subject extraction function. It is explanatory drawing which shows the content set to the bounty individual detailed table by a bounty payment function. It is a data structure figure which shows the structure of the file output by a payment processing function, (a) shows an expense payee master, (b) shows an expense subtable.

Explanation of symbols

1 Patent management system 6 Business system (external system)
7 Accounting system (external system)
21 Inventor Information Table (Invention Management Means)
50 Bounty calculation function (Bonus calculation method)
60 Bounty content notification function (Bonus amount notification means)
61 Consent function (consent processing means)
70 bounty payment function (transfer destination acquisition means)
72 Payment processing function (Bonus payment method)

Claims (5)

Invention management means for managing the invention in association with the inventor who made the invention and its contribution,
Remuneration amount calculation means for calculating the actual rewards calculated from the income and profits obtained from the invention such as temporary rewards or implementation fees for the invention for each inventor;
Reward amount notification means for notifying the inventor of the amount of the reward,
The inventor who has received the notification inputs an approval processing means for inputting whether or not the bounty is approved,
A patent management system comprising: a reward payment means for acquiring a transfer destination of the inventor who has approved the reward by the approval processing means, and performing payment processing of the reward to the transfer destination.   The patent management system according to claim 1, wherein the reward payment unit acquires the transfer destination of the inventor by linking with an external system.   The patent management system according to claim 1, wherein the reward payment unit performs payment processing of the reward to the transfer destination in cooperation with an external system.   The patent management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the reward amount notification unit is configured to notify the amount of the reward and a calculation basis by an e-mail.   The patent management system according to claim 4, wherein the electronic mail includes information for starting the consent processing unit.

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