JP7166700B1 - Information processing method, information processing system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

An information processing method, an information processing system, and a program capable of automating at least part of the operation of application software for submitting documents to the Patent Office are provided. Kind Code: A1 According to one aspect of the present invention, an information processing method executed by an information processing system is provided. This information processing method includes a receiving step, an obtaining step, and an operating step. The accepting step accepts a specification of a file to be processed. In the obtaining step, a screen provided by the application software is obtained as an image. The application software performs online procedures with the Patent Office. In the operation step, the operating state of the application software is determined based on the image, and the application software is operated according to the result of the determination and a predetermined procedure for each file type. [Selection drawing] Fig. 1

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing method, an information processing system and a program.

Submission of documents such as patent applications to patent offices is usually done online using application software called Internet filing. This application software is basically operated by the applicant or the patent attorney acting as his/her agent. etc. may be entrusted with the operation. In that case, after the patent attorney prepares and corrects the documents to be submitted, the paralegal returns the results entered into the Internet application software to the patent attorney, and makes corrections as necessary. Note that there are various techniques for assisting the preparation of documents to be submitted (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 6914491

By the way, when confirming the documents to be submitted, printed matter and files output from the application software via the printer driver may be exchanged. Printed matter, files, and the like output from application software via a printer driver are often saved as records, and these operations are often unavoidable.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides an information processing method, an information processing system, and a program capable of automating at least part of the operation of application software for submitting documents to the Patent Office.

According to one aspect of the present invention, an information processing method executed by an information processing system is provided. This information processing method includes a receiving step, an obtaining step, and an operating step. The accepting step accepts a specification of a file to be processed. In the obtaining step, a screen provided by the application software is obtained as an image. The application software performs online procedures with the Patent Office. In the operation step, the operating state of the application software is determined based on the image, and the application software is operated according to the result of the determination and a predetermined procedure for each file type.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it becomes possible for applicants or patent attorneys to easily submit submission documents to the Patent Office.

1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information processing device 1; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the information processing device 1; FIG. FIG. 10 is an activity diagram showing the flow of operations when creating a transmission file; FIG. 10 is an activity diagram showing the flow of operations when creating a transmission file; It is the figure which showed the example of the screen of an Internet application. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a storage example of files to be processed; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a storage example of files to be processed; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a storage example of files to be processed; FIG. 10 is an activity diagram showing the flow of operations when submitting a transmission file; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission file; FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a file specification request screen; It is the figure which showed the example of a warning screen.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. Various features shown in the embodiments shown below can be combined with each other.

By the way, the program for realizing the software appearing in this embodiment may be provided as a non-transitory computer-readable medium (Non-Transitory Computer-Readable Medium), or may be downloaded from an external server. It may be provided as possible, or may be provided so that the program is activated on an external computer and the function is realized on the client terminal (so-called cloud computing).

Further, in the present embodiment, the term “unit” may include, for example, a combination of hardware resources implemented by circuits in a broad sense and software information processing that can be specifically realized by these hardware resources. . In addition, various information is handled in the present embodiment, and these information are, for example, physical values of signal values representing voltage and current, and signal values as binary bit aggregates composed of 0 or 1. It is represented by high and low, or quantum superposition (so-called quantum bit), and communication and operation can be performed on a circuit in a broad sense.

A circuit in a broad sense is a circuit implemented by appropriately combining at least circuits, circuits, processors, memories, and the like. Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (e.g., Simple Programmable Logic Devices (SPLDs), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), and field It includes a programmable gate array (Field Programmable Gate Array: FPGA).

1. Configuration of Information Processing Apparatus FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an information processing apparatus 1 . As shown in the figure, the information processing apparatus 1 has a processing section 11, a storage section 12, a temporary storage section 13, an external device connection section 14, and a communication section 15, and these constituent elements are are electrically connected via a communication bus 16 inside the information processing apparatus 1 .

The processing unit 11 is implemented by, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), operates according to a predetermined program stored in the storage unit 12, and implements various functions.

The storage unit 12 is a non-volatile storage medium that stores various information. This is realized by a storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD). Note that the storage unit 12 can be arranged in another device that can communicate with the information processing device 1 .

Temporary storage unit 13 is a volatile storage medium. This is implemented by a memory such as a random access memory (RAM), for example, and stores information (arguments, arrays, etc.) temporarily required when the processing unit 11 operates.

The external device connection unit 14 is, for example, a connection unit that conforms to a standard such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) or a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI (registered trademark)). An input device and a display device such as a monitor can be connected.

The communication unit 15 is, for example, communication means conforming to a local area network (LAN) standard, and realizes communication between the information processing apparatus 1 and a local area network or a network such as the Internet via the local area network. .

For the information processing apparatus 1, a general-purpose server computer, a personal computer, or the like can be used, and the information processing apparatus 1 can be configured using a plurality of computers.

2. Functions of Information Processing Apparatus 1 Next, functions of the information processing apparatus 1 will be described. The information processing apparatus 1 constitutes an information processing system, and operates according to a program to realize each functional unit described later. This program causes at least one computer to execute each step of an information processing method to be described later. Specifically, the processing unit 11, which is hardware, operates based on a program stored in the storage unit 12, that is, software, thereby realizing each functional unit described later. At this time, the processing unit 11 operates the storage unit 12, the temporary storage unit 13, the external device connection unit 14, and the communication unit 15 as necessary.

By the way, the information processing system described here is an information processing system comprising at least one device. Here, an information processing system including the information processing device 1 as at least one device will be described as an example. This information processing system includes at least one processor capable of executing a program so that each section described later is performed. This processor corresponds to the processing unit 11, for example.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the information processing device 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the information processing apparatus 1 includes a control unit 100. The control unit 100 includes a presentation unit 101, a reception unit 102, an activation unit 103, an acquisition unit 104, an operation unit 105, and a Each functional unit including the unit 106 is provided. The presentation unit 101, reception unit 102, activation unit 103, acquisition unit 104, operation unit 105, and combination unit 106 respectively execute a presentation step, reception step, activation step, acquisition step, operation step, and combination step, which will be described later.

4. Operation 1 of information processing device 1
Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 1 will be described. First, the operation when creating a transmission file of documents to be submitted such as an application will be described. 3 and 4 are activity diagrams showing the flow of operations when creating a transmission file.

When the information processing apparatus 1 starts to operate, the presentation unit 101 presents a dialog or the like for accepting file designation as a presentation step (A101). This dialog is provided by the operating system and allows specification of a file or a folder in which the file is stored. Then, when the user designates a file or folder through this dialog, the reception unit 102 receives designation of a file to be processed as a reception step (A102). Note that in the receiving step, by receiving the designation of a folder, the designation of one or a plurality of files to be processed included in the folder is received.

Next, the activation unit 103 activates the Internet application (A103). An Internet application is application software that performs online procedures with the patent office. At this time, the activation unit 103 may activate the Internet application as a sub-process. In addition, it is desirable that the activation unit 103 rewrites the Internet application registry key so that the screen is maximized at the time of activation, and that the transmission file of the application tab is initially opened. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an Internet application screen. A tab object 35, which is an application tab, is arranged on the screen 30 shown in FIG. Sometimes it reads the registry key and determines the initial screen according to its settings.

Subsequently, as an acquisition step, the acquisition unit 104 acquires the screen provided by the application software as an image. Then, as an operation step, the operation unit 105 determines the operation state of the application software based on the image acquired in the acquisition step, and according to the result of the determination and a predetermined procedure for each file type, the application is executed. operate the software; Specifically, in the operation step, template matching is performed between the image acquired in the acquisition step and a plurality of images prepared in advance, an object placed on the screen is identified, and the coordinates of the object are determined. Acquire and perform mouse operation and key input. Therefore, the operation step includes specifying the coordinates of a predetermined object from the image, moving the mouse cursor to the specified coordinates, and moving the mouse cursor, pressing the mouse button, and pressing the keyboard key. You will perform operations that include at least one. It should be noted that the predetermined procedure may be managed in a lookup table or the like stored in the storage unit 12 .

When the application software is started, it first provides a personal authentication screen. In the operation step, when the application software provides the personal authentication screen, authentication information is entered based on the file to be processed. The file to be processed contains information on the applicant or agent who will carry out the procedure, such as a patent application or a written amendment. Based on this information, select the identification number from the personal authentication screen and enter the PIN. do. The PIN can be encrypted and stored in the storage unit 12, and can be decrypted and used. It should be noted that the file name of the file to be processed may be given in accordance with a predetermined rule, and the applicant or agent who performs the procedure may be identified from the file name of the file to be processed.

When the personal authentication is completed, the operation unit 105, as an operation step, if the file to be processed is one file containing the submitted document and the document to be submitted together with the submitted document, the document input of the application software. The object is pressed with the mouse or the key corresponding to the document input object is pressed (A105), the information of the file to be processed is entered in the dialog provided as a result (A106), and the specified completion object is pressed with the mouse or A key corresponding to the document input object is pressed (A107) to create a transmission file. The text input object corresponds to the object 32 shown in FIG. is the same input as In addition, one file containing the documents to be submitted together with the documents to be submitted is, for example, a folder containing "application documents.html" shown in FIG. It includes patent applications, claims, specifications, drawings, and abstracts. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a folder containing "procedural amendment.html" and "opinion.html" in a folder also corresponds to one file containing the documents to be submitted together with the documents to be submitted.

In the operation step, when the transmission file is created, the input check result is output (A108). This output may be saved as an HTML file, or may be output in a print format such as PDF. When outputting the input check results, the input check results are rearranged based on the input date and input time, and the latest ones are output.

In addition, in the operation step, as shown in FIG. 7, if the folder contains "procedural amendment.html" and "opinion.html", the same processing is performed on both of them.

On the other hand, if the files to be processed are a plurality of files including a document to be submitted and a document to be submitted together with the document to be submitted as a document to be submitted, the operation step includes pressing a synthetic input object of the application software with the mouse or pressing the synthetic input object of the application software. The key corresponding to the object is pressed (A109), the information of the file to be processed is entered in the dialog provided as a result (A110), and the specified completion object is pressed with the mouse or the key corresponding to the document input object is pressed. Press it (A111) to create a transmission file. The synthesized input object corresponds to the object 33 shown in FIG. is the same input as Also, the plurality of files containing the documents to be submitted and the documents to be submitted together with the documents to be submitted are, for example, "patent request.html" and "claims.html" as shown in FIG. , “Description.html”, “Drawing.html”, and “Abstract.html” are included in the folder.

In the operation step, when the transmission file is created, the input check result is output (A112). This output may be saved as an HTML file, or may be output in a print format such as PDF. When outputting the input check results, the input check results are rearranged based on the input date and input time, and the latest ones are output.

In addition, in the case of operation without using a plurality of files including documents to be submitted and documents to be submitted together with the documents to be submitted, the operation steps can be configured so that the processes from A109 to A112 are not performed. .

After outputting the input check result, in the operation step, a printer driver for outputting the print result as a file is selected and the transmission file is output as a file. Specifically, in the operation step, the transmission files are rearranged based on the input date and input time, and the created transmission files are selected according to the number of the created transmission files in order of newest (A113). The indicated object 34 is pressed (A114). Then, an object indicating "execute" (not shown) is pressed (A115), and a printer driver is selected from a dialog provided by the operating system (A116). It is desirable that the printer driver to be selected creates a print format file such as PDF. When the printer driver is selected, in the operation step, an object indicating "OK" is pressed (A117) and a file name is entered (A118). It is desirable that the file name to be input includes a serial number, but any name that can be sorted alphabetically may be used. File name input is performed for each print format file to be created. That is, in the operation step, when there are multiple files to be processed corresponding to documents that can be submitted independently in the folder, multiple transmission files corresponding to each of the files to be processed are created, and the print result is output as a file. Select a printer driver to output each file to be sent.

Subsequently, as a combining step, the combining unit 106 combines the plurality of files output by the printer driver in a predetermined order. The predetermined order is the sort order based on the file names input in A118. For example, the transmission file of the patent application is output in the order of the patent application, the specification, the scope of claims, the abstract, and the drawings. pdf”, “5.pdf”, and “4.pdf”, the combining step will combine the patent application, the scope of claims, the specification, the drawings, and the abstract in that order. You can get one PDF file.

5. Operation 2 of information processing device 1
Next, the operation at the time of submitting a transmission file of documents to be submitted such as an application (online application) will be described. FIG. 9 is an activity diagram showing the flow of operations when submitting a transmission file.

When the information processing apparatus 1 starts operating, the activation unit 103 activates the Internet application (A201). This activation is performed in the same way as when creating a transmission file. When the application software is started, it first provides a user authentication screen. In the operation step, when the application software provides the user authentication screen, authentication information is entered (A202). At this time, if it is necessary to select an operator, the file to be processed is selected before starting the application software, and the authentication information is input based on the file to be processed, as in the case of creating the transmission file. Note that the file to be processed here is used only for specifying the operator, so it may be one that has been used in the past or is incomplete.

When the personal authentication is completed, the operation unit 105 confirms the transmission file created by the application software as a presentation step (A203), and makes the transmission file created by the confirmed application software selectable as a file designation request. Present. At this time, in the presenting step, when a plurality of transmission files to be simultaneously submitted are stored in the folder storing the transmission files, the plurality of transmission files to be simultaneously submitted are presented in a visually recognizable and simultaneously selectable manner. . For example, if the files to be sent created by the application software are a patent application, a request for appeal, a written amendment, and a written argument as shown in FIG. A radio button 41, a radio button 42, a check box 43, a radio button 44, and a radio button 45 are arranged as shown in the screen 40 shown. Any one of radio button 41, radio button 42, radio button 44, and radio button 45 can be selected, and check box 43 can be checked only when radio button 42 is selected. The transmission file presented on the screen 40 is stored in a predetermined folder, and the information of the transmission file is included in the file name. , can present selectable transmission files.

On the screen 40, for example, when the radio button 41 is turned on, the patent application with reference number 1234567890 can be selected, and when the radio button 42 is turned on, the appeal document with reference number IPX1234 can be selected. . At this time, if the check box 43 is turned on, it is possible to select the Written Request for Appeal with the reference number IPX1234 and the Procedural Amendment with the reference number IPX1234. If only the Written Request for Appeal with reference number IPX1234 is selected, check box 43 is turned off, and if only the Written Amendment with reference number IPX1234 is selected, radio button 44 is turned on. Become.

By inputting to this screen 40, the receiving unit 102 receives, as a receiving step, a transmission file selected from the transmission files presented in the presentation step as a processing target file (A205). If there is a possibility that the file to be processed is insufficient when the transmission file is accepted as the file to be processed, the acceptance step may prompt the operator for confirmation using a screen as shown in FIG. good. In this example, the radio button 45 is turned on on the screen 40 and the written opinion with reference number 98765432 is selected as the file to be processed, and the necessity of the paired procedural amendment is confirmed.

When the specification of the transmission file is accepted as the file to be processed in the acceptance step, the operation unit 105 selects the specified transmission file as the operation step (A206), and then presses the object corresponding to the online application (A207). .

Thereafter, in the operation step, if the fee is to be paid by designated advance payment, various corresponding operations are performed (A208), and after submitting the documents, output processing of the accepted file is performed (A209). Since the output of the accepted file is performed in the same manner as the output of the transmission file when creating the transmission file, the explanation here is omitted. Then, in the operation step, the receipt is output (A210), and in the combining step, the combining unit 106 combines the accepted file and the output of the receipt, such as PDF (A211), and the process ends.

6. Others The information processing method described above is an information processing method executed by an information processing system, and includes a presentation step, a reception step, an acquisition step, an operation step, and a combination step.

The information processing device 1 may be in an on-premise form or in a cloud form. The cloud-type information processing apparatus 1 may provide the above functions and processes in the form of, for example, SaaS (Software as a Service) or cloud computing.

The predetermined procedure may be managed by a rule-based lookup table, or may be a learned model in which machine learning is performed in advance on the relationship between the type of procedure and the content of the preferred procedure.

The present invention may be provided in each aspect described below.

(1) An information processing method executed by an information processing system, comprising a receiving step, an obtaining step, and an operating step, wherein the receiving step receives designation of a file to be processed; acquires the screen provided by as an image, the application software performs online procedures with the Patent Office, and in the operation step, the operating state of the application software is determined based on the image, and the determination and an information processing method for operating the application software according to a predetermined procedure for each type of the file.

(2) In the information processing method described in (1) above, the operation step includes at least one of moving a mouse cursor, pressing a mouse button, and pressing a keyboard key.

(3) The information processing method according to (2) above, wherein the operating step includes identifying coordinates of a predetermined object from the image and moving a mouse cursor to the identified coordinates.

(4) In the information processing method according to any one of (1) to (3) above, in the receiving step, by receiving a designation of a folder, one or more of the processing target files contained in the folder An information processing method that accepts the specification of

(5) In the information processing method described in (4) above, in the operation step, the file to be processed is one file including a document to be submitted and a document to be submitted together with the document to be submitted. 7. An information processing method for creating a transmission file by pressing a document input object of the application software with a mouse or pressing a key corresponding to the document input object.

(6) In the information processing method described in (4) above, in the operation step, the file to be processed is a plurality of files including a document to be submitted and a document to be submitted together with the document to be submitted. 7. An information processing method for creating a transmission file by pressing a synthetic input object of the application software with a mouse or by pressing a key corresponding to the synthetic input object.

(7) The information processing method according to (5) or (6) above, further comprising a linking step, wherein the operating step selects a printer driver for outputting a print result as a file, outputs the transmission file, and The information processing method wherein, in the combining step, the plurality of files output by the printer driver are combined in a predetermined order.

(8) In the information processing method described in (4) above, the combining step is provided, and in the operation step, when a plurality of files to be processed corresponding to documents that can be submitted independently exist in the folder, the processing is performed. creating a plurality of transmission files corresponding to each of the target files, selecting a printer driver for outputting the print results to a file, outputting each of the transmission files as a file, and combining the plurality of transmission files output by the printer driver; files are combined in a predetermined order.

(9) The information processing method described in (1) above includes a presentation step, wherein the transmission file created by the application software is presented in a selectable manner, and the receiving step comprises the presentation step. An information processing method for accepting a transmission file selected from the transmission files presented in 1. as the processing target file.

(10) In the information processing method described in (9) above, in the presenting step, when a plurality of transmission files to be simultaneously submitted are stored in a folder storing the transmission files, the plurality of transmission files to be simultaneously submitted are An information processing method for presenting transmission files in a visually recognizable and simultaneously selectable manner.

(11) In the information processing method described in (1) above, in the operation step, when the application software provides a personal authentication screen, the information processing method inputs authentication information based on the file to be processed.

(12) An information processing system comprising at least one device, comprising at least one processor capable of executing a program to perform each step according to any one of (1) to (11) above. information processing system.

(13) A program that causes at least one computer to execute each step of the information processing method according to any one of (1) to (11) above.
Of course, this is not the only case.

Finally, while various embodiments of the invention have been described, these have been presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The novel embodiment can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The embodiment and its modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

1: information processing device 11: processing unit 12: storage unit 13: temporary storage unit 14: external device connection unit 15: communication unit 16: communication bus 30: screen 31: menu 32: object 33: object 34: object 35: tab Object 36 : Folder display field 40 : Screen 41 : Radio button 42 : Radio button 43 : Check box 44 : Radio button 45 : Radio button 100 : Control unit 101 : Presentation unit 102 : Reception unit 103 : Start unit 104 : Acquisition unit 105 : Operation unit 106 : Coupling unit

Claims (13)

An information processing method executed by an information processing system,
comprising a receiving step, an acquiring step, and an operating step,
In the receiving step, a designation of a file to be processed is received;
In the acquisition step, a screen provided by the application software is acquired as an image,
The application software performs online procedures with the Patent Office,
In the operation step, an object arranged on the screen is specified based on the image, and the specified object is operated according to a procedure corresponding to the file to be processed, thereby performing at least part of the operation of the application software. A method of information processing that runs automatically . In the information processing method according to claim 1,
The information processing method, wherein the operation step includes at least one of moving a mouse cursor, pressing a mouse button, and pressing a keyboard key. In the information processing method according to claim 2,
The information processing method, wherein the operating step includes specifying coordinates of a predetermined object from the image and moving a mouse cursor to the specified coordinates. In the information processing method according to claim 1,
The information processing method, wherein, in the accepting step, the specification of one or more files to be processed included in the folder is accepted by accepting the specification of the folder. In the information processing method according to claim 4,
In the operation step, if the file to be processed is one file containing a document to be submitted and a document to be submitted together with the document to be submitted, the document input object of the application software is pressed by the mouse or the document is An information processing method that creates a transmission file by pressing a key corresponding to an input object. In the information processing method according to claim 4,
In the operation step, if the files to be processed are a plurality of files including a document to be submitted and a document to be submitted together with the document to be submitted, a mouse is pressed on a composite input object of the application software or the composition is combined. An information processing method that creates a transmission file by pressing a key corresponding to an input object. In the information processing method according to claim 5,
comprising a binding step,
In the operation step, selecting a printer driver for outputting a print result to a file and outputting the transmission file as a file;
The information processing method, wherein in the combining step, the plurality of files output by the printer driver are combined in a predetermined order. In the information processing method according to claim 4,
comprising a binding step,
In the operation step, when there are a plurality of files to be processed corresponding to documents that can be submitted independently in the folder, a plurality of transmission files corresponding to the files to be processed are created, and a print result is output as a file. select a printer driver to output each of the transmission files as a file,
The information processing method, wherein in the combining step, the plurality of files output by the printer driver are combined in a predetermined order. In the information processing method according to claim 1,
comprising a presentation step,
the presenting step presents a transmission file created by the application software in a selectable manner;
The information processing method, wherein, in the accepting step, a transmission file selected from among the transmission files presented in the presenting step is accepted as the processing target file. In the information processing method according to claim 9,
In the presenting step, when a plurality of transmission files to be submitted simultaneously are stored in the folder storing the transmission files, the plurality of transmission files to be submitted simultaneously are presented in a visually recognizable and simultaneously selectable manner. Processing method. In the information processing method according to claim 1,
The information processing method, wherein, in the operation step, authentication information is input based on the file to be processed when the application software provides an identity authentication screen. An information processing system comprising at least one device,
An information processing system comprising at least one processor capable of executing a program such that the steps of any one of claims 1 to 11 are performed. a program,
A program that causes at least one computer to execute each step of the information processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

Images