JP7442896B1 - Programs, information processing systems and information processing methods - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a program, an information processing system, and a method that allow a user to output a draft file of claims, etc., including the claims without the need to write each claim number or an explanation regarding the cited sources. A program causes a computer to perform the following steps. In the reception step, the user's input on the input screen is received. The input includes descriptions of the contents of a plurality of claims and information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim. The description does not include claim numbers indicating the respective claim numbers or explanations regarding cited sources, and the input results are reflected on the input screen so that the hierarchical structure of the entire claim can be grasped. In the outputting step, when the user's operation on the first object is accepted, the scope of the claim and the claim including the claim number and the explanation regarding the cited source for each claim are generated based on the description and the hierarchical structure. Output a draft file of the scope of claims or the scope of claims for utility model registration. [Selection diagram] Figure 4

Description

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

Patent Document 1 discloses that the present invention relates to a claim analysis method and an apparatus thereof, and according to one embodiment, (a) a claim described in the patent document is defined as an independent claim. (b) classifying the above independent claim and the dependent claim into cited claims and cited claims of the above cited claim and analyzing the citation relationship; (c) based on the claim number and the citation relationship; The method may include the steps of: determining the coordinates of the independent claim and the dependent claim; and (d) arranging the claims according to the coordinates of the independent claim and the dependent claim determined in step (c). It is described that the claim analysis method according to the present invention allows the claims to be easily understood by structuring the claims in a hierarchical manner.

Special table 2019-537184 publication

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a more useful information processing system.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a program is provided. This program causes at least one computer to perform the following steps. In the reception step, the user's input on the input screen is received. The input includes descriptions of the contents of a plurality of claims and information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim. The description does not include a claim number indicating the item number of each claim or an explanation regarding the cited source, and the input result is reflected on the input screen so that the hierarchical structure of the entire claim can be understood. In the outputting step, when the user's operation on the first object is accepted, the scope of the claim includes a claim number and an explanation regarding the cited source for each claim based on the description and the hierarchical structure; Output a draft file of claims or claims for utility model registration.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a more useful information processing system and the like can be provided.

1 is a configuration diagram showing an information processing system 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a server 2. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the information processing device 3. FIG. 2 is an activity diagram showing an example of the flow of information processing executed by the information processing system 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an input screen. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another example of an input screen. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another example of an input screen. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another example of an input screen. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another example of an input screen.

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

By the way, the program for implementing the software appearing in this embodiment may be provided as a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, or may be downloaded from an external server. The program may be provided in a manner that allows the program to be started on an external computer and the function thereof is realized on the client terminal (so-called cloud computing).

Furthermore, in this 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 concretely implemented by these hardware resources. . In addition, various types of information are handled in this embodiment, and these information include, for example, the physical value of a signal value representing voltage and current, and the signal value as a binary bit collection consisting of 0 or 1. It is expressed by high and low levels or quantum superposition (so-called quantum bits), and communication and calculations can be performed on circuits in a broad sense.

Further, a circuit in a broad sense is a circuit realized by at least appropriately combining a circuit, a circuit, a processor, a memory, and the like. That is, Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), programmable logic device (for example, Simple Programmable Logic Device (SPLD)), Complex Programmable Logic Device (Complex Pr) ogrammable Logic Device: CPLD), and field This includes a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and the like.

1. Hardware configuration This section explains the hardware configuration.

<Information processing system 1>
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an information processing system 1. As shown in FIG. The information processing system 1 includes a server 2 and an information processing device 3. The server 2 and the information processing device 3 are configured to be able to communicate through a telecommunications line. The information processing system 1 consists of one or more devices or components. For example, if the information processing system 1 is composed of only the server 2, the information processing system 1 can be the server 2, and if it is composed of the information processing device 3, the information processing system 1 can be the information processing device 3. These components will be explained below.

<Server 2>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the server 2. As shown in FIG. The server 2 includes a communication section 21, a storage section 22, and a control section 23, and these components are electrically connected via a communication bus 20 inside the server 2. Each component will be further explained.

Although the communication unit 21 is preferably a wired communication means such as USB, IEEE1394, Thunderbolt (registered trademark), wired LAN network communication, etc., it is also suitable for wireless LAN network communication, mobile communication such as 3G/LTE/5G, and BLUETOOTH (registered trademark). Communication etc. may be included as necessary. That is, it is more preferable to implement it as a set of these plurality of communication means. That is, the server 2 may communicate various information from the outside via the communication unit 21 and the network.

The storage unit 22 stores various information defined by the above description. This may be used, for example, as a storage device such as a solid state drive (SSD) that stores various programs related to the server 2 executed by the control unit 23, or as a temporary storage device related to program calculations. It can be implemented as a memory such as a random access memory (RAM) that stores information (arguments, arrays, etc.). The storage unit 22 stores various programs and variables related to the server 2 executed by the control unit 23 .

The control unit 23 processes and controls the overall operation related to the server 2. The control unit 23 is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) not shown. The control unit 23 implements various functions related to the server 2 by reading predetermined programs stored in the storage unit 22. That is, information processing by software stored in the storage unit 22 is specifically implemented by the control unit 23, which is an example of hardware, so that each step related to each function described below can be executed. These will be explained in more detail in the next section. Note that the control section 23 is not limited to a single control section, and may be implemented so as to have a plurality of control sections 23 for each function. It may also be a combination thereof.

<Information processing device 3>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the information processing device 3. As shown in FIG. The information processing device 3 includes a communication section 31 , a storage section 32 , a control section 33 , a display section 34 , and an input section 35 , and these components are connected inside the information processing device 3 via a communication bus 30 . electrically connected. Descriptions of the communication unit 31, storage unit 32, and control unit 33 are the same as those of each unit in the server 2, and will therefore be omitted.

The display unit 34 may be included in the housing of the information processing device 3 or may be attached externally. The display unit 34 displays a graphical user interface (GUI) screen that can be operated by the user. This is preferably implemented by using display devices such as a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and a plasma display depending on the type of information processing device 3, for example.

The input unit 35 may be included in the casing of the information processing device 3 or may be externally attached. For example, the input section 35 may be integrated with the display section 34 and implemented as a touch panel. With a touch panel, the user can input tap operations, swipe operations, and the like. Of course, a switch button, a mouse, a QWERTY keyboard, etc. may be used instead of the touch panel. That is, the input unit 35 accepts the operation input made by the user. The input is transferred as a command signal to the control unit 33 via the communication bus 30, and the control unit 33 can perform predetermined control or calculation as necessary.

2. Functional Configuration of Server 2 The control unit 23 is configured to execute a reception step, an output step, a specification step, a management step, a change step, and a display control step. The identification step, management step, change step, and display control step may be omitted.

The reception step is a step of accepting user input on the input screen. Details will be described later.

The output step includes, when the user's operation on the first object is accepted, a claim including a claim number and an explanation regarding the cited source for each claim based on the description and the hierarchical structure; This is a step of outputting a draft file of claims or claims for utility model registration. Details will be described later.

In the hierarchical structure, the specifying step is a claim that is located before the first claim and that is one of the second claims that is one level higher than the first claim that has a cited claim in the hierarchical structure. This is a step of identifying a specific claim that is closest to the first claim. Details will be described later.

The management step manages the category information of each claim, and if the claim is a dependent claim with a cited party and the description does not include category information, the dependent claim is directly or indirectly This is a step of managing the category information of the independent claim cited in the dependent claim as the category information of the dependent claim. Details will be described later.

The changing step is a step of changing the hierarchical structure of the entire claim reflected on the input screen in accordance with a predetermined operation instruction by the user. Details will be described later.

The display control step is a step of updating and displaying the input screen so that the hierarchical structure can be understood when the user's instruction to select the second object is received. Specifically, the display control step controls the display unit 34 of the information processing device 3 to display visual information such as a screen, an image including a still image or a moving image, an icon, a message, and the like. The display control step may generate only rendering information for displaying visual information on the display unit 34 of the information processing device 3. Details will be described later.

3. Flow of Information Processing In this section, the flow of the information processing method executed by the information processing system 1 will be described. As shown below, the information processing method includes the following steps. The program of this embodiment is a program that causes the information processing system 1 to execute each step of the information processing method. Note that the order of the processes can be changed as appropriate, a plurality of processes may be executed simultaneously, or some processes may be omitted.

3.1 Examples of conditions The scope of patent claims, scope of claims, or scope of claims for utility model registration (hereinafter referred to as scope of claims, etc.) may include conditions for the applicant to receive a patent or utility model right for each claim. All matters deemed necessary for specifying the invention or device that is claimed must be stated. Several rules have been established for drafting claims, etc. For example, when dividing a claim into a claim and recording a claim by citing other claims, that claim should, in principle, be recorded following the cited claim, and the cited claim number should be For example, it may be recorded as "Claim 1". However, during the claim elaboration stage, claims may be added, deleted, or their order changed. Every time a claim is added, deleted, or rearranged, the user corrects the claim number, cited references, etc. written in each claim.

In the present embodiment, when the user inputs descriptions of the contents of a plurality of claims and information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each of the claims via the input screen of the display unit 34, the control unit 23 displays the claim number and the reference source. An information processing method for outputting a draft file of claims, etc., including explanations related to claims, etc. will be described.

3.2 Flow overview

FIG. 4 is an activity diagram showing an example of the flow of information processing executed by the information processing system 1. As shown in FIG. Each activity in this activity diagram will be explained below.

First, the control unit 23 of the server 2 causes the display unit 34 of the information processing device 3 to display an input screen in a manner visible to the user (activity A101).

Next, the control unit 23 receives user input via the input screen displayed on the display unit 34 as a reception step. The user's input on the input screen includes descriptions of the contents of a plurality of claims and information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim. The description of the contents of a plurality of claims does not include a claim number indicating the item number or an explanation regarding a cited source for each claim (Activity A102).

Next, the control unit 23 reflects the input result on the input screen of the display unit 34 (activity A103). The input results are reflected on the input screen so that the hierarchical structure of the entire claim can be understood.

The hierarchical structure of the entire claim indicates the citation relationship between multiple claims. In the claims, etc., dependent claims with limitations are provided by referring to the claims described previously. In this way, the relationship between multiple claims included in the claims etc. becomes hierarchical due to the citation relationship. The user confirms the hierarchical structure of the entire claim reflected on the input screen, and performs a predetermined operation to instruct a change in the hierarchical structure as necessary. A predetermined operation instruction by the user can be performed by, for example, a mouse operation, a keyboard operation, a touch operation, or a voice instruction.

Next, the control unit 23 receives a predetermined operation from the user regarding the hierarchical structure via the input screen displayed on the display unit 34 (activity A104).

Next, as a changing step, the control unit 23 may change the hierarchical structure of the entire claim reflected on the input screen according to a predetermined operation instruction by the user (activity A105). The control unit 23 may receive an instruction regarding changing the hierarchical structure from the user via an input screen displayed on the display unit 34 of the information processing device 3, and may change the hierarchical structure. According to this aspect, the user can change the hierarchical structure of the entire claim by performing a predetermined operation.

Next, the control unit 23 receives an instruction regarding the location of the quotation from the user via the input screen displayed on the display unit 34 (activity A106). That is, the control unit 23 accepts a user's instruction as to whether to write the citation destination information in the front or the back. In other words, in the claims, whether the explanation regarding the cited source is written at the front or the back may be determined by the user's instruction. According to this aspect, it can be determined by the user's selection whether the character string related to the quotation is included before the claim or the character string related to the quotation is included after the claim.

Next, the control unit 23 receives the press of the output button by the user via the input screen displayed on the display unit 34 (activity A107).

Next, the control unit 23 assigns claim numbers to the received inputs regarding the plurality of claims (activity A108). For example, on the input screen, claim numbers such as "Claim 1," "Claim 2," "Claim 3," etc. may be assigned in order from the top of the list.

Next, the control unit 23 obtains one claim from among the received inputs regarding the plurality of claims via the input screen (activity A109). For example, the control unit 23 acquires "Claim 1".

Next, the control unit 23 determines whether or not the acquired claim has a cited reference (activity A110). For example, "Claim 1" is determined to have no cited references. Next, the control unit 23 specifies that "Claim 1" is an independent claim (Activity A111). If the claim continues, information processing returns to activity A110.

Next, the control unit 23 obtains the next claim, “Claim 2”, and then the control unit 23 determines whether or not there is a citation in “Claim 2”. If the control unit 23 determines that "Claim 2" has a cited source, it advances the information processing to activity A112.

Next, the control unit 23 identifies the citation destination of "Claim 2" (activity A112). The control unit 23 specifies the quotation destination based on a predetermined rule. For example, the control unit 23 may issue a message that says, ``Among the second claims that are one level higher than the first claim that is a claim that has a cited source, are the claims that are earlier than the first claim and are From the specific claim that specifies the specific claim closest to the first claim to the claim immediately preceding the first claim (however, if the immediately preceding claim is a specific claim, only the specific claim ) is the citation destination.'' Specifically, it is specified as follows. A claim that is one level above "Claim 2", that precedes "Claim 2", and that is closest to "Claim 2" is defined as "Claim 2". 1”. In this case, the specific claim is "Claim 1." Since "Claim 1" is a claim immediately before "Claim 2", the control unit 23 specifies only "Claim 1" as the cited source of "Claim 2".

In other words, as a specifying step, the control unit 23 selects the first claim among the second claims that are one level above the first claim, which is a claim that has a reference in the hierarchical structure. A specific claim that precedes the first claim and is closest to the first claim is identified. The specific claim to the claim immediately preceding the first claim (however, if the immediately preceding claim is a specific claim, only the specific claim) may be specified as the cited source.

Next, the control unit 23 determines whether "Claim 2" includes category information (activity A113). Here, information indicating the category of each claim is defined as category information. For example, the control unit 23 can check the presence or absence of category information based on whether or not it has an identifier related to category information. If "Claim 2" does not have an identifier related to category information, the control unit 23 determines that "Claim 2" does not have category information, and advances the information processing to Activity A114.

Next, the control unit 23 manages the category information of "Claim 2" (activity A114). That is, the control unit 23 writes the category information to the working memory in the storage unit 22. When “Claim 2” cites “Claim 1” which is an independent claim, the control unit 23 manages the category information of “Claim 1” as also the category information of “Claim 2”. do. If the directly cited claim is not an independent claim, the category information of the indirectly cited independent claim may be managed as the category information of its dependent claim. An indirectly cited independent claim refers to an independent claim that is ultimately cited when the higher-level claims that are cited are traced in order. In other words, the control unit 23 may manage the category information of each claim as a management step. If a claim is a dependent claim with a cited source and the description does not include category information, the category information of the independent claim directly or indirectly cited by the dependent claim is included in the dependent claim. It may also be managed as category information.

Next, the control unit 23 generates a draft claim including a claim number and an explanation regarding cited sources based on the description of the content of the claim and the information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim (activity A115).

Next, the control unit 23 repeats the process of sequentially acquiring the next claim. When the control unit 23 acquires “Claim N” and determines in Activity A113 that “Claim N” includes category information, the control unit 23 advances information processing to Activity A116.

Next, the control unit 23 determines whether the category information included in "Claim N" is different from the category of the directly or indirectly cited independent claim (Activity A116). If the control unit 23 determines that the category information of “Claim N” is different from the category of the cited independent claim, it advances the information processing to activity A117. Note that if the control unit 23 determines that category information different from the category of the cited independent claim is not included, the information processing proceeds to activity A114.

Next, the control unit 23 generates a draft of claim N that includes all claims associated with the second category information as citation sources and has the first category information (activity A117). For example, the second category information is the category information of "Claim 1" which is an independent claim. If the category information of “Claim 1” to “Claim M” is managed as “information processing system” and the category information of “Claim N” is “information processing method”, the control unit 23 , "An information processing method, comprising each step of the information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to M." is an example of the second category information. A draft of "Claim N" is generated that includes all claims linked to "Information Processing System" as citation sources and has "Information Processing Method" as an example of the first category information.

In other words, the claim is a dependent claim and its description includes first category information, and the first category information is related to an independent claim directly or indirectly cited by the dependent claim. If it is different from the second category information, the control unit 23 may output a draft file with all claims having the second category information as citation destinations as an output step.

When the control unit 23 completes acquisition of the descriptions of the contents of all claims, next, as an output step, the control unit 23 acquires the contents of each claim based on the descriptions of the contents of the plurality of claims and the hierarchical structure. , outputs a draft file of claims, etc., including claim numbers and explanations regarding cited sources (activity A118).

In summary, the program causes at least one computer to perform the following steps. In the reception step, the user's input on the input screen is received. The input includes descriptions of the contents of a plurality of claims and information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim. The description does not include a claim number indicating the item number of each claim or an explanation regarding the cited source. The input results are reflected on the input screen so that the hierarchical structure of the entire claim can be understood. In the output step, when the user's operation on the output button, which is an example of the first object, is accepted, the output step includes, for each claim, a claim number and an explanation regarding the cited source based on the description and the hierarchical structure. , output a draft file of claims, claims, or claims for utility model registration.

According to this aspect, if the user inputs information including a description of the contents of a plurality of claims and information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each of the claims, the number of each claim and an explanation regarding the cited source are also included. You can obtain a draft file of claims without having to do so.

4. Details of information processing In this section, we will supplement the details of the information processing outlined above.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an input screen. Input screen 4 includes areas 41 to 49 and object Ob1. Areas 41 to 49 are areas for accepting input of descriptions of claims. Object Ob1 is an output button. Areas 41 to 49 include descriptions of claims and information regarding hierarchical relationships of claims.

For example, the content of the claim in area 41 is “An information processing system, comprising a processor capable of executing a program such that each of the following steps is performed, and in step XX, ...”. ”. The description of the content of the claim in area 42 is "the step XX is...". In this way, the description of the contents of the claims in area 42 does not include claim numbers indicating the item numbers or explanations regarding the cited sources of each claim.

On the input screen 4, information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim is input by the user based on the position of corner brackets. For example, when a claim in area 42 cites a claim in area 41, the user enters corner brackets in area 42 that are indented one more than the corner brackets in area 41. With this aspect, the user can indicate the hierarchical relationship by the number of indentations added to the corner brackets. When the control unit 23 receives corner brackets with one indentation, it understands that this is an instruction to lower the hierarchy by one level. In other words, the hierarchical structure may be configured such that it can be understood by the hierarchical level identifiers represented by the hierarchical levels.

On the input screen 4, the control unit 23 receives information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim using corner brackets and indentation (activity A102). The control unit 23 reflects the hierarchical structure of the entire claim on the input screen 4 in an understandable manner based on the positional relationship of the corner brackets (activity A103). With this aspect, the user can confirm the hierarchical structure of the entire claim reflected on the input screen 4 and refine the hierarchical structure of the entire claim.

The user can instruct changes in the hierarchical structure via the input screen 4 by performing predetermined operations. For example, in the input screen 4, when changing the area 45 after the area 42 and before the area 43, the user selects the area 45, cuts the area 45, and pastes the area 45 after the area 42. It is possible to give instructions for changing the structure. The control unit 23 receives a change instruction via the input screen 4 and changes the hierarchical structure.

The user checks the hierarchical structure reflected on the input screen, and if there is no need to instruct the change, presses the object Ob1. If the pressing of the object Ob1 is accepted, the control unit 23 executes the processing of activities A108 to A118, and outputs a draft file such as the scope of claims.

In activity A108, the control unit 23 assigns claim numbers in order from the area displayed at the top of the input screen 4. That is, the area 41 is "Claim 1", the area 42 is "Claim 2", the area 43 is "Claim 3", the area 44 is "Claim 4", and the area 45 is is “Claim 5,” area 46 is “Claim 6,” area 47 is “Claim 7,” area 48 is “Claim 8,” and area 49 is “Claim 6.” Item 9.

In activities A109 to A117, the control unit 23 sequentially acquires claims one by one from the area 41 corresponding to claim 1 and generates a draft of each claim. Here, the draft to be generated includes a claim number and an explanation regarding the cited source for each claim. For example, the area 42 does not include a claim number indicating the item number or an explanation regarding the cited source, but the draft generated by the control unit 23 based on the area 42 has the claim number "Claim 2". This includes the fact that the cited source is "Claim 1."

In the input screen 4, if the line following the corner brackets includes the character string "and" at the end, the control unit 23 determines that the line includes category information. The control unit 23 manages the character string written before "but" as category information.
4. Modifications Regarding the information processing system 1 according to the embodiment described above, the following aspects may be adopted.

When drafting claims, etc., there are cases in which multiple claims are written at the consideration stage, and then amended to exclude multiple claims before filing. Therefore, as an output step, the control unit 23 may output a draft file with only the specified claim as the citation destination, if there are a plurality of citation destinations specified. If the information input by the user regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim includes multiple claims, the control unit 23 outputs a draft file of claims, etc. that cites only specific claims. With this aspect, even if the user inputs information regarding the hierarchical relationship between claims that includes multiple claims, the control unit 23 can create a draft of claims, etc. that does not include multiple claims. Files can be output.

The input screen may be in the format of input screens 5 to 8. Of course, this is not the case.

(Input screen 5)
The input screen may be in a table format. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the input screen. Input screen 5 includes area 51 and object Ob2. Region 51 includes a plurality of cells, each of which is identified by a horizontal row and a vertical column. The horizontal rows of the area 51 are numbered from 1 to 9, and the vertical columns of the area 51 are numbered from A to I. Each of the plurality of cells is configured to receive user input. Object Ob2 is an example of an output button.

For example, region 51 includes cells 52-55. Cell 52 is a cell in the first row, column A, cell 53 is a cell in the second row, column A, cell 54 is a cell in the fourth row, column B, and cell 55 is a cell in column A of the second row. This is the cell in row B and column B. Corner brackets are input in cells 52 and 54, and the corner brackets are identifiers for inputting information regarding hierarchical relationships. In cells 53 and 55, descriptions of claims are entered. Cells 52 and 53 are inputs from the user regarding one claim, and cells 54 and 55 are inputs from the user regarding another claim. In the input screen 5, corner brackets are written one line above the description of the claim content, and the control unit 23 grasps information regarding the hierarchical relationship from the position of the corner brackets.

In the input screen 5, the control unit 23 specifies the citation relationship based on the position of the cell in which information regarding the hierarchical relationship is input. The control unit 23 assigns claim numbers to cells into which information regarding a plurality of hierarchical relationships has been input, in order of cell line numbers starting from the smallest number. That is, the cell 52 located in the first row on the input screen 5 is "Claim 1", and the cell 54 located in the fourth row with the second smallest row number is "Claim 2". Further, on the input screen 5, the control unit 23 grasps the hierarchical level based on the position of the vertical column. That is, the cell 52 listed in column A is an independent claim. Cell 54 listed in column B is a dependent claim that is dependent on an independent claim. Each time the input cells move to the right in a row, the control unit 23 recognizes that the hierarchy level is lowered by one.

In other words, a plurality of areas may be displayed in a table format on the input screen. The plurality of areas are configured to accept user input. The input results are reflected on the input screen in a manner that allows the user to understand the hierarchical structure of the entire claim, depending on the positional relationship of the plurality of areas that received the input. According to this aspect, the user selects a cell to input from among the cells displayed in a table format and inputs information including the content of the claim, thereby allowing the user to read the content of the claim. Hierarchical levels can be specified.

(Input screen 6)
In the tabular input screen, an input area for information regarding hierarchical relationships and an input area for description of claim contents may be provided in advance. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the input screen. Input screen 6 includes areas 61 to 70 and object Ob3. The area 61 is an area for accepting input of information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim. Areas 62 to 70 are areas for accepting input of descriptions of claims. Object Ob3 is an output button.

The area 61 is composed of horizontal rows and vertical columns. The horizontal rows are numbered from 1 to 11, and the vertical columns are labeled A, B, and C. The horizontal rows allow the user to indicate the order of the claims, and the vertical columns allow the user to indicate the hierarchical level of the claims. For example, if the claim to be input is an independent claim, the user should check column A, and if the claim to be input is a claim that cites an independent claim, the user should check column B. , if the claim to be input is a claim that further cites a claim that cites an independent claim, the user checks column C. On the input screen 6, the control unit 23 can specify the citation relationship based on the position of the cell in which information regarding the hierarchical relationship is input.

In the area 61, "white circles" are input in the 1st to 7th lines, and "black squares" are input in the 8th and 9th lines. The first identifier "white circle" is input for dependent claims in the same category, and the second identifier "black square" is input for dependent claims in different categories. The control unit 23 receives input of a second identifier different from the first identifier as information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim. In such a case, the control unit 23 may determine that the description of the content of the claim corresponding to the second identifier includes different category information.

Area 69 and area 70 include character strings enclosed in corner brackets. The input indicating that the input includes different category information may be configured by a predetermined identifier. The predetermined identifier may be a predetermined symbol or character string, but is preferably in a different form from the hierarchical level identifier.
(Input screen 7)
The control unit 23 may cause the display unit 34 of the information processing device 3 to display the tree-structured input screen 7 in advance. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the input screen. The input screen 7 includes areas 71 to 79, an object Ob4, and an object Ob5. Areas 71 to 79 are areas for accepting input of descriptions of claims. Object Ob4 is an object that accepts addition of an area for inputting dependent claims. For example, when the control unit 23 receives a press of the object Ob4 in the area 71, it may generate a new area at a level one level below the area 71. Object Ob5 is an output button. With this aspect, the user can input descriptions of the contents of a plurality of claims while visually grasping the citation relationship of the claims. Note that selecting an area for input by the user on the tree-structured input screen 7 displayed on the display unit 34 corresponds to the user's input instruction for information regarding hierarchical relationships. The control unit 23 can specify the citation relationship based on the positional relationship of the areas in which the description of claim content is input by the user.

In other words, a plurality of areas are displayed on the input screen in a format including a tree structure. The multiple areas may be configured to accept user input. The input results may be reflected on the input screen so that the hierarchical structure of the entire claim can be grasped, depending on the positional relationship of the plurality of areas that received the input.

(Input screen 8)
The following manner may be adopted for receiving information regarding the hierarchical structure. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the input screen. The input screen 8 includes an object 81, areas 82-85, objects 86-89, and object Ob6. The object 81 is an object that accepts addition of an area for inputting an independent claim. Areas 82 to 85 are areas for accepting input of descriptions of claims. Objects 86 to 89 are objects that accept addition of areas for inputting dependent claims. Object Ob6 is an output button.

In other words, the input screen includes a second object for selecting a hierarchy level. Object 81 and objects 86 to 89 are examples of second objects for selecting a hierarchy level. Further, in the display control step, when the user's instruction to select the second object is received, the input screen is updated and displayed so that the hierarchical structure can be grasped. According to this aspect, the user can input descriptions of the contents of a plurality of claims while visually grasping the citation relationship of the claims.

In the above embodiment, corner brackets and indentation are used as the hierarchy level identifier, but other symbols or character strings may be used as the hierarchy level identifier. It is preferable that the symbol be treated as a special symbol when filing an application with the Patent Office.

In the embodiments described above, indentation with respect to corner brackets is used as the hierarchy level identifier, but the hierarchy level identifier may be, for example, indentation with respect to description. That is, by indenting the description of the content of the claim itself, it may be used as a hierarchical level identifier.

In the above embodiment, the control unit 23 receives an instruction regarding the position of the quotation from the user via the input screen displayed on the display unit 34 in the activity A106. It is also possible to accept the specification of rules for describing explanations regarding the following items. For example, the control unit 23 may accept a designation of a description rule to write "in (category information) described in claim ○" at the front. With such an aspect, the control unit 23 can generate a description of the explanation regarding the quotation destination in accordance with the description rules that the user has used so far.

In the above embodiment, the first object was an output button on the input screen, but the first object does not necessarily have to be a button on the input screen. The first object may be any type of object as long as it accepts an operation instruction for executing draft output.

The above information processing mode is just an example. The present invention is not limited to this, but can be modified as appropriate without departing from the technical idea of the invention.

Another aspect of the embodiment may be an information processing system. The information processing system includes at least one processor. The processor is configured to execute the program such that each step of the program is performed. The information processing system may be composed of a plurality of devices, or may be composed of one device. When the information processing system described in the claims and the like is constituted by one device, the server 2 is an example of the device. In this case, at least one processor is the control unit 23 of the server 2. When the information processing system described in the claims etc. is composed of a plurality of devices, an example of the plurality of devices is a plurality of information processing devices. In this case, at least one processor is a control unit of each of the plurality of information processing devices.

The overall configuration shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the server 2 may be distributed over two or more devices, or may be replaced by a cloud computing system. Furthermore, all the processing may be performed by the server 2, or all the processing may be performed by the information processing device 3. An application may be installed in the information processing device 3, and the information processing device 3 and the server 2 may cooperate to execute the above-described processing.

The server 2 may be in an on-premises form or may be in a cloud form. The cloud-based server 2 may provide the above-described functions and processing, for example, in the form of SaaS (Software as a Service) or cloud computing.

In the embodiment described above, the server 2 performs various storage and control operations, but instead of the server 2, a plurality of external devices may be used. That is, various information and programs may be distributed and stored in a plurality of external devices using blockchain technology or the like.

The program may be implemented by VBA included with Microsoft Word (registered trademark) or Microsoft Excel (registered trademark).

It may be provided in each of the following embodiments.

(1) A program that causes at least one computer to execute the following steps, and in a reception step receives user input on an input screen, where the input includes descriptions of contents of a plurality of claims. , information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each of the claims, the description does not include a claim number indicating the item number of each claim, nor an explanation regarding the cited source, and the result of the input is information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each of the claims. The entire hierarchical structure is reflected on the input screen so that the entire hierarchical structure can be grasped, and in the output step, when the user's operation on the first object is accepted, the claim is displayed based on the description and the hierarchical structure. A program that outputs a draft file of claims, claims, or utility model registration claims, each of which includes the claim number and an explanation regarding the reference.

According to this aspect, when a user inputs information including a description of the contents of a plurality of claims and information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim, the user is required to include the number of each claim and an explanation regarding the cited source. It is possible to output a draft file of claims, etc., including claim numbers and explanations regarding cited sources, without having to do so.

(2) In the program according to (1) above, further, in the specifying step, in the hierarchical structure, a second claim that is one level above the first claim that is the claim that has the cited source is Among the claims, specify a specific claim that is before the first claim and is closest to the first claim, and from the specific claim immediately before the first claim. (However, if the immediately preceding claim is the specific claim, only the specific claim) as the cited source.

According to this aspect, the cited claims can be specified.

(3) The program according to (2) above, in which, in the output step, when there is a plurality of the specified citation destinations, the draft file is output with only the specified claim as the citation destination.

According to such an aspect, the input of information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim made by the user is "Citing a claim that alternatively cites statements of two or more other claims (multi-claim)," If the claim includes a claim that alternatively cites statements from two or more other claims, it is possible to specify a claim that cites only one other claim.

(4) In the program according to any one of (1) to (3) above, if information indicating the category of each claim is defined as category information, then the statement of the independent claim that does not have the cited source includes the category information, and furthermore, in the management step, the category information of each of the claims is managed, and the claim is a dependent claim having the cited source and the category information is included in the description thereof. If not included, the program manages the category information of the independent claim directly or indirectly cited by the dependent claim as the category information of the dependent claim.

According to such an aspect, in the description of a dependent claim, even if the user does not write information regarding the category, category information described for the cited (direct or indirect) claim is included. A draft file of claims, claims, or claims for utility model registration can be output.

(5) In the program according to (4) above, the claim is the dependent claim and the description thereof includes first category information, and further, the first category information is the dependent claim. is different from the second category information of the independent claim that directly or indirectly cites, in the output step, all of the claims having the second category information are set as the citation destination, A program that outputs the draft file.

According to this aspect, it is possible to output a draft of a claim that cites all claims of the previously described category for claims of different categories.

(6) In the program according to any one of (1) to (5) above, in the claim, whether the explanation regarding the cited source is written at the front or the back depends on the user's instructions. Program to be determined.

According to this aspect, it can be determined by the user's selection whether the character string related to the quotation is included before the claim or the character string related to the quotation is included after the claim.

(7) In the program according to any one of (1) to (6) above, further, in the changing step, the entire claim is reflected on the input screen in response to a predetermined operation instruction by the user. A program for changing the hierarchical structure of.

According to this aspect, the user can change the hierarchical structure by changing the position of the description reflected on the input screen through a predetermined operation. Here, the predetermined operation instructions by the user include selecting and dragging and dropping claims to change the order, deleting claims to be deleted, and the like.

(8) The program according to any one of (1) to (7) above, wherein the hierarchical structure is configured such that it can be understood by a hierarchical level identifier represented by a hierarchical level.

According to this aspect, the user can indicate the hierarchy level using the hierarchy level identifier.

(9) The program according to (8) above, wherein the hierarchical level identifier is an indentation with respect to the description.

According to this aspect, the user can indicate the hierarchy level by indentation.

(10) In the program according to any one of (1) to (7) above, a plurality of areas are displayed in a table format on the input screen, where the area is the input area of the user. the input result is reflected on the input screen in such a way that the hierarchical structure of the entire claim can be grasped according to the positional relationship of the plurality of areas that have received the input; .

According to such an aspect, the user selects a cell to input from among the cells displayed in a table format, and inputs the content of the claim in the selected cell, thereby updating the hierarchy of the content of the claim. You can specify the level.

(11) In the program according to any one of (1) to (7) above, a plurality of areas are displayed on the input screen in a format including a tree structure, and where the area is , and the result of the input is reflected on the input screen so that the hierarchical structure of the entire claim can be grasped according to the positional relationship of the plurality of areas that received the input. program.

According to this aspect, the user selects an input area based on the branch position, etc. from a plurality of areas having a hierarchical structure displayed on the input screen, and writes the content of the claim in the selected area. The hierarchical level of the description can be specified by inputting the information.

(12) In the program according to any one of (1) to (7) above, the input screen includes a second object for selecting a hierarchical level, and further, in the display control step, the input screen includes a second object for selecting a hierarchical level. A program that updates and displays the input screen so that the hierarchical structure can be grasped when a user's instruction to select the second object is received.

According to this aspect, the user can specify the hierarchy level by selecting the second object that specifies the hierarchy level.

(13) An information processing system, comprising at least one processor, the processor executing the program so that each step of the program according to any one of (1) to (12) above is performed. A system that is configured to run.

According to this aspect, when a user inputs information including a description of the contents of a plurality of claims and information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim, the user is required to include the number of each claim and an explanation regarding the cited source. It is possible to output a draft file of claims, etc., including claim numbers and explanations regarding cited sources, without having to do so.

(14) An information processing method, comprising each step of the program described in any one of (1) to (12) above.

According to this aspect, when a user inputs information including a description of the contents of a plurality of claims and information regarding the hierarchical relationship of each claim, the user is required to include the number of each claim and an explanation regarding the cited source. It is possible to output a draft file of claims, etc., including claim numbers and explanations regarding cited sources, without having to do so.
Of course, this is not the case.

Finally, although various embodiments according to the present invention have been described, these are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The new embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. The embodiment and its modifications are included within the scope and gist of the invention, and are included within the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

1: Information processing system 2: Server 20: Communication bus 21: Communication unit 22: Storage unit 23: Control unit 3: Information processing device 30: Communication bus 31: Communication unit 32: Storage unit 33: Control unit 34: Display unit 35 : Input section 4 : Input screen 41 : Area 42 : Area 43 : Area 44 : Area 45 : Area 46 : Area 47 : Area 48 : Area 49 : Area 5 : Input screen 51 : Area 52 : Cell 53 : Cell 54 : Cell 55: Cell 6: Input screen 61: Area 62: Area 63: Area 64: Area 65: Area 66: Area 67: Area 68: Area 69: Area 70: Area 7: Input screen 71: Area 72: Area 73: Area 74: Area 75: Area 76: Area 77: Area 78: Area 79: Area 8: Input screen 81: Object 82: Area 83: Area 84: Area 85: Area 86: Object 87: Object 88: Object 89: Object Ob1 :Object Ob2 :Object Ob3 :Object Ob4 :Object Ob5 :Object Ob6 :Object

Claims (14)

A program,
having at least one computer perform each of the following steps,
The receiving step receives user input on the input screen, where the input includes descriptions of contents of a plurality of claims and identification information for identifying the hierarchical relationship of each of the claims,
The input does not include a claim number indicating the item number or an explanation regarding the cited source for each of the claims ,
In the outputting step, when the user's operation on the first object is accepted, the claim number and the explanation regarding the cited source for each of the claims are output based on the description and the identification information . A program that outputs a draft file of claims, claims, or claims for utility model registration, including claims. The program according to claim 1,
Furthermore, in the specific step,
Based on the identification information , among the second claims that are one level higher than the first claim that is the claim that has the cited source, it is determined that the second claim is located before the first claim. and specifying a specific claim that is closest to the first claim;
Specifying from the specific claim to the claim immediately before the first claim (however, if the immediately preceding claim is the specific claim, only the specific claim) as the cited source. ,program. The program according to claim 2,
In the outputting step, if there are a plurality of the specified citation destinations, the program outputs the draft file with only the specified claim as the citation destination. The program according to claim 1,
If information indicating the category of each of the claims is defined as category information, the description of the independent claim that does not have the cited source includes the category information,
Furthermore, in the management step,
managing the category information of each claim;
If the claim is a dependent claim having the cited source and the category information is not included in the description, the category of the independent claim that the dependent claim cites directly or indirectly. A program that manages information as the category information of the dependent claim. The program according to claim 4,
The claim is the dependent claim and includes first category information in its description, and further, the first category information is the independent claim that the dependent claim cites directly or indirectly. If it differs from the second category information of the section,
In the outputting step, the program outputs the draft file with all of the claims having the second category information as the citation destination. The program according to claim 1,
The program according to the above claim, wherein whether the explanation regarding the cited source is written in the front or the back is determined by the user's instruction. The program according to claim 1,
Furthermore, in the changing step, the program changes the hierarchical structure of the entire claim reflected on the input screen according to a predetermined operation instruction by the user. The program according to claim 1,
The program, wherein the identification information includes a hierarchical level identifier representing a hierarchical level in a hierarchical structure corresponding to each claim . The program according to claim 8,
The program, wherein the hierarchical level identifier is an indentation with respect to the description. The program according to claim 1,
A plurality of areas are displayed in a table format on the input screen, where the area is configured to accept the input from the user ,
The program, wherein the identification information includes a positional relationship between the plurality of areas that have received the input. The program according to claim 1,
A plurality of areas are displayed on the input screen in a format including a tree structure, where the area is configured to accept the input from the user ,
The program, wherein the identification information includes a positional relationship between the plurality of areas that have received the input. The program according to claim 1,
The input screen includes a second object for selecting a hierarchical level in the hierarchical structure corresponding to each claim ,
Furthermore, in the display control step, when the user's instruction to select the second object is received , the input screen is updated and displayed , and the input screen includes the identification information based on the selection instruction. A program , wherein the area including the area and accepting the description is added . An information processing system,
comprising at least one processor;
A system, wherein the processor is configured to execute the program according to any one of claims 1 to 12, such that each step of the program is performed. An information processing method,
A method comprising each step of the program according to any one of claims 1 to 12.