JP3225952B2 - Patent progress information processing apparatus and patent information processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for processing patent information and the like, and more particularly to an apparatus for processing patent progress information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Inventions and inventions are filed with the JPO by applying for a patent or utility model registration, and after examination by the JPO, it is determined whether or not the right is established. The JPO's procedures for examination, etc., begin with a request for examination of an application, taking the patent as an example, and then submit a notice of reasons for refusal, submission of a written opinion and amendments to the procedure, and a decision on rejection. After the registration assessment, the refusal assessment appeal, etc., the rights formation disposition will be finalized. Even after the right is granted, a patent opposition trial or a patent invalidation trial may be held. To obtain information on the status of the prosecution of a patent case, it is common to browse the records of the JPO's examination wrappers and trials, or use electronic information on the current state of examination. The user determines the status of the right from the information on the examination status.

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-39394 discloses an invention relating to a patent monitoring system for monitoring the progress of a patent application for a competitor's case. In this gazette, accumulating application progress information for each patent case to be monitored, for example, when obtaining registration assessment data as application progress information,
It describes a system that detects this and outputs a report to start schedule management to prepare for an objection. According to this proposal, it is described that a predetermined status can be monitored by inputting the application progress information.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-171843 discloses a proposal for an information monitoring system that detects a change in the state of each of a plurality of monitoring targets and monitors a trend. This information monitoring system includes a new data file storage unit for storing a new data file, an old data file storage unit for storing an old data file, and comparing a new data file with an old data file to record a record that has been added or changed. It has a difference instruction file for instructing. According to this proposal, if the difference instruction file can be searched according to the search condition and the status change can be monitored,
Has been described.

[0005]

In the case of using the above-mentioned electronic information relating to the browsing of a wrapper or the like, or the present state of examination,
Although it is possible to read the status of rights, it is limited to those who can perform such reading only if they understand the flow of examination and the meaning of each disposition. In addition, for example, when confirming rejection or confirmation of registration, the labor required to continue browsing or search for electronic information for a long period of time becomes enormous. Furthermore, it is difficult to confirm what has changed in the status of the rights.

Further, the proposal described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-39394 makes it possible to monitor a predetermined status, and since the system monitors the status, labor is reduced. However, it is possible to monitor the status of a subject subject to monitoring if the application progress information is updated in chronological order along with the progress of examination, etc. When monitoring with a monitoring system, inconvenience may occur. In other words, when a patent to be monitored is newly registered in the monitoring system and monitored, even if the patent has received an opposition and has already been objected after the registration assessment, the patent data is Registration assessment data is added. Then, the report output and the schedule management for prompting the preparation of the opposition are performed based on the data of the registration assessment of the application progress information. The patent has already been challenged, and such report output and schedule management do not always make sense.

[0007] The proposal of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-171843 makes it possible to monitor a change in status.
By changing the value of the flag in the difference instruction file, changes can be reported without duplication. However, similarly to the proposal described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-39394, this proposal may cause inconvenience when, for example, a patent discovered by a retrospective search or the like is monitored by this information monitoring system.
In other words, when a patent to be monitored is newly registered in the information monitoring system and monitored, even if the patent has received an opposition and has already been opposed, the data has been updated. Then, the status change output in the report will be a registration assessment, opposition, and opposition decision. The patent has already been challenged, and the status change registration assessment and opposition are not necessarily meaningful.

[0008] In addition, users of patent progress information often want to know what status the patent is currently in, and the above-mentioned conventional technology cannot always satisfy the status.

In view of such prior art, the present invention has been made in view of the fact that the application progress information is composed of a plurality of pieces of history information. To provide a patent history information processing apparatus for converting information into information by using a computer and a patent information processing apparatus using the same.

[0010]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a patent progress information processing apparatus includes: a patent progress information storage means capable of storing a plurality of patent progress information for a patent case; Latest patent status determination means for determining the latest patent status based on a plurality of patent status information stored in the patent progress information storage means; rewritable latest patent status storage means for storing the determined latest patent status Are provided.

In this configuration, the latest patent status is determined based on a plurality of pieces of patent progress information, and this is held, so that it is possible to easily and immediately understand whether or not a response to the target case is necessary. . In particular, anyone who is unfamiliar with patent procedures, etc. can use it.

In this configuration, the latest patent status determination means may include a determination logic for determining the latest patent status. The discrimination logic applies the procedure to the patent progress information in reverse to the procedure of the case, and determines the latest patent status based on the procedure that has been successfully applied first. If the date is included in all of the patent progress information, the latest patent status is determined based on the date. In addition, for a piece of progress information without a date, for example, withdrawal due to an unclaimed application examination request, a corresponding date, in this example, a date seven years after the application may be assigned and used.

In this configuration, the latest patent status determination means may include a verification logic for verifying the validity of the determined latest patent status.

Further, the latest patent present status determination means may execute a process for a specific patent progress information among a plurality of patent progress information stored in the patent progress information storage means. In this way, it is possible to screen patent progress information that is not related to the latest patent status.

[0015] The latest patent status determination means may execute the processing on condition that the patent progress information is changed.

Further, the latest patent status determination means may select one of the plurality of patent progress information and set the latest patent status.

Further, the latest patent status determination means may replace one of the plurality of patent progress information with one of a plurality of candidates for the predetermined patent status to obtain the latest patent status. In this case, the candidates for the current state of the patent can be in a right-established state, a right-erased state, and a right-undecided state.

Further, the latest patent status may be a single latest patent status, or a plurality of latest patent statuses may be used in parallel. For example, the present patent status at the level of the right established state, the right extinguished state, and the right undecided state may be used together with the current patent state at the level of the patent progress information.

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a patent history information processing apparatus includes: a patent history information storage unit for storing a plurality of patent history information for a patent case; Latest patent status determination means for determining the latest patent status based on a plurality of patent progress information stored in the means; storage availability determination means for determining whether or not the determined latest patent status can be stored; A rewritable latest patent status storage means for storing the determined latest patent status is provided.

Also in this configuration, the latest patent status is determined based on a plurality of pieces of patent progress information, and this is retained, so that it is possible to immediately understand whether it is necessary to deal with the target matter easily. Even those who are unfamiliar with patent procedures etc. can use it. In this configuration, it is determined whether to store the latest patent status, and the latest patent status need not be updated unnecessarily.

For example, the storage availability determining means compares the latest patent status determined by the latest patent status determining means with the latest patent status stored in the latest patent status storage means. It is determined that storage is not possible, and if they do not match, it is determined that storage is possible. Then, on the condition that the latest patent status is stored in the latest patent status storage means, the patent case in which the latest patent status is updated can be identified. In this way, the user can be notified only when the latest patent status is different from the previous status.

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a patent information processing apparatus includes: a patent progress information reading means for reading patent progress information for a patent case; and storing the read patent progress information. Patent progress information storage means capable of storing a plurality of patent progress information to be stored; latest patent status determination means for determining the latest patent status based on the plurality of patent progress information stored in the patent progress information storage means;
Patent progress information processing means having latest patent status storage means for storing the determined latest patent status; rewritable latest patent status notification means for notifying the latest patent status stored in the patent progress information means Are provided.

In this configuration as well, the latest patent status is determined based on a plurality of patent progress information, and this is retained, so that it is possible to easily understand immediately whether or not it is necessary to deal with the target case. Even those who are unfamiliar with patent procedures etc. can use it.

[0024] In this configuration, provided that the latest patent status is stored in the latest patent status storage means, an update identification means for identifying a patent matter in which the latest patent status has been updated is further provided. Is also good. In this case, the latest patent status notifying means may notify the patent case in which the latest patent status is updated.

The present invention may be realized as a method invention, or at least a part thereof may be realized as a recording medium on which software is recorded. In addition, the present invention can be widely applied to not only patent cases but also rights formation procedures for administrative agencies, such as trademark registration application procedures.

[0026]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

For the sake of convenience, the information indicating the progress of the right
The following is an example of using electronic data provided by the Japan Patent Information Agency, a patent information providing organization. [Embodiment 1] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment 1 in which the present invention is applied to a patent history information processing apparatus. In this figure, the patent history information processing apparatus includes a patent history information storage unit 1, a latest patent status determination unit 2 , The latest patent status storage unit 3 and the processing control unit 4. The processing control unit 4 controls reading of data from the patent progress information storage unit 1, execution of determination processing by the latest patent status determination unit 2, and storage of the latest patent status in the latest patent status storage unit 3. The patent progress information storage unit 1 is capable of storing a plurality of patent progress information, and is defined as a progress information table unit 5 including a plurality of rows and stored in a storage disk area. This progress information table section 5
Stores patent progress information for each patent case. In other words, it stores key items such as the application number for making the record unique, and patent progress items indicating the progress of the procurement such as examination request and assessment type, registration publication date, opposition date or opposition decision type. ing. The latest patent status determination unit 2 has a program for specifying the latest patent status from a plurality of patent progress information stored in the patent progress information storage unit 1. The latest patent status storage unit 3 is capable of storing the latest patent status specified by the latest patent status determination unit 2, and is defined as a current status table unit 6, which is stored in a storage disk area. The current status table unit 6 stores the newly determined latest patent status in place of the already written data when the latest patent status is newly determined even if data is once written. It is configured to be able to.

When the latest patent status is updated, a flag is set as indicated by F. By referring to this flag, it is possible to extract only the patent cases whose patent status has been changed. This flag is reset, for example, when the report to the user is completed.

Next, the operation of the patent history information processing apparatus of the present invention will be described. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the progress information table section 5 stores data on registration assessment and registration publication date, opposition, and opposition decision. Also,
In the current state table part 6, the opinion book /
It is assumed that the submission of the amendment (procedure for opposition) is written as the latest patent status. The stored data is read out from the progress information table unit 5 according to the instruction of the processing control unit 4. The read data is subjected to a determination process according to the program of the latest patent status determination unit 2. In this program, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, data is determined in the reverse order to the progress of the right-setting step. That is, the entitlement step, after the registration assessment,
A registered gazette is issued, and then an opposition is filed and an opposition is determined. Therefore, the determination processing program performs the determination processing in the reverse order. That is, it is as follows.

Do you have data for objection decision? If so, the opposition decision shall be the latest patent status. (If there is no opposition decision) Is there data in the opposition? If there is, the opposition shall be the latest patent status. (If there is no objection) Is there any data on the date of publication of the registered gazette? If so, the publication of the registered gazette will be the latest patent status. (If there is no data on the date of registration publication) Is there data in the registration assessment?・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・

If all pieces of progress information can be prepared as date data, a program for specifying the progress information of the latest date may be used. However, for example, if there is no request for examination within the examination request period, unclaimed withdrawal will be made.In this case, usually, if the program does not have date data and the program that specifies the latest date progress information, unclaimed withdrawal will be canceled. It cannot be determined as the latest patent status. Therefore, it is preferable that the determination logic is configured by a determination processing program in the reverse order of the right-authorization step so as to be able to determine even progress information without date data.

The read data is first checked according to the program shown in FIG. 2 to see if there is any data in the objection decision (S10). If there is data, the objection decision becomes the latest patent status (S11). If there is no data, then it is checked whether there is data in the opposition (S
12). If there is data, the objection is the latest patent status (S13), and if there is no data, the data of the registered publication date is checked (S14). Hereinafter, a predetermined check is similarly performed (S15 to S17). In this example, if there is data in the opposition decision, the latest patent status may be used as the opposition decision, but it is often the case that you want to know the content of the opposition decision, read the data of the opposition decision type, maintain or cancel Alternatively, any of the partial cancellations may be determined as the latest patent status.

In this example, the opposition decision selected from the plurality of pieces of progress information is taken as the latest current state of the patent as it is. However, the content of the progress information may be read to make the latest current state of the patent. That is, for example, the opposition step includes an opposition,
Includes notification of reasons for cancellation, submission of comments / corrections. Any of these steps may be converted into information as the latest patent status as it is, but any of these steps can be read as being in opposition, and a replacement table is prepared as shown in FIG. Inform the current status of the patent as it is being disputed. In this way, it is easier to understand the meaning of the latest patent status without knowing the details of the prosecution.

For further simplification, an example will be described in which the latest patent status is specified by classifying it into three states, that is, whether the right is established, expired, or undecided. FIG. 4 shows a replacement table used for this purpose. The latest patent state once specified by the determination processing program is set in the current state table after the latest patent state replaced by the replacement table. For example, if the currently specified current patent status is unclaimed withdrawal, data is set in the current status table as extinguished by this replacement table. In this way, if the latest patent status is computerized by dividing it into three states, cases in which rights have been established or cases in which rights have already been extinguished, etc., can be specified simply by specifying one of the three states. By searching, you can easily identify the applicable Item.

In the above example, one column is prepared for the latest patent status and a single data is set. As another configuration, the latest patent status may be prepared and displayed in two columns. Individual data is set in each column. For example, as the latest patent status column, the latest progress status and the latest rights status are prepared, and the latest progress status includes the detailed current status of any such as registration assessment and opposition, and the latest rights status. The status may be set to, for example, one of right establishment, right disappearance, and undecided. In this way, it is possible to respond to both requests for details and for results only.

The latest patent status thus determined is written in the current status table section 6. At this time, the submission of the opinion / correction has already been written in the previous update, but the new latest opposition decision, which is the current patent status, is overwritten and written as shown in FIG. That is, a single latest status is stored. Also, the flag F is set.

In this way, even if a patent case has a plurality of pieces of progress information, the status of the case is grasped.

Although the above-described determination logic has been described with reference to the example of the determination processing program as the logic for determining the latest patent status from a plurality of pieces of progress information, verification logic for verifying the validity of the determination processing is further provided. Is also good. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, data on the final disposition of the trial is stored in the progress information table unit 5, and after the latest patent status of the patent case is determined to be an opposition decision, the data of the end of the opposition is returned to the final disposition of the trial. It is checked whether or not there is (S20, S2
1). If there is data at the end of the objection, the objection decision is the result of correctly discriminating (S22). If there is no data at the end of the opposition, either the discrimination error or the opposition trial has not been finalized. In this case, a warning message may be output to prompt confirmation (S23).

Embodiment 2 Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment is configured as a patent renewal information processing apparatus incorporating the patent history information processing apparatus of the present invention, and is different from FIG. 1 in that data items necessary for managing a patent case are provided. It is in. That is, in the management of patent cases, in addition to the progress information indicating the progress of the right,
Bibliographic information such as the publication number, patent number, applicant, title of invention, number of claims, inventor, and IPC is required. Then, such bibliographic information is obtained from a patent information providing organization and compiled into a database. When data is obtained regularly or as needed, bibliographic information is obtained in addition to progress information. In addition, necessary information is obtained for a case newly managed as a patent case and a case in which progress information has changed in some way.

Referring to FIG. 6, a case where the present invention is used for managing patent cases will be described. 6, the patent update information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment includes an update information storage unit 10, an update information acquisition unit 20, a latest patent status determination unit 21, a patent case information storage unit 30, and a processing control unit 40. ing. The update information storage unit 10 has an update information table unit 50 capable of storing a plurality of update information for each patent case, and the update information table units 50 can be provided by the number of patent cases to be updated. . Further, an update bibliographic information table area 51 for storing bibliographic information is stored in the update information table section 50.
And the update progress information table area 52 are defined, and the update information obtained periodically or as needed can be stored in these areas. The update information import unit 20 is for storing the update information stored in the update information storage unit 10 in the patent case information storage unit 30, and has an import program. This import program is a program that stores update information in a predetermined area of the patent case information storage unit 30. Further, the acquired update information matches the patent case of the patent case information stored in the patent case information storage unit 30. Check whether or not to do it, format conversion when the data format is different, format conversion to convert to a list format or list format when multiple data exists in one data item, or update information and patent case A program such as error detection for checking the consistency of information data may be stored. Latest patent status judging unit 21
Is configured in the same manner as the latest patent status determination unit 2 described with reference to FIG. 1, and specifies the latest patent status based on the update information. The patent case information storage unit 30 has a case information table unit 31 capable of storing a plurality of patent case information for each patent case, and can be provided in the number of patent cases managed. Further, the case information table section 31 includes:
A case management information area 32 for storing case management information and a current state data area 33 for storing the latest state of a patent are defined. The current data update area 33 is configured so that data can be rewritten, and data is rewritten as needed every time data is updated. Item management information area 3
2 is configured to be rewritable or prohibited from being rewritten by a data item. For example, the application number, publication number, and patent number are unchanged and rewriting is prohibited. Also,
The notification of the reason for refusal and the type of assessment may be rewritable because the data may be updated. The processing control unit 40 reads data from the update information storage unit 10, executes the determination process in the latest patent status determination unit 21, and executes the update data It controls the execution of the import process and the storage in the patent case storage unit 30. In addition, control may be performed to delete the data in the update information storage unit 10 after the update information has been stored in the patent case information storage unit 30. The data items held in the update information storage unit 10 and the patent case information storage unit 30 may be the same or different. For example, a data item used only for specifying the latest patent status may be stored only in the update information storage unit 10.

In this example, the update progress information area 52 provided in the update information table section 50 of the update information storage section 10, the latest patent present state determination section 21, and the case information table section 31 of the patent case information storage section 30 are provided. The current status table area 33 realizes a function equivalent to that of the patent history information processing apparatus of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the information to be updated this time is taken into the update information storage unit 10. Therefore, the patent case information storage unit 30 indicates the previous update result. In the previous update, the update result is that an objection was filed, and in this case, the update information is that an opposition decision was made. The update information fetched into the update information table unit 50 is fetched into a predetermined location of the case information table unit 31 of the patent case information storage unit 30 according to the instruction of the update information fetch unit 20. At this time, only the changed data item may be fetched, but in order to simplify the process, the data item may be overwritten and updated except for the data item which is prohibited from being rewritten. As a result of this update, in the case information table section 31 of FIG.
8.07, maintenance, end of objection and data are set. The latest status determination unit 21 specifies the latest status of the patent according to the determination logic. In the reverse order of the rights, ie
Whether there is data in the opposition decision type; if there is no data in the opposition decision type, whether there is data in the opposition decision;
No data in opposition decision, whether there is data in opposition; if there is no data in opposition, whether there is data in issuance of registered gazette; if there is no data in issuance of registration gazette, there is data in assessment type It is sequentially checked whether or not. In this example, data exists in the objection determination type that is the first check, and it is once determined that the latest patent status is maintained. The latest status determination unit 21 is provided with a verification logic, and subsequently, it is verified whether this maintenance is a proper determination. That is, it is checked whether data exists in the final disposition of the referee. In this example, the data of the end of the object exists, and it is confirmed that the determination of the maintenance is an appropriate determination. The result of this determination is the current table area 33
Is stored in In other words, prior to this update, the latest patent status was under objection as shown at 34. However, with this update, maintenance is identified as the latest patent status, and the current data objection is the latest data. Updated to some maintenance. When this update is performed, a flag indicating that the update has been performed, for example, a numeral or an English character, is set in the update flag column shown in 35. The update flag may not be provided, but if the update flag is set, it is possible to easily identify the case in which the latest patent status has changed among the patent cases to be managed.

When the progress information is obtained from outside and the data is updated, the data which is not used for specifying the latest patent status, such as an interim report or a number notification, is updated even though the data regarding the latest patent status is not updated. May be coming. In this case, when the latest patent status is specified and stored in the current status table area 33, an update flag is set even though the status has not actually changed. Therefore, in order to more accurately update the latest patent status, a processing step for determining whether or not to write data may be provided as shown in FIG. That is, the latest patent status specified by the determination processing program is compared with the latest patent status stored in the current status table area (S30, S3).
1). If the data match, the latest patent status has not changed, and if not, the latest patent status has changed. Therefore, this match / mismatch is determined, and only when there is a mismatch, the latest patent present column 3 in the current table area 33 is determined.
4 is instructed to write data. In this example, the specified current patent status is maintained, while the current patent status in the current status table area is being disputed and does not match. Then, data writing is instructed, the data is rewritten, and an update flag is set (S32, S33).

In the above example, the latest patent status determination unit 21
Has been described with reference to the example in which the update information stored in the update information storage unit 10 is accessed to make the determination.
The determination may be made by accessing the updated data of the case information table part of No. 0. Alternatively, the determination may be made by accessing both the update information storage unit 10 and the patent case information storage unit 30. In short, it accesses a table in which necessary information is stored. In addition, data that is not related to the current state of the patent may be divided into data that is not related to the current state of the patent, and data that is not related to the current state of the patent may be ignored as far as the determination of the current state of the patent is concerned.

Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The third embodiment is a patent information processing apparatus using the patent history information processing apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the patent history information processing device forms a part of the patent history information processing device, and is therefore also referred to as patent history information processing means for convenience. 8 shows an example of a patent information processing apparatus using the patent history information processing means shown in FIG. 1 of the present invention. This patent information processing apparatus comprises a patent history information reading means 61 and a patent history information processing means 62. And the latest patent status notifying means 63. Reference numeral 64 denotes information processing control means, and the patent progress information reading means 61
, An instruction to execute the process to the patent progress information processing means 62, and an instruction to execute the processing to the latest patent status notifying means 63.

The patent progress information is prepared through a medium such as a CD-ROM or an MO or a file access. The prepared patent progress information is read from the reading unit of the patent progress information reading means 61. The read progress information is stored in the progress information table of the patent progress information processing means 62, and the determination processing program is executed to identify the latest patent status. The latest patent status identified is written to the status table. Next, the latest status notification means 63 detects the case in which the latest status of the patent has been written, and gives a necessary notification. The detection of the latest current status notification means 63 is performed by detecting that the latest current status of the patent has been written in the current status table, or by detecting the update flag when an update flag is set in the current status table. The notification may be a message display on the display indicating that the update has been performed, an e-mail transmission, or a print instruction. Further, a notification may be made to the system, and in this case, the notification becomes a job execution instruction. Examples of the job execution instruction include an instruction to start time limit management, an instruction to create a form, and an instruction to create a data table for preparing for data input.

In this way, even if a patent case includes a plurality of pieces of progress information, the status of the case is grasped and the latest patent status is updated.

Fourth Embodiment Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is a patent information processing apparatus using the patent update information processing apparatus of the second embodiment (FIG. 6). Note that, in this embodiment, the patent update information processing apparatus constitutes a part of the patent information processing apparatus, and is therefore also referred to as patent update information processing means for convenience. The patent information processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment includes a patent update information reading unit 71, a patent update information processing unit 72, and a latest patent status notification unit 73. Reference numeral 74 denotes an information processing control unit which controls a reading instruction to the patent update information reading unit 71, a processing execution instruction to the patent update information processing unit 72, and a processing execution instruction to the latest patent present status notification unit 73.

As described with reference to FIG.
Obtain patent update information through media such as ROM and MO, file access, etc. The obtained patent update information is read from the reading unit of the patent update information reading means 71.
The read update information is stored in the update information table section of the patent update information processing means 72, and the determination processing program is executed to specify the latest patent status. The latest patent status identified is written to the status table. Next, the latest status notification means 73 detects the case in which the latest status of the patent has been written, and gives a necessary notification. This latest status notification means 73
Is detected by detecting that an update flag has been set for the latest patent status in the current status table. In addition, as described with reference to FIG. 8, the notification may include displaying a message indicating that the display has been updated, sending an e-mail,
Any of print instructions may be used. Further, a notification may be made to the system, and in this case, the notification becomes a job execution instruction. Examples of the job execution instruction include an instruction to start time limit management, an instruction to create a form, and an instruction to create a data table for preparing for data input. This figure 9
In the example, the update information on the managed case may be notified together.

In this way, even for a patent case in which a plurality of pieces of update information exist, the status of the case is grasped and the latest patent status is updated.

[0051]

As described in detail above, according to the patent history information processing apparatus of the present invention, the latest patent status can be specified from a data group in which a plurality of patent history information exists. That is, the latest patent status determination means for determining the latest patent status is provided, and the latest status can be automatically determined. In addition, the latest patent status storage means is provided in a rewritable manner, and only the latest patent status is written.It is possible to confirm the latest patent status only by referring to the storage contents of this latest patent status storage means. Become. With this configuration, compared to the conventional configuration in which status information is stored as history information in as many columns as necessary for status confirmation, if a single column is confirmed, the status can be confirmed. You can check the status without knowing the flow or meaning of the status. In addition, this allows for accurate identification of the current stage of the patent, regardless of whether the periodic or occasional update of the patent progress information is a chronological update according to the procurement step. It is possible to do.

Further, according to the patent information processing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to make a notification based on the latest patent status. That is, the patent information progress processing means is provided so as to be able to accumulate only the latest status, the status can be changed based on the change of the latest status, and a notification focused on a necessary status can be made. For example, when constructing a new patent database, it is possible to avoid transmitting meaningless status information that is inevitable when updating data on patent cases collectively.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a patent history information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a determination process used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a read-out table explaining read-out of progress information used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing still another reading replacement table used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a verification logic used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a patent update information processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating data rewrite determination used in the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a patent information processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a patent information processing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 Patent progress information storage unit 2 Latest patent status determination unit 3 Latest patent status storage unit 4 Processing control unit 5 Progress information table unit 6 Current status table unit 10 Update information storage unit 20 Update information import unit 21 Latest patent status determination unit 30 Patent case Information storage section 31 Case information table section 32 Case management information area 33 Current data area 40 Processing control section 50 Update information table section 51 Update bibliographic information table area 52 Update progress information table area 61 Patent progress information reading means 62 Patent progress information processing means 63 Latest Patent Status Notifying Means 64 Information Processing Control Means 71 Patent Update Information Reading Means 72 Patent Update Information Processing Means 73 Latest Patent Current Status Notifying Means 74 Information Processing Control Means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor, Masanori Shimada 2274 Hongo, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Ebina Office (56) References JP-A-10-171843 (JP, A) JP-A-11- 39382 (JP, A) JP 11-39394 (JP, A) Ogata et al. “In-house patent management system” Proceedings of the 24th Information Science and Technology Research Meeting, pp.35-41 (Showa 63-3-18) Ohara “ Patent information search system that also manages incidental information such as comments, "Nikkei Open System, Vol. 30, 1995, pp. 260-261 (Heisei 7-9-15) Iida et al. "Innovation case of integrated intellectual property right information system" MIPAT "", Mitsubishi Electric Technical Report, Vol. 72, No. 12, pp. 19-22, 1998 (Heisei 10-12-25) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/30 G06F 17/60 JICST file (JOIS)

Claims (13)

(57) [Claims] And 1. A plurality of patent progress information <br/> retractable patent to patent matters progress information storage means, the latest patent current based on a plurality of patent progress information stored in this patent progress information storage means A patent history information processing apparatus comprising: a latest patent status determination unit for determining; and a rewritable latest patent status storage unit for storing the determined latest patent status. 2. The patent progress information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the latest patent status determination means selects one of the plurality of patent progress information to set the latest patent status. 3. The current patent status according to claim 1, wherein the latest patent status determination means replaces one of the plurality of patent progress information with one of a plurality of predetermined patent current candidates. Patent progress information processing device. 4. The candidate for the current status of the patent is a right
4. The patent history information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the apparatus is in a state where the right has expired and the state where the right has not been decided. 5. Patent status information storage means for storing a plurality of patent status information for a patent case, and a latest patent status information for determining the latest patent status based on the plurality of patent status information stored in the patent status information storage means Determination means; storage permission determination means for determining whether or not the determined latest patent status can be stored; and rewritable latest patent status storage means for storing the latest patent status determined to be storable. Patent history information processing device characterized by the above-mentioned. 6. Patent progress information reading means for reading patent progress information for a patent case; patent progress information storage means capable of storing a plurality of patent progress information for storing the read patent progress information; A latest patent status determination means for determining the latest patent status based on a plurality of patent progress information stored in the storage means; a rewritable latest patent status storage means for storing the determined latest patent status; A patent information processing apparatus, comprising: a latest patent status notifying unit for notifying the latest patent status stored in the patent status storage unit. 7. A procedure progress information storage means capable of storing a plurality of procedure progress information for each of the right formation procedure cases with respect to the administrative agency, and a latest procedure progress information based on the plurality of procedure progress information stored in the procedure progress information storage means. A procedure progress information processing apparatus comprising: a latest procedure current state determining means for determining the current procedure state; and a rewritable latest procedure current state storing means for storing the determined latest procedure current state. 8. A plurality of patent progress information for a patent case
Based on the latest patent status
And the latest feature that determines whether the right is pending
Permission status determination means, Rights determined by the latest patent status determination means for each patent case
Whether the interest is concluded, extinguished, or undecided
The latest patent status storage means for converting the information into information and storing it; Related to the information stored in this latest patent status storage means
The patent status to determine whether the patent is granted,
Designate any of the patent cases by specifying any of the rights pending status
It is characterized by having an applicable matter identification means for searching
Patent information processing device. 9. A plurality of patent progress information for a patent case
Based on the latest patent status
And the latest feature that determines whether the right is pending
Permission status determination means, Rights determined by the latest patent status determination means for each patent case
Whether the interest is concluded, extinguished, or undecided
The latest patent status storage means for converting the information into information and storing it; Related to the information stored in this latest patent status storage means
The patent status to determine whether the patent is granted,
Receive a search request that specifies one of the rights pending status
And the relevant matter identification means to identify the relevant matter
Patent information processing device characterized by the above-mentioned. 10. A plurality of patent progress information for a patent case
Latest patent based on Current status of rights granted, extinguished rights
Status or undecided status
Based on other results, the status of rights granted and expired for each patent case
Either status or undecided status is stored as information
For performing search processing in relation to the latest patent status storage means
The status of patents has been granted and the rights have expired.
State and rights undecided state.
A means is provided to make a request to specify the case to search for a permitted case.
A patent information processing apparatus, characterized in that: 11. A plurality of patent progress information for a patent case
Based on the latest patent status, rights are granted, extinguished
Status and undecided status.
A new patent status determination step; The latest patent status determination step is performed for each patent case.
Rights, extinguished, and undecided
Latest patent status storage step to convert any of them to information
And The information stored in the latest patent status storage step
In relation to this, the current status of patents
And applicable patent proposals by specifying either
And a case identification step for searching
Patent information processing method. 12. A plurality of patent progress information for a patent case
Based on the latest patent status, rights are granted, extinguished
Status and undecided status.
A new patent status determination step; The latest patent status determination step is performed for each patent case.
Rights, extinguished, and undecided
Latest patent status storage step to convert any of them to information
And The information stored in the latest patent status storage step
In relation to this, the current status of patents
And a search request that specifies either
And an applicable matter identification step to identify the applicable matter
Patent information processing method. 13. A plurality of patent progress information for a patent case
Based on the latest patent status, rights are granted, extinguished
Status or undecided status
Based on other results, the status of rights granted and expired for each patent case
State, and rights Information of one of the undetermined states is stored as information
To perform search processing related to the latest patent status storage means
The status of patents has been granted and the rights have expired.
Status and rights pending status
For making a request to identify the patent case in question
A patent information processing method comprising: