Computerized system for managing preparation and prosecution of applications in various countries for protection of industrial property rights
First Claim
1. A system for managing preparation and prosecution of applications to be filed in various countries for protection of industrial property rights, comprising:
- first means including a memory for storing information concerning each application, including at least an identification of an application and an identification of at least a country in which the application is filed;
second means involving a memory for storing at least one rule for controlling processing of applications throughout preparation and prosecution of at least an application, said at least one rule being established with respect to each country in which the application is to be filed for defining an order of steps to be taken during preparation and prosecution of the application and for establishing at least a time table for due dates for taking such action with respect to the corresponding country, said one rule being accessible by identifying the country in which the application is filed;
third means for displaying necessary information and guidance for processing the application including entry of data according to the rule stored in said second means; and
fourth means for allowing entry of data and commands for operating the managing system and controlling updating of contents in said first and/or second memory means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computerized system for managing preparation and prosecution of applications for protection of industrial property rights in various contries includes a data memory which stores a rule data for controlling input, output and internal operation of the system. The rule data includes information concerning required actions at each step of prosecution of applications in each country when the applications are filed. Such rule data is so designed as to provide proper guidance to the operator for guiding proper entry of input data in order to avoid error in operation. Preferably, the rule data consists of common rule data components which are commonly applicable for applications in any country and local rule data components which are specifically applicable for a specific country.
153 Citations
76 Claims
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1. A system for managing preparation and prosecution of applications to be filed in various countries for protection of industrial property rights, comprising:
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first means including a memory for storing information concerning each application, including at least an identification of an application and an identification of at least a country in which the application is filed; second means involving a memory for storing at least one rule for controlling processing of applications throughout preparation and prosecution of at least an application, said at least one rule being established with respect to each country in which the application is to be filed for defining an order of steps to be taken during preparation and prosecution of the application and for establishing at least a time table for due dates for taking such action with respect to the corresponding country, said one rule being accessible by identifying the country in which the application is filed; third means for displaying necessary information and guidance for processing the application including entry of data according to the rule stored in said second means; and fourth means for allowing entry of data and commands for operating the managing system and controlling updating of contents in said first and/or second memory means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system for managing preparation and prosecution of applications to be filed in various countries for protection of industrial property rights, comprising:
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first means including a memory for storing information concerning at least an application, said first memory means comprising a database file including identification of said application, identification of at least a country in which the application is filed, and filing particulars for each respective application; second means including a memory for storing a rule table of steps for controlling processing of said at least one application throughout preparation and prosecution of the application and a time table for controlling calculation of the term for the application, said steps in said rule table being established with respect to each country in which to file the application for defining an order of steps to be taken during preparation and prosecution of the application, said steps in said rule table being identified by given step numbers and establishing a time table for determining due dates for taking action with respect to the corresponding country and accessible by identifying the country and step number of a corresponding step set in said rule table for processing the application; third means for establishing a case data file containing a plurality of file pages, each of which is adapted to store file data with respect to the subject application, said stored file data including a history data showing the history of preparation and prosecution and current status of the subject application, each file page of said case file further including data showing a due date for taking necessary action derived from and based on entered data according to said time table; and fourth means for allowing entry of data and command for operating the managing system and controlling updating of contents in said first and/or second memory means. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A system for managing preparation and prosecution of applications to be filed in various countries for protection of industrial property rights, comprising:
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first means including a memory for storing information concerning each application, said first memory means comprising a database file including at least an identification of each application, at least an identification of a country to file the application, and filing particulars; second means including a memory for storing a rule table for controlling processing of an application throughout preparation and prosecution of the application and a time table for controlling calculation of the term for the application, said rule table being established with respect to each country to file the application for defining an order of steps to be taken for action during preparation and prosecution of the application, said steps in said rule table being identified by given step numbers and establishing a time table for determining due dates for taking action with respect to the corresponding country and accessible by identifying the country and step number of a corresponding step set in said rule table in the process of application; third means including a memory for establishing a case data file containing a plurality of file pages, each of which is adapted to stored file data with respect to a subject application, said stored file data including a history data showing the history of preparation and prosecution and current status of the subject application, each file page of said case file further including data showing a due date for taking necessary action derived based on entered data according to said time table; fourth means including a memory for storing a plurality of display formats, each of which corresponds to one of said steps set in said rule table and is accessible by identifying the subject step by setting said step number, and each of said display formats includes guidances for requiring entry of data; a display; and fifth means for allowing entry of data and command for operating the managing system, reading out one of said display formats according to said step number for displaying a selected one of display formats on said display, and controlling updating of contents against the selected display format. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A system for managing preparation and prosecution of applications to be filed in various countries for protection of industrial property rights, comprising:
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first means including a memory for storing information concerning each application, said first memory means comprising a database file including an identification of each application, an identification of country to file the application, and filing particulars; second means including a memory for storing a rule table for controlling processing of said at least one application throughout preparation and prosecution of the application and a time table for controlling calculation of term, said at least one rule being established with respect to each country to file the application for defining an order of steps to be taken for action during preparation and prosecution of the application, said steps in said rule table being identified by given step numbers and for establishing a time table for determining due dates for taking action with respect to the corresponding country and accessible by identifying the country and step number of a corresponding step set in said rule table in the processing of the application; third means including a memory for establishing a case data file containing a plurality of file pages, each of which is adapted to store file data with respect to a subject application, said stored file data including a history data showing the history of the preparation and prosecution and current status of the subject application, each file page of said case file further including data showing due date for taking necessary action derived based on entered data according to said time table; fourth means including a memory for storing a plurality of printer document formats, each of which corresponds to one of said steps set in said rule table and is accessible by identifying the subject step by setting said step number; a printer; and fifth means for allowing entry of data and command for operating the managing system, reading out one of said printer document formats according to a set step number for displaying a selected one of printer document formats for preparing a letter, and controlling updating of contents in said first, second, third and fourth memory means. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A system for managing preparation and prosecution of applications for protection of industrial property rights, comprising:
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first memory means for storing information concerning each application, including identification of the corresponding application to be managed; second memory means for storing at least a rule for controlling processing of at least corresponding one of the applications throughout preparation and prosecution of the application, said rule defining an order of steps to be taken during preparation and prosecution of the application and establishing a time table for due dates for taking action in the application, said rule including identification of at least a next step to be taken; third means for displaying necessary information and guidance for processing the application including entry of data according to the rule stored in said second means; and fourth means for allowing entry of data and commands for operating the managing system and controlling updating of contents in said first and/or second memory means. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
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Specification