Computer-guided corporate governance with document generation and execution

• US 9,672,524 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2016
• Issued: 06/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FMR LLC
• Original Assignee: Shoobx Incorporated
• Inventors: Richter, Stephan, Furtado, Jason M, Papa, Steven Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Ruiz, Angelica
• Application Number:
  US15/018,358
• Publication Number:
  US 20160155135A1
• Time in Patent Office: 484 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3331 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/353 into predefined classes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0185 Product, service or business identity fraud
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A system for organizing, managing, and reporting data relating to a corporate entity, comprising; at least one database configured to store a document record relating to a corporate action, the document record further comprising a core record reflecting human-readable information for incorporation into the generated document and stored with the document record, the document record further comprising a set of tags stored with the document record; a business logic module, coupled to the at least one database; and at least one document template stored in the at least one database and comprising instructions for generating, at the business logic module, a document based on the core record with an initial set of tags, wherein a first tag of the set of tags is in a text format and associates a human-readable document type with the document record, thereby providing namespaced tagging and retrieval of document records.

Claims

1. A system for organizing, managing, and reporting data relating to a corporate entity, comprising:

at least one database configured to store a document record relating to a corporate action, the document record further comprising a core record reflecting human-readable information for incorporation into the generated document and stored with the document record, the document record further comprising a set of tags stored with the document record;

a business logic module, coupled to the at least one database; and

at least one document template stored in the at least one database and comprising instructions for generating, at the business logic module, a document based on the core record with an initial set of tags,

wherein a first tag of the set of tags is in a text format and associates a human-readable document type with the document record, and

wherein the at least one database is configured to store the document record with a hierarchically delimited child tag by storing the document record in association with both the hierarchically delimited child tag and additional tags that are hierarchically related as parent tags of the hierarchically delimited child tag, without requiring a user to request storage of both the child tag and the additional parent tags,

thereby providing namespaced tagging and retrieval of document records.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one database is configured to enable search of a plurality of document records based on a tag search query, and wherein the at least one database returns all document records that exactly match the tag search query or that are hierarchically organized under the tag search query.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein a document type of the document record is stored as a tag.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first tag includes a text delimiter for hierarchically organizing document records associated with the first tag.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the text delimiter is a colon (‘

;

’

), a slash (‘

/’

), or a non-alphanumeric character.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user interface coupled to the business logic module for displaying the document record with the set of tags.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a hierarchical schema of tags representing a set of document types stored in the system.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a hierarchical schema of tags representing a set of locations used for retrieval of documents in the system.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the business logic module is further configured to apply a completion status tag when a process changes a completion status of the document record.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the business logic module is further configured to enforce access and change permissions for the document record based on the set of tags associated with the document record.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the business logic module is further configured to generate specific user interface views for the document record based on the set of tags associated with the document record.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the business logic module is further configured to use the set of tags for type tagging, status tagging, approval tagging, retrieval tagging, or permissions tagging of the document record.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one database is configured to store an entity object, the entity object further comprising a set of entity records with each entity record of the set of entity records comprising a value and a provenance of the value, wherein at least one entity record of the set of entity records comprises a provenance that is the document object relating to the corporate action.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of processors coupled to a database over a network.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising an authentication module and an electronic signature manager configured to insert signatures into generated documents.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a delegation manager configured to perform authorization to perform an action in the system using one or more of permissions, roles, principals or groups, and configured to permit principals to delegate a permission or role to another principal in the context of a particular entity, document, or process.

17. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user interface coupled to the business logic module, wherein the user interface is configured to display available stakeholder capabilities, the stakeholder capabilities enabling a user to modify an entity record through a process.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the generated document may be a portable document format document.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the business logic module is configured to retrieve, for a given entity record, a prior-generated document storing a core record referenced by the given entity record and with an active status stored in a tag of the prior-generated document.

20. A method for organizing, managing, and reporting data relating to a corporate entity, comprising:

retrieving an entity record comprising a value and a lineage entry, the lineage entry comprising a value source, the value source referencing a first document;

retrieving a corporate action stored as a computer-readable process definition, the corporate action defining a set of stakeholders;

creating a second document based on the entity record and on stakeholder input;

applying a status tag to the second document indicating a status of the second document in a document workflow,

the status tag being applied as a human-readable, freeform text format data object associated with the second document; and

storing the second document record in association with both a hierarchically delimited child tag and additional tags that are hierarchically related as parent tags of the hierarchically delimited child tag, without requiring a user to request storage of both the child tag and the additional parent tags.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

retrieving a set of documents that includes the second document in response to a query for all active documents,

thereby enabling a user to retrieve documents that reflect a present state of the entity using the status tag.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

waiting for stakeholder approval for the second document; and

applying an approved tag to the second document once stakeholder approval is obtained from each of the set of stakeholders,

thereby using the approved tag in an approval workflow for the second document.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

applying a document type tag to the second document based on contents of the second document; and

retrieving, using the document type tag, the second document and a third document sharing the same document type tag.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the first document is a certificate of incorporation, and the first core record is a corporation name referenced in the certificate of incorporation.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the second document is one of a board resolution, a shareholder consent, a shareholder communication, and a stock plan.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein the first document is a certificate of incorporation, and the second document is an amendment to the certificate of incorporation.

27. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

retrieving an entity record comprising a value and a lineage entry, the lineage entry comprising a value source, the value source referencing a first document;

retrieving a corporate action stored as a computer-readable process definition, the corporate action defining a set of stakeholders;

creating a second document based on the entity record and on stakeholder input;

applying a status tag to the second document indicating a status of the second document in a document workflow,

the status tag being applied as a human-readable, freeform text format data object associated with the second document document; and

storing the second document record in association with both a hierarchically delimited child tag and additional tags that are hierarchically related as parent tags of the hierarchically delimited child tag, without requiring a user to request storage of both the child tag and the additional parent tags.