Abstract:
A reminder and actioning system responds to approaching due dates by by sending e-mails to the clients to which they relate. The e-mails contains links of some form so that the client can be taken easily to an instruction giving web page. The web page lists the approaching due dates and allows the client to instruct the operator to perform the actions due on the listed dates. The due dates may be for payment of patent, design or trade mark renewal fees.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a reminder and actioning system.  
         BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Proprietors of patents, patent applications, registered designs, registered trade marks and other registered intellectual property rights are usually required to pay renewal fees in order to retain their rights. The burden placed on proprietors to ensure that these fees are paid is high and an inadvertent failure to pay can often lead to the loss of a valuable patent, for example.  
           [0003]    Presently, many firms offer a renewals payment service. Typically, such a service involves maintaining a record of a customers patents etc. and either paying the renewals as they fall due or sending a letter requesting instructions to a client as a renewal due date approaches. In the second case, it is necessary that the letter be seen by someone who appreciates its importance and that a letter of instruction be prepared and sent.  
           [0004]    The loss of reminder letters and the failure to respond in a timely manner are a significant problem for smaller enterprises where managerial focus is often directed to the production and selling of the firm&#39;s products, rather than more abstract matters such as intellectual property.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a technology-based system for overcoming these problems.  
           [0006]    According to the present invention, there is provided a method comprising:  
           [0007]    maintaining a record of information for determining the approach of task due dates for a plurality of client entities;  
           [0008]    maintaining hypermedia server means, e.g. a web server and associated CGI (Common Gateway Interface) programs or server-side scripts, for receiving task performance instructions;  
           [0009]    at a plurality of times, sending an electronic message, e.g. e-mails, to each client entity for which a task due date falls within a succeeding predetermined period; and  
           [0010]    receiving an instruction to perform a task from a client entity by means of the hypermedia server means,  
           [0011]    wherein said electronic messages include means for causing a client entity to request a page from the hypermedia server means.  
           [0012]    A “due date” of a task is a date not later than the last date on which the task may be performed. A person performing the present invention may wish to use a date before an actual due date as a notional due date to allow for communication delays. Also, the calculation of due dates may not make allowance for dies non.  
           [0013]    Preferably, the electronic messages do not identify the task due dates to which they relate. Thus, the client entity is forced to enter a position to give instructions before receiving the full information, making it less likely for the client entity to defer issuing instructions and possibly missing a deadline.  
           [0014]    Preferably the method includes, after receiving said page request, building an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) form with a control element for each task due date for the requesting client entity, the control elements being configured for indicating whether the respective task is to be performed.  
           [0015]    Preferably, the method includes responding to said page request by sending a login form to the requesting client entity, the login form including controls for the input of a username and a password.  
           [0016]    Preferably the method includes performing said task in response to said instruction. More preferably, said task is payment of a renewal fee for an intellectual property right.  
           [0017]    According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for administering a repetitive task, the apparatus comprising:  
           [0018]    hypermedia server means, e.g. a web server and associated CGI programs, for receiving task performance instruction; and  
           [0019]    data processing means configured for maintaining a record of information for determining the approach of task due dates for a plurality of client entities and, at a plurality of times, sending an electronic message, e.g. an e-mail, to each client entity for which a task due date falls within a succeeding predetermined period,  
           [0020]    wherein said electronic messages include means for causing a client entity to request a page from the hypermedia server means.  
           [0021]    Preferably, the electronic messages do not identify the task due dates to which they relate.  
           [0022]    Preferably, the hypermedia server means is configured for building an HTML form with a control element for each task due date for the requesting client entity, after receiving said page request, the control elements being configured for indicating whether the respective task is to be performed.  
           [0023]    Preferably, the web server is responsive to said page request to send a login form to the requesting client entity, the login form including controls for the input of a username and a password.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0024]    [0024]FIG. 1 shows a system according to the present invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 2 shows the client site of FIG. 1;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 shows the server site of FIG. 1;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a client entity registration process;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a reminder process;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a payment instruction process;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 7 shows a web page produced in the payment instruction process; and  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a payment process.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0032]    An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0033]    Referring to FIG. 1, a client site  1  can communicate with a server site  2  via the Internet  3 . Funds and messages can be sent from the server site  2  to a patent office  4  or a subcontractor  5 . The server site  2  can also communicate with a credit card company  6 .  
         [0034]    Referring to FIG. 2, the client site  1  comprises a personal computer  11  supporting a web browser  12 , such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 5, and an e-mail client program  13  such as is provided by Microsoft Outlook Express. The personal computer  11  includes a modem  14  for providing dial-up access to the Internet  3  via an Internet service provider site (not shown).  
         [0035]    Referring to FIG. 3, the server site  2  comprises a powerful personal computer  21  which is directly connected to the Internet  3 . The powerful personal computer  21  supports a web server  22 , such as Apache, first to fourth CGI programs  23 ,  24 ,  25 ,  26  associated therewith, a database  27 , an e-mail client  28 , a reminder program  29 , a payment program  30 , a payment list  31  and confirmation program  32 . The powerful personal computer  21  is also connected to a printer  33 .  
         [0036]    The database contains a client entity table, a case table and a diary table. The client entity table includes id, name, postal address, e-mail address, username, password and credit card details columns. The case table includes case reference, client entity, country, type and number columns. The diary table includes case reference, due date, paid provisional and paid final columns.  
         [0037]    Referring to FIG. 4, when a client wishes to use the server  2 , it uses the web browser  12  to view a home page of the server site  2  (step s 1 ). The client entity can then follow a hyperlink to a first registration page (step s 2 ). The first registration page is a conventional username and password setting form and has an associated, first CGI program  23 .  
         [0038]    When the username and password have been entered by the user entity (step s 3 ), the first CGI program  23  stores them in the client entity table (step s 4 ) and generates a welcome page which is displayed by the web browser  12  (step s 5 ).  
         [0039]    The client entity can then follow a hyperlink to a second registration page (step s 6 ). The second registration page is an HTML form having controls for receiving the client entity&#39;s name and postal and e-mail addresses, details (country, type, number, filing date, grant date) of the client entity&#39;s ip (intellectual property) portfolio and credit card details and is produced by a second CGI program  24 . In this case, no parameters are passed to the second CGI program  24  so the controls are empty and the form has instructions telling the user entity to fill in the required details. When the client entity submits the form (step s 7 ), the details entered are passed as parameters. The second CGI program  24  is again called. However, in response to the presence of the parameters, it first checks that all of the credit card details are present (step s 8 ). If any credit card details are missing or obviously incorrect, the second CGI program  24  resends the second registration page (step s 6 ). However, in this case, the second registration page shows the ip portfolio information that the user entity entered, the credit card details entered by the user entity and an indication of the error in the credit card details. The user entity can then correct the credit card details and resubmit the form (step s 7 ) which is again processed by the second CGI program  24 .  
         [0040]    If the credit card details are apparently correct (step s 8 ), the second CGI program  24  checks the ip portfolio details for completeness (step s 9 ). If the ip portfolio details are incomplete, the second CGI program  24  resends the second registration page (step s 6 ). The resent page shows the ip portfolio information that the user entity entered, the credit card details entered by the user entity and an indication of the error in the ip portfolio details. The user entity can then correct the ip portfolio details and resubmit the form (step s 7 ) which is again processed by the second CGI program  24 .  
         [0041]    If all of the details are deemed correct by the second CGI program  24 , it stores the entered client entity and credit card details in the client entity table (step s 10 ) and the ip portfolio item details in the case table (steps s 11 ). The second CGI program  24  then determines the next renewal fee due dates for the entered ip portfolio items and stores these dates in a diary table (steps s 12  and s 13 ). Finally, the second CGI program  24  generates a confirmation page that is sent to the web browser (step s 14 ).  
         [0042]    The generation and transmission of reminders will now be described with reference to FIG. 5. At regular intervals, e.g. weekly, a reminder program  29  is run on the powerful personal computer  21 , this program retrieves the e-mail addresses of client entities for whom there are renewals due dates within the following three months from the database by means of a suitable SQL statement (step s 21 ). The reminder program then sends an e-mail to each of the retrieved addresses (step s 22 ). These e-mails comprise at least the URL of a login page of the web server and preferably a symbolic link to that page. Consequently, the client entity receiving such a message can simply “click”, or the equivalent thereof, on the URL or symbolic link in the displayed e-mail to cause the web browser to retrieve the login page.  
         [0043]    A client instruction process will now be described with reference to FIG. 6. When a client entity receives an e-mail from the reminder program, it opens the e-mail (step s 31 ) and “clicks” on the URL or symbolic link (step s 32 ), causing the web browser to request the login page (step s 33 ). The login page is a conventional HTML login form and has a submit button. When the submit button is clicked (step s 34 ), the username and password entered by the client entity are passed as parameters to the third CGI program  25 .  
         [0044]    The third CGI program  25  checks the username and password (step s 35 ) and, if they are not correct, causes the login form to be resent to the web browser  12  (step s 33 ). If the username and password are correct, the third CGI program  25  generates an HTML form web page having three sections (see FIG. 7). For the first section the third CGI program retrieves, for the logged in client entity, the reference id, the country, the type and the number for each renewal due in the period from seven days after the present to three months after the present and generates HTML to display this information with a checkbox control  40  for each renewal (step s 36 ). The “value” of each checkbox control  40  is set to the reference id of the corresponding case. For the second section, the third CGI program  25  retrieves, for the logged in client entity, the reference id, the country, the type and the number for each renewal due in the following seven days and generates HTML to display this information with an invitation to the client entity to call the server operator by telephone (step s 37 ). For the third section, the third CGI program  25  retrieves, for the logged in client entity, the reference id, the country, the type and the number for each renewal due in the preceding year for which the paid final field is not TRUE and generates HTML to display this information with a notice to the effect that these items had lapsed according to the server operator&#39;s records (step s 38 ). The generated HTML form is sent to the web browser  12  (step s 39 ).  
         [0045]    In order to have selected renewal fees paid, the client entity checks the checkbox controls  40  corresponding to the renewals to be paid (steps s 40 ) and submits the form (step s 41 ), causing the “values” of the checked checkboxes to be passed as parameters. These parameters are then processed by the fourth CGI program  26 . The fourth CGI program  26  adds these parameters, which are case reference ids, to the list of renewals to be paid  31  (step s 42 ) and sets the paid provisional fields to TRUE in the corresponding diary table records (step s 43 ). The fourth CGI program  26  then generates a confirmation page which is sent to the web browser (step s 44 ).  
         [0046]    The payment of renewal fees will now be described with reference to FIG. 8. At regular intervals, e.g. daily, the payer program  30  reads and clears the list of renewals to be paid  31  (step s 51 ) and for each item generates the appropriate instructing document, e.g. letter, fax or e-mail, to be sent to the relevant patent office or a local address for service and any necessary cheques or deposit account authorisations (step s 52 ). Paper documents are produced using the printer  33 . The documents are then sent to their appropriate destinations. The payer program also requests payment for the renewal payments from the credit card company or companies of the client entities for whom the renewals are being paid (step s 53 ).  
         [0047]    The confirmation program  32  is used by an operator to set paid final fields in a diary table to TRUE when confirmation of a payment is received. The confirmation program also informs the operator of overdue confirmations and calculates the next renewal date for each case for which the paid final field is set to TRUE.  
         [0048]    It will be appreciated that many variations may be made to the above-described embodiment. For instance world wide web technology may be superceded by a technology providing similar but enhanced functionality. Furthermore, the present invention may be performed over an network other than the Internet, for instance the MIPEX network.  
         [0049]    The page illustrated in FIG. 7 may be modified to show the cost of paying each renewal shown in the first section and the user entity may be presented with the options of confirming or cancelling the payment of the renewal fees after having the total cost for the checked renewals displayed.  
         [0050]    Rather than have renewal dates calculated by the confirmation program  32 , the renewal dates for the whole possible term of an ip right may be calculated, by the second CGI program  24 , when the case it added to the system by a client entity.  
         [0051]    As an alternative to credit card payment, a client entity may be required to maintain a deposit account with the server operator.  
         [0052]    It will be appreciated that the server site  3  may employ other forms of computers and that the term “personal computer” is not restricted machine suitable for desktop use but as a means of distinguishing a class of relatively small computers from mini-computers and mainframes.  
         [0053]    Furthermore, the system could be employed on an Intranet within a large corporation so that different divisions can easily inform a central intellectual property department of the ip rights that need to be renewed for their operations.