Patent Application Titled “Template Based Multi-Party Process Management” Published Online (USPTO 20210342837): International Business Machines Corporation

2021 NOV 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventors CHEN, Jim Chun-ta (Rochester, MN, US); Duffy, Brittany (Rochester, MN, US); Keith, Sophie (Rochester, MN, US); Renault, Jocelyne Beatrice (Rochester, MN, US), filed on April 29, 2020, was made available online on November 4, 2021.

The assignee for this patent application is International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, New York, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present invention relates generally to a method, system, and computer program product for process templating. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method, system, and computer program product for template based multi-party process management.

“Many business processes involve multiple parties, from two or more entities. Such multi-party processes are often required when implementing regulatory processes, compliance processes and certifications that a process has been properly followed or completed, for example for data protection in particular jurisdictions or for particular types of data. For example, Company A might be subject to a data privacy scheme, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) scheme in the European Union, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in California, or the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for health-related data in the United States. If Company A uses Vendor B for data-related services subject to a data protection scheme, Company A might require that Vendor B also be compliant with that scheme, at least as relating to Company A’s data. Data protection compliance processes are only one example of a multi-party process, and many others exist.

“Implementing and certifying compliance with a multi-party process often requires multiple steps, including certifications that an implementation conforms to a requirement or that a task has been performed, as well as performing actual tasks. For example, one sequence might include Customer A requesting a certification from Vendor B, Vendor B responding with a proposal for completing the work required to implement the certification, Customer A approving the proposal, Customer A performing a task and Vendor B approving the performance, Vendor B performing a task and Customer A approving the performance, and more. The necessary tasks and certifications, and the roles of those responsible for performing such tasks and certifications, often vary from entity to entity and from implementation to implementation, resisting standardization and automation.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “The illustrative embodiments provide a method, system, and computer program product. An embodiment includes a method that extracts, from a first group of records of a set of transactions, a set of common transactions, the first group formed based on a criterion, a record corresponding to a transaction in the set of transactions. An embodiment classifies a first transaction in the set of common transactions into a transaction type. An embodiment determines, from a first actor associated with the first transaction, a first role corresponding to the first transaction. An embodiment generates, using the transaction type, the first role, and the time period, a transaction template, the transaction template comprising an action item and a role corresponding to the action item. An embodiment instantiates, using the first transaction template, a transaction, the instantiating generating an action request corresponding to the action item and assigning an actor to the role.

“An embodiment includes a computer usable program product. The computer usable program product includes one or more computer-readable storage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices.

“An embodiment includes a computer system. The computer system includes one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, and one or more computer-readable storage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method comprising: extracting, from a first group of records of a set of transactions, a set of common transactions, the first group formed based on a criterion, a record corresponding to a transaction in the set of transactions; classifying a first transaction in the set of common transactions into a transaction type; determining, from a first actor associated with the first transaction, a first role corresponding to the first transaction; generating, using the transaction type, the first role, and the time period, a transaction template, the transaction template comprising an action item and a role corresponding to the action item; and instantiating, using the first transaction template, a transaction, the instantiating generating an action request corresponding to the action item and assigning an actor to the role.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein assigning an actor to the role further comprises extracting, from a corpus of narrative text, by executing a natural language processing model, information associating the actor with the role.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: notifying the actor of the action request.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: aggregating, into an aggregated action request, the action request with a second action request assigned to the actor; and notifying the actor of the aggregated action request.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, from a time elapsed between the first transaction and a second transaction in the set of common transactions, a time period corresponding to the first transaction; and generating, using the time period, the first transaction template.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein instantiating the transaction further comprises assigning a due date to the action request, the due date corresponding to the time period.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising: notifying the actor of the due date.

“8. A computer program product for template based multi-party process management, the computer program product comprising: one or more computer readable storage media, and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions comprising: program instructions to extract, from a first group of records of a set of transactions, a set of common transactions, the first group formed based on a criterion, a record corresponding to a transaction in the set of transactions; program instructions to classify a first transaction in the set of common transactions into a transaction type; program instructions to determine, from a first actor associated with the first transaction, a first role corresponding to the first transaction; program instructions to generate, using the transaction type, the first role, and the time period, a transaction template, the transaction template comprising an action item and a role corresponding to the action item; and program instructions to instantiate, using the first transaction template, a transaction, the instantiating generating an action request corresponding to the action item and assigning an actor to the role.

“9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein program instructions to assign an actor to the role further comprises program instructions to extract, from a corpus of narrative text, by executing a natural language processing model, information associating the actor with the role.

“10. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising: program instructions to notify the actor of the action request.

“11. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising: program instructions to aggregate, into an aggregated action request, the action request with a second action request assigned to the actor; and program instructions to notify the actor of the aggregated action request.

“12. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising: program instructions to determine, from a time elapsed between the first transaction and a second transaction in the set of common transactions, a time period corresponding to the first transaction; and program instructions to generate, using the time period, the first transaction template.

“13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein program instructions to instantiate the transaction further comprises program instructions to assign a due date to the action request, the due date corresponding to the time period.

“14. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising: program instructions to notify the actor of the due date

“15. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the stored program instructions are stored in the at least one of the one or more storage media of a local data processing system, and wherein the stored program instructions are transferred over a network from a remote data processing system.

“16. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the stored program instructions are stored in the at least one of the one or more storage media of a server data processing system, and wherein the stored program instructions are downloaded over a network to a remote data processing system for use in a computer readable storage device associated with the remote data processing system.

“17. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the computer program product is provided as a service in a cloud environment.

“18. A computer system comprising one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, and one or more computer-readable storage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, the stored program instructions comprising: program instructions to extract, from a first group of records of a set of transactions, a set of common transactions, the first group formed based on a criterion, a record corresponding to a transaction in the set of transactions; program instructions to classify a first transaction in the set of common transactions into a transaction type; program instructions to determine, from a first actor associated with the first transaction, a first role corresponding to the first transaction; program instructions to generate, using the transaction type, the first role, and the time period, a transaction template, the transaction template comprising an action item and a role corresponding to the action item; and program instructions to instantiate, using the first transaction template, a transaction, the instantiating generating an action request corresponding to the action item and assigning an actor to the role.

“19. The computer system of claim 18, wherein program instructions to assign an actor to the role further comprises program instructions to extract, from a corpus of narrative text, by executing a natural language processing model, information associating the actor with the role.

“20. The computer system of claim 18, further comprising: program instructions to notify the actor of the action request.”

For more information, see this patent application: CHEN, Jim Chun-ta; Duffy, Brittany; Keith, Sophie; Renault, Jocelyne Beatrice. Template Based Multi-Party Process Management. Filed April 29, 2020 and posted November 4, 2021. Patent URL: https://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220210342837%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20210342837&RS=DN/20210342837

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