Systems and methods for managing and organizing documents
AssigneeMINDER S.r.l.
InventorTrisha J. Thompson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A document management system and method for efficiently managing documents across multiple subject areas of personal record-keeping, and for allowing a user to quickly identify and process documents that may require future action. An example system includes a first container or organizer having one or more dividers therein, the dividers retaining documents in separate categories, and further includes document retention guidelines aimed at identifying documents that may be removed from the organizers and discarded. The document retention guidelines may specify particular retention actions for managing the documents, and time periods for retaining particular documents in the organizers.
Claims16
A document management system comprising:
- a first organizer displaying in readable form a first classification category on a surface of the first organizer;
- one or more dividers associated with the first organizer, each one of the dividers displaying in readable form a subject associated with the corresponding divider, wherein each of the dividers is configured to segregate one or more documents organized by the subject;
- and
- a document retention legend displayed in readable form on at least one of the dividers, the document retention legend including:
- (a) a retention code with instructions for managing at least one of the one or more documents of the at least one divider, and (b) a retention period with instructions indicating a period of time for retaining at least one of the one or more documents stored within the at least one divider.
A method for managing documents, the method comprising:
- reviewing information displayed in readable form on an incoming first document;
- identifying a classification topic for the incoming document based on the information displayed on the first document;
- identifying an action task associated with the incoming document based on the information, wherein the action task specifies a subsequent action to be performed based on the information on the first document;
- selecting a first organizer of a plurality of organizers based on both of the identified classification topic and the action task associated with the first document;
- storing the first document in the first organizer;
- performing the subsequent action specified by the identified action task;
- following completion of the subsequent action, developing a subsequent storage plan by determining whether to retain the first document in the first organizer or reclassify the first document and store the first document in a second organizer different from the first organizer;
- and
- storing the first document in the first organizer or the second organizer based on the determined subsequent storage plan.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.