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Professional time tracking and recouping system and softwareRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, Or Cost/price Determination, Automated Electrical Financial Or Business Practice Or Management ArrangementProfessional time tracking and recouping system and software description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070226003, Professional time tracking and recouping system and software. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(e) for provisional application No. 60/148,491 filed on Aug. 12, 1999. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The Internet provides a vast array of materials, which are essential for legal, scientific, medical, accounting, consulting financial, business evaluation, and insurance work. These materials include textual documents, multimedia materials, databases, and other forms of information. [0003] In the legal field, the types of information being placed online (on the Internet) include court decisions, federal, state, and local statutes, and other governmental information. Law firms make extensive use of the Internet and need to obtain this information to conduct business for their clients. Similarly, the accounting consulting firms and business consulting firms extensively perform business research and competitive intelligence analysis on the Internet. Scientists and engineers often perform scientific and technical research on the Internet. [0004] In many professions, including law firms, accounting firms, management consulting firms, investigators, and financial and business analysts, the expenses incurred in obtaining the information from the Internet must be recovered from the client. The client, in many instances, will insist on a detailed record of the time spent performing research on the Internet. The clients generally require a detailed list of the work performed including the web sites visited, the time spent on each web site, and what was accomplished. [0005] Traditional methods for time tracking include manually entering 1/4 hour increments on time sheets, or manually entering time increments into a time tracking program running on a mainframe or a personal computer. Some traditional time tracking systems utilize computers and allow lawyers, and other professionals, to select client matter numbers that allocate time to the appropriate client matter, and generate the corresponding charge on an invoice in an electronic manner. Yet, even in these computer-based systems, the time entries and associated charges must be manually entered as a direct interface to the Internet, for the purpose of time tracking does not exist. [0006] In addition to time tracking systems, professionals such as lawyers have access to proprietary commercial databases, which they can use for research. These databases contain information that is commonly termed primary source material, and includes court decisions and other critical information. In the past, the time spent researching on these databases and the database charges were tracked and charged to the client. [0007] Thus, as primary source materials migrate onto the Internet and as more and more professionals (users) use the Internet for access to these materials, the difficulty in tracking and billing for this time increases tremendously, due to the lack of appropriate systems. This results in lost billable time and the increase of costs for manual entry of time records, for the companies and law firms using the Internet. [0008] For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a system and method that can be used to track time spent on the Internet or other network, to monitor sites visited, and to report back the amount of time spent at each site. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for tracking time spent on one or more Internet sites. The tracked information may then be used to generate detailed records containing the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) of the sites visited, the exact time spent on each site, and a record of any downloads, file transfers, or other activities performed by the user. [0010] One or more reports may be generated from the detailed records and list the activity by each user, tabulating the web site accessed and the time spent on that web site. This information may then be utilized to generate an invoice for the work performed. In one embodiment, the reports are stored electronically and are accessed by an invoicing program, which uses the stored data in conjunction with the established hourly rate to generate a detailed invoice for the client. [0011] The present invention may be deployed on a personal computer, and enabled by a service operator who provides the time tracking and recouping system (i.e., a software means). In this implementation, files with web site usage information are sent periodically to the service provider which charges the user of the software based on the amount of time which they spent accessing web sites. The service provider subsequently receives periodic payments for the use of the software. The actual software may be distributed to users free of charge, and revenues can be collected as recurring payments for the use of the system. [0012] In another embodiment, the service provider may charge the user based on Internet usage and the size of the entity (company or law firm) using the software. This charge is generally based on the usage time that is comparatively lower to the hourly rates being charged to the client. Alternatively, a percentage of the charge received from the client by the user may be forwarded to the service provider for the actual use of the system and the software. [0013] One embodiment of the present invention requires the user to enter a user ID and a client matter number upon initiation of the browser or other software used to access the Internet. Entering the user ID and client matter ensures that the usage time will be charged to clients. [0014] A software means in accordance with the principles of the present invention, may operate invisibly in the background, recording each entry including all URLs entered and sites visited. The software means may automatically record all the Internet activity and corresponding usage time. As an optional feature, the user may be provided with a capability to disable the functionality of the software, when the user does not wish to track the Internet usage time. [0015] The file containing Internet usage information may be stored locally or on a server accessible via a network. The system administrator may generate, based on the Internet usage information, a variety of reports that summarize the amount of time spent by each user at each site. This information may be manually uploaded or electronically downloaded directly into the firm's time and billing software, which permits recovery of the costs from the client. [0016] One of the features of the present invention is that privacy of the users and the clients is protected and the confidential information associated with the user and the client is not distributed. The information transmitted to the service provider includes the user ID and the history of the searches with sufficient detail to calculate and create an invoice having service charges for using the time tracking and recouping system. This allows the specific and detailed information in reference to that bill to remain protected and precludes the dissemination of the information over the network. The information including the client/matter number, the record of the downloaded files, and any other information related to the client matter remains at the law firm or at other professional sites, and is not disseminated. [0017] In another embodiment of the invention, the principles of the present invention are used to track Internet usage of employees or contractors which are working remotely, including the individuals working at home. The Internet access history may also be used to determine if the employee or contractor has used time searching the Internet appropriately. In some circumstances the remuneration to the employee or contractor may be linked to the effective use of the Internet. [0018] These and other features and objects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments which should be read in light of the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0019] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. [0020] In the drawings: [0021] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary context diagram representing the system in use; Continue reading about Professional time tracking and recouping system and software... Full patent description for Professional time tracking and recouping system and software Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Professional time tracking and recouping system and software patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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