Collaborative due diligence review system

Abstract

A system for providing a virtual data room for conducting due diligence on a plurality of documents that are remotely located and accessible over a computer network by a plurality of users using client computer systems. Documents are retrieved from the remote system and presented to a user on their local computing system for review and conducting due diligence tasks thereon. Based on the interaction the user has with the displayed document, due diligence status values that are associated with the display document are updated and stored with the virtual data room system. A display request is received and based on the request a display characteristic is calculated for a folder that includes a set of documents. The display characteristic is determined based on the due diligence status values of all of the documents within the folder.

1 . A system for providing a virtual data room for conducting due diligence on a plurality of documents by a plurality of users that communicate with the system via an network, the system comprising:
 a storage medium configured to:
 store the plurality of documents on which due diligence is to be conducted by the plurality of users; and 
 store at least one due diligence status value for each one of the plurality of documents; and 
   a processing system that includes at least one processor, the processing system configured to:
 associate each one of the plurality of documents, indirectly or directly, with at least one folder out of a plurality of folders, a first set of documents of the plurality of documents being associated with a first folder included in the plurality of folders; 
 provide a requested document included in the first set of documents to a user in the plurality of users; 
 update the at least one due diligence status value that is associated with the document based on usage of the document by the user; 
 receive a display request to view a visual representation the first folder from a perspective of the user; 
 determine a displayable characteristic of the first folder based on the at least one due diligence status value associated with each one of the documents in the first set of documents; and 
 responsive to the display request, output data for forming the visual representation of at least the first folder, the visual representation being based on the determined displayable characteristic of the first folder. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one due diligence status value includes a reviewed status value that indicates whether the respective document has been reviewed or not reviewed by at least one user in from the plurality of users. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the visual representation of the first folder is a first visual representation when all of associated documents of the first set of documents have a reviewed status value of not reviewed,   the visual representation of the first folder is a second visual representation when a partial subset of the first set of documents have a reviewed status value of reviewed, and   the visual representation of the first folder is a third visual representation when all of the first set of documents has a reviewed status value of reviewed.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the reviewed status value of the document is updated to indicate that the document has been reviewed when the user has the document open for more than a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one due diligence status value includes an assignment due diligence task value that indicates whether the respective document is associated with a due diligence task that is assigned to at least one user of the plurality of users. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to manage permissions on each one of a plurality of items such that each one of the plurality of users is associated with at least one of the plurality of items, wherein the plurality of items includes the plurality of documents and/or the plurality of folders, and
 the managed permissions include a record that the user in the plurality of users has access to the first set of the documents.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to:
 receive a second display request to view a second visual representation associated with a group of folders in the plurality of folders from a perspective of a group of users in the plurality of users;   determine a respective displayable characteristic of each one of the folders in the group of folders based on the at least one due diligence status value associated with each one of the documents associated, directly or indirectly, with the respective folder; and   responsive to the second display request, output data for forming the second visual representation associated with the group of folders, the second visual representation of each icon based on the respective displayable characteristics of each one of the folders in the group of folders.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first folder is associated with other documents out of the plurality of documents that are not within the first set of documents. 
     
     
         9 . A method of providing information to a group of users conducting due diligence through a virtual data room system, the virtual data room system including at least one processor, the method comprising:
 storing a plurality of files on a storage medium system that is associated with the virtual data room system;   managing a plurality of folders, each one of the plurality of managed folders associated, directly or indirectly, with at least one of the plurality of stored files, the plurality of folders including a first folder that is associated with a first group of stored files out of the plurality of stored files;   storing, on the storage medium system, at least one due diligence status value for each one of the plurality of stored files;   tracking user interaction with a stored file in the first group of stored files;   updating the at least one due diligence status value that is associated with the stored file based on the tracked user interaction with the stored file;   calculating, via the at least one processor, a display characteristic associated with the first folder based on each one of the due diligence status values associated with the first group of stored files in the first folder; and   outputting data that represents a visual indication of the first folder that is to be displayed on a display device to a user, the visual indication based on the calculated display characteristic.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one due diligence status value includes a reviewed status value that indicates whether the stored file has been reviewed. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the visual indication is a first visual indication when all of the files in the first group of stored files have a reviewed status value of not reviewed,   the visual indication is a second visual indication when a partial subset of the first group of stored files have a reviewed status value of reviewed, and   the visual indication is a third visual indication when all of the first group of stored files has a reviewed status value of reviewed.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one due diligence status value includes an assignment task value that indicates whether the stored file has an outstanding task assigned to at least one user of the group of users. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 assigning permissions to each one of the plurality of stored files, each one of the assigned permissions associated with at least one user of the group of users and/or the group up of users of the virtual data room system.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein calculation of the display characteristic that is associated with the first folder is based on files for which the user has access based on the assigned permissions. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein calculation of the display characteristic that is associated with the first folder is based on files for which a group of users have access based on the assigned permissions. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for use with a virtual data room system for performing due diligence on securely stored information that is remotely accessible to a plurality of users, the securely stored information being segregated into a plurality of different portions, each of which is respectively associated with at least one due diligence status value, the stored instructions comprising instructions configured to:
 associate each one of the plurality of different portions of the stored information with at least one virtual container out of a plurality of virtual containers, each one of the virtual containers being associated with an identifier, a first portion of the stored information being associated with a first virtual container out of the plurality of virtual containers;   receive a request from a remote computing device to retrieve the first portion of the stored information;   send the first portion of the stored information to the remote computing terminal responsive to the received request;   update the at least one status value of the first portion based on a determined interaction with the first portion;   receive a display request to view a visual representation of at least the first virtual container;   determine a display characteristic of the first virtual container based on the at least one status value associated with each one of the plurality of different portions that are associated with the first virtual container; and   responsive to the display request, output data for forming the visual representation of at least the first virtual container, the visual representation being based on the determined display characteristic.   
     
     
         17 . The medium of  claim 16 , wherein the first portion of the stored information that is sent to the remote computing terminal is encrypted. 
     
     
         18 . The medium of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one status value includes a reviewed status value that indicates whether the respective portion of stored information has been reviewed or not reviewed. 
     
     
         19 . The medium of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the visual representation of at least the first virtual container is a first visual representation when all associated portions of stored information have a reviewed status value of not reviewed,   the visual representation of at least the first virtual container is a second visual representation when a partial subset of the associated portions of stored information have a reviewed status value of reviewed, and   the visual representation of at least the first virtual container is a third visual representation when all of the associated portions of stored information have a reviewed status value of reviewed.   
     
     
         20 . The medium of  claim 16 , wherein the display request includes an indication of a particular user of a group of users and the visual representation is based on the indication. 
     
     
         21 . The medium of  claim 16 , wherein the visual representation is a characteristic of an icon and the visual representation of the icon changes based on the determined display characteristic.