TOKYO, April 11, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UBIC, Inc. (Nasdaq:UBIC) (TSE:2158), a leading provider of international litigation support and big-data analysis services, announced today the introduction of its Big Data Case Management System (litigation version), which can process up to 200 terabytes (TB) of data per application. This new service will be commercially available May 1 of this year.
Featuring a data processing capacity four times greater than UBIC's existing Lit i View® system, UBIC's Big Data Case Management System provides clients with the capability to manage multiple, separate and disparate databases associated with past cases. This is a method to reduce redundant work, such as review and translation of electronic documents already processed in past cases, including the use of past information concerning custodians (persons identified as possessors of potential evidence materials) in a new case.
The new system can integrate and display a variety of information from unrelated databases, even those handled by different service providers, sorted into lists as necessary. A related illustration of UBIC's Big Data Case Management System structure and capabilities can be found by clicking here.
In all, the new system can help companies dramatically reduce eDiscovery costs. Target clients are those companies that manage data volumes greater than one terabyte and spend $300,000 annually to maintain that data. The Big Data Case Management System can integrate a company's litigation data across multiple, independent databases including data handled by different discovery vendors.
The new system has been installed at UBIC's cloud data centers in six cities around the world – Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, London, Silicon Valley and New York – making it possible to process a vast volume of data within the legal limits of the relevant countries. The volume of data UBIC manages is expected to exceed a petabyte this year.
Why UBIC Developed the Big Data Case Management System
Global companies understand the need to prepare for the risk of becoming the target of investigation in civil suits, product liability suits and antitrust cases, at home and abroad. A proactive defense in the form of comprehensive risk management and more intensive information governance is regarded as an important element in this preparation.
In particular, the discovery procedure in the United States, the world's largest legal market, poses a significant challenge for companies involved in lawsuits there. The discovery procedure requires each party in a litigation case to disclose evidence to each other prior to trial. The parties involved must submit potential evidenciary materials, which are drawn from electronic data and written documents, in a prescribed format by a preset deadline. The electronic data stored in just one personal computer is equivalent in volume to several truckloads of paper. Extracting relevant materials from such a massive volume of data, which is a costly and time-consuming process if done by human reviewers, is exactly the work to which big data analysis techniques are well suited.
UBIC released its Lit i View® eDiscovery support tool in March 2010 and introduced its Predictive Coding capability, which is based on text mining and artificial intelligence technologies, in 2012. At present, UBIC has handled more than 360 discovery cases involving major Japanese companies, an achievement that has established the company as a pioneer in the field of comprehensive discovery support in Asia.
Often, after a legal matter has been closed, relevant data collected in case will be archived and forgotten as no longer useful material. Should a similar case arise, very often discovery work must start over from the beginning, making it necessary to process the same data once again.
The legal cost of a typical business lawsuit is estimated to be around $5 million to $7 million of which around 70 percent is presumably attributable to the discovery cost.
Making the discovery work more efficient is a key to slashing the costs involved. To do so, UBIC strived to develop this innovative new service that makes it possible to place relevant data collected in past cases under integrated management as "information assets." Client companies may use such assets to cut back on time and cost in future cases so that they can better focus on executing a successful litigation strategy.
Dramatic Increase in Data Processing Power
To achieve the abovementioned goal, it was essential to fully upgrade the cloud infrastructure necessary for massive data processing. Previously, the maximum processing capacity available for the Lit i View® application was 50TB, already the largest processing capacity available in the eDiscovery industry. However, given the volumes of data that could be recycled in successive cases, UBIC has undertaken to boost it processing power and capacity by a factor of four to 200TB. This increase is the result of a review and modification of all system layers, including the operating system and storage layers, in order to enable dispersed data management.
Such massive capacity makes it possible to bring under integrated management various data sets concerning a client's past cases, even those stored by different discovery services providers. This facilitates recycling of relevant data and knowledge accumulated through past cases for new cases.
The new system provides a number of unique functions and features, among them the Case Management Function and the Custodian Management Function.
Case Management Function – this allows separate litigation case data, even those handled by different discovery support vendors, to be placed under integrated management. Users can easily find relevant information by searching a consolidated database that contains several data sets. Data concerning all cases can be sorted by file type, date of preservation and relevance into lists as necessary, and the contents of relevant files can be checked.
As users can check the results of document reviews from past cases, they can avoid reviewing or translating relevant documents already processed in past cases, thereby achieving efficiency improvements and cost reductions. It is also possible to check information concerning the law firms that handled specific cases as well as the data history, including the status of data transfer.
Custodian Management Function – this function manages information concerning custodians (persons identified as possessors of potential evidence materials). The function makes it easy to locate persons identified as custodians in the past and reutilize and recycle their associated data in a new case.
Information concerning past cases, types of data preserved, preservation methods and the dates of the most recent updates can be sorted and displayed by custodian name. By tapping past data concerning custodians in a new case, this function reduces the time and cost required for discovery work.
UBIC's new service is expected to be particularly useful in intellectual property-related litigation cases, which tend to arise repeatedly in relation to similar technologies and products. It will also be highly effective in dealing with "spinoff lawsuits" e.g., a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department may spill over into Europe, triggering a series of related civil suits there.
The service can be applied to any field in which big data has a role to play. In addition to the litigation version of the service, UBIC is exploring other possible applications, including an audit version.
To help companies cope with litigation successfully with less investment in time and cost, UBIC will continue to develop its big data capability and provide solutions that make more effective use of "information assets" or relevant data identified through big data analysis. UBIC can provide proactive support to companies that face the risk of litigation from the perspective of "damage control" i.e., helping companies minimize damages they may suffer, assess the damage incurred and continue business operations at the same time.
About UBIC
UBIC, Inc. (Nasdaq:UBIC) (TSE:2158) is a leading provider of e-discovery and digital forensic services for Asia and the world. UBIC has extensive experience working with electronically stored information composed in Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) languages and utilizes that expertise for clients involved in cross-border litigation, corporate investigations, intellectual property disputes and much more. At the forefront of e-discovery innovation, UBIC's proprietary Lit i View® platform is moving the industry from "fact discovery" to "future discovery" by allowing clients to analyze e-mail messages and digital communications found in big data to reveal patterns in human thought and behavior.
For more information about UBIC, contact us info@ubicna.com or visit http://www.ubicna.com
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the amount of data that UBIC expects to manage this year and the potential uses for UBIC's new service in intellectual property-related litigation, contain forward-looking statements. UBIC may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about UBIC's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: UBIC's goals and strategies; UBIC's expansion plans; the expected growth of the data center services market; expectations regarding demand for, and market acceptance of, UBIC's services; UBIC's expectations regarding keeping and strengthening its relationships with customers; UBIC's plans to invest in research and development to enhance its solution and service offerings; and general economic and business conditions in the regions where UBIC provides solutions and services. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in UBIC's reports filed with, or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. UBIC does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and UBIC undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
