E-mail launched web transaction
First Claim
1. A method for initiating an electronic transaction comprising the steps of:
- receiving, at a customer'"'"' computer, a first email to a customer, the first email including a description of an offer and a button for indicating acceptance of the offer;
spawning, at the customer'"'"'s computer, a browser window;
transmitting an indication of acceptance of the offer to a transaction server upon activation of the button by the customer; and
receiving, at the customer'"'"'s computer, a confirmation of receipt of the indication.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a method and apparatus for conducting electronic commerce, an email is sent to a prospective customer. The email includes an offer for sale, a field in which customer information may be entered by the customer, and a button which may be activated by the customer to accept the offer. Upon activation of the button, a secure communications channel is established between the customer'"'"'s computer and a transaction server. The secure channel is preferably established by spawning a browser window and using support for secure channels built into the browser. The acceptance of the offer is sent via the secure channel and a confirmation of the offer is then sent to the customer, preferably to the browser window. The order may be forwarded to a merchant for processing.
23 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for initiating an electronic transaction comprising the steps of:
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receiving, at a customer'"'"' computer, a first email to a customer, the first email including a description of an offer and a button for indicating acceptance of the offer;
spawning, at the customer'"'"'s computer, a browser window;
transmitting an indication of acceptance of the offer to a transaction server upon activation of the button by the customer; and
receiving, at the customer'"'"'s computer, a confirmation of receipt of the indication. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for conducting electronic commerce comprising the steps of:
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sending an email to a recipient, the email including an offer for sale, a button by which the recipient can indicate a desire to accept the offer, and a field in which the recipient can enter customer information, the email being configured to spawn a browser window and cause the browser window to establish a secure communications channel between the browser window and a transaction server; and
receiving the customer information at the transaction server via the secure communications channel. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for conducting electronic commerce comprising the steps of:
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sending an email to a customer, the email including an offer for sale, a field for entering customer information, and a button which the customer may activate to accept the offer;
activating the button;
spawning a browser window;
establishing a secure channel between the browser window and a transaction server;
transmitting an indication of the customer'"'"'s acceptance of the offer via the secure channel;
transmitting a confirmation of the customer'"'"'s acceptance to the browser window; and
transmitting a message from the transaction server to a merchant server indicating that the customer wishes to accept the offer in the email.
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27. A method for conducting electronic commerce comprising the steps of:
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sending an email to a customer, the email including an offer for sale, a field for entering customer information; and
a button which the customer may activate to indicate acceptance of the offer;
receiving at a transaction server a message from the customer over a secure channel, the message indicating acceptance of the offer and including customer information entered by the customer in the field;
transmitting a confirmation message to the customer; and
forwarding the message to a merchant.
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Specification