Certification and unique electronic seals for online entities

• US 20040034605A1
• Filed: 08/19/2003
• Published: 02/19/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SquareTrade, Inc. (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SquareTrade, Inc. (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Khaishgi, Ahmed, Quinn, John
• Granted Patent: US 7,020,634 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/75
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3821 Electronic credentials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 Transaction verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4016 involving fraud or risk level assessment in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/182 Alternative dispute resolution

Abstract

The invention provides techniques for issuing electronic seals of certification to online entities, such as online merchants, in a manner that prevents non-certified parties from easily stealing or otherwise misusing the seals. A central seal issuer verifies the credentials, policies or business practices of each merchant and issues a corresponding seal of certification. For each merchant, the seal issuer generates a unique media object representing an electronic seal. The media object includes an encrypted watermark containing an expiration date. The media objects are stored on a seal server such that the merchants can dynamically retrieve and display the electronic seals when accessed by a user. The seal issuer can easily revoke or update the centrally stored seals.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

certifying a plurality of online entities;

storing certification data for each of the plurality of online entities in a database; and

selectively generating corresponding media objects for the online entities for which the respective certification data indicates successful certification, wherein each of the media objects includes media to present a unique seal of certification for each of the entities.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein certifying a plurality of online entities comprises certifying that the online entities agree to participate in an online dispute resolution process associated with an online marketplace, and

wherein generating corresponding media objects comprises generating the media objects to provide a visual indicator that the respective online entities have been certified as agreeing to participate in the online dispute resolution process.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein generating corresponding media objects comprises generating the media objects as recognizable symbols associated with qualities of the online entities including at least one of trustworthiness, reliability, and superior customer service.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

periodically updating the certification data for the entities; and

modifying the media objects based on the updated certification data.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein modifying the media objects comprises:

generating the media objects to have a first visual appearance when the certification data indicates the entity is certified; and

generating the media objects to have different visual appearances when the certification data indicates that the certifications have been revoked.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein modifying the media objects comprises deleting one of the media objects based on the updated data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein certifying a plurality of online entities comprises verifying that the entities are a legitimate business entities.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein certifying a plurality of online entities comprises verifying at least one of:

(a) that a business practice of the entities conforms to a standard, and (b) that the entities agree to conform to the standard.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein certifying a plurality of online entities comprises certifying the online entities upon receiving agreements to participate in online dispute resolution from the entities.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein certifying a plurality of online entities comprises receiving an application for certification via a network.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the entities comprise online merchants, and the certification data includes transaction histories for the entities.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the media objects comprise images.

13. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

store certification data for a plurality of online entities within a database; and

generate corresponding media objects for each of the online entities based on the certification data, wherein each of the media objects includes media to present a unique seal of certification for each of the entities.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

periodically update the certification data for the entities; and

modify the media objects based on the updated certification data.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions that cause a programmable processor to modify the media objects comprise instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

generate the media objects to have a first visual appearance when the certification data indicates the entity is certified; and

generate the media objects to have different visual appearances when the certification data indicates that the certifications have been revoked.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions that cause a programmable processor to modify the media objects comprises instructions that cause a programmable processor to delete one of the media objects based on the updated data.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions that cause a programmable processor to store certification data comprise instructions that cause a programmable processor to store data indicating whether the entities are a legitimate business entities.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions that cause a programmable processor to store certification data comprise instructions that cause a programmable processor to store data indicating at least one of (a) whether a business practice of the entities conforms to a standard, and (b) whether the entities agree to conform to the standard.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions that cause a programmable processor to store certification data comprise instructions that cause a programmable processor to store data indicating whether the entities have agreed to participate in online dispute resolution.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to receive an application for certification via a network.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the entities comprise online merchants, and the instructions that cause a programmable processor to store certification data comprise instructions that cause a programmable processor to store transaction histories for the entities.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the media objects comprise images.

23. A system comprising:

a database to store certification data for a plurality of online entities; and

a server to access the certification data, and generate corresponding media objects for each of the online entities based on the certification data, wherein each of the media objects includes media to present a unique seal of certification for each of the entities.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the server generates the media objects as recognizable symbols associated with qualities of the online entities including at least one trustworthiness, reliability, and superior customer service.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the server periodically accesses the database to update the certification data for the entities, and modifies the media objects based on the updated certification data.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the server generates the media objects to have a first visual appearance when the certification data indicates the entity is certified, and generates the media objects to have different visual appearances when the certification data indicates that the certifications have been revoked.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the server deletes one of the media objects based on the updated data.

28. The system of claim 23, wherein the database stores data that indicates whether the entities are legitimate business entities.

29. The system of claim 23, wherein the database stores data that indicates at least one of (a) whether a business practice of the entities conforms to a standard, and (b) whether the entities agree to conform to the standard.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the database stores data that indicates whether the entities have agreed to participate in an online dispute resolution associated with an online marketplace, and wherein the server generates the media objects to provide a seal of certification indicating that the respective online entities have agreed to participate in the online dispute resolution process.

31. The system of claim 23, wherein the server receives an application for certification from one of the entities via a network.

32. The system of claim 23, wherein the entities comprise online merchants, and the database stores transaction histories for the entities.

33. The system of claim 23, wherein the media objects comprise images.

34. A method comprising:

receiving agreements to participate in online dispute resolution from plurality of online entities; and

generating corresponding media objects for each of the online entities based on receipt of the agreements, wherein each of the media objects includes media to present a unique seal of certification for each of the entities.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising storing data reflecting the agreements for each of the online entities in a database,

wherein generating corresponding media objects comprises generating corresponding media objects for each of the online entities based on the data stored in the database.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the media objects comprise images and the entities comprises online merchants.

37. A method for providing electronic seals of certification for participants in an online marketplace or other intermediary that is accessed via a computer network and enables participants to buy and sell items comprising:

certifying participants in the online marketplace;

storing information for each of the participants within a database, the information for each participant including certification data that indicates a certification status that participant; and

generating corresponding media objects for each of the participants based on the certification data stored in the database, wherein each of the media objects includes media to present a unique seal of certification for each of the participants that indicates the certification status of that participant, and

wherein the media objects have a first visual appearance when the certification data indicates that entity is certified, and different visual appearances when the certification data indicates that the certifications have been revoked.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

receiving a request from a web browser executing on a client device for one of the media objects; and

communicating the requested media object to the web browser for presentment of the respective seal of certification to a user as a portion of a website associated with the online marketplace to indicate the certification status of the one of the participants in the online marketplace associated with the requested media object.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein certifying participants comprises certifying sellers within the marketplace, and

wherein communicating the requested media object to the web browser for presentment of the respective seal of certification as a portion of a website comprises communicating the requested media object to the web browser for presentment of the respective seal of certification to a buyer as a portion of a web page associated with the seller.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein certifying participants in an online marketplace comprises verifying that the participants are a legitimate business entities.

41. The method of claim 37, wherein certifying participants in an online marketplace comprises at least one of verifying that a business practice of the participants conforms to a standard and that the participants agree to conform to certain standards.

42. The method of claim 37, wherein certifying participants in an online marketplace comprises certifying the participant upon receiving agreements to participate in online dispute resolution from the participants.

43. A system comprising:

a database to store information for each of a plurality of online entities; and

a server to certify each of the online entities and generate corresponding media objects for each the online entities based on the certification, wherein each of the media objects includes media to present a unique seal for each of the entities, communicate a requested one of the media objects to a web browser for presentment of the respective seal to a user as a portion of a website, and selectively provide the information stored within the database for the entity associated with requested media object to the user via the web browser.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein after communicating the requested media object to the client device, the server receives a request from the client device to view additional information for the entity corresponding to the requested media object, retrieves the information as a function of a unique identifier provided by the request, and communicates the information to the client device for display to the user.

45. The system of claim 43, wherein the entity comprises an online merchant and the information includes a transaction history for the merchant.

46. The system of claim 43, where the server stores a disclosure setting for each entity, and filters the information based on the disclosure setting.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the server filters the information based on a universal resource locator (URL) received during the request for the information.

48. The system of claim 43, wherein the server provides a web page that includes the information to the user.