Method and apparatus for retrieving and formatting information
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for retrieving and formatting information, comprising:
- receiving a unique item descriptor and one or more selection criteria, the one or more selection criteria including at least a position reference and information sorting criteria;
searching a database of merchant uploaded information, the searching based on the unique item descriptor and at least one of the one or more selection criteria;
providing a list of results of the searching, the list of results being formatted based on the information sorting criteria, the list of results including at least one or more locations where an item associated with the unique item descriptor is available; and
providing an option to retrieve additional information about the at least one or more locations, the additional information including at least a layout of the at least one or more locations, the layout including a marker where the item associated with the unique item descriptor is located.
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Abstract
According to a computer-implemented approach for retrieving item information by customers, customers specify one or more item selection criteria in order to obtain information about each individual item(s). According to the approach, a customer provides one or more item selection criteria'"'"'s to a provider and the provider sorts and displays the item information to the customer over a medium such as the Internet.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for retrieving and formatting information, comprising:
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receiving a unique item descriptor and one or more selection criteria, the one or more selection criteria including at least a position reference and information sorting criteria;
searching a database of merchant uploaded information, the searching based on the unique item descriptor and at least one of the one or more selection criteria;
providing a list of results of the searching, the list of results being formatted based on the information sorting criteria, the list of results including at least one or more locations where an item associated with the unique item descriptor is available; and
providing an option to retrieve additional information about the at least one or more locations, the additional information including at least a layout of the at least one or more locations, the layout including a marker where the item associated with the unique item descriptor is located. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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2. A method for retrieving and formatting information, comprising:
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receiving a list of unique item descriptors and one or more selection criteria, the one or more selection criteria including at least a position reference and information sorting criteria;
searching a database of information based on the list of unique item descriptors and one or more selection criteria;
identifying one or more locations where an item associated with at least one unique item descriptor in a list of unique item descriptors is available;
providing the one or more locations based on the information sorting criteria;
providing a price associated with each of the unique item descriptors found in each of the one or more locations; and
providing a total price of the unique item descriptors in the list for each of the one or more locations. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16)
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17. A method for retrieving and formatting information, comprising:
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receiving a unique item descriptor and one or more selection criteria, the one or more selection criteria including at least a position reference and information sorting criteria;
searching a database of merchant uploaded information, the searching based on the unique item descriptor and at least one of the one or more selection criteria;
providing a list of results of the searching, the list of results being formatted based on the information sorting criteria, the list of results including at least one or more physical locations where an item associated with the unique item descriptor is available, the at least one or more physical locations including one or more brick and mortar stores; and
providing an option to retrieve additional information about the at least one or more locations. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A method for retrieving and formatting information, comprising:
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receiving at least one item identifier and a geographic reference;
searching a database for one or more merchants that provide one or more items associated with the at least one item identifier within a selected distance from the geographic reference;
providing a list of the one or more merchants; and
a if the list includes more than one merchant,providing a comparison list of prices offered by the merchants.
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20. A system for retrieving and formatting information, comprising:
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a server computer operable to receive information from one or more merchants;
a user interface module operable to receive a unique item descriptor and one or more selection criteria, the one or more selection criteria including at least a position reference; and
a search module operable to search the information received from the one or more merchants, the searching based on the unique item descriptor and at least one of the one or more selection criteria, the search module further operable to provide a list of one or more merchants that provide at least one item associated with the unique item descriptor within a selected distance from the position reference, and if the list includes more than one merchant, the search module further operable to provide a comparison list of prices offered by the merchants.
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Specification