Methods and systems for facilitating communications between parties
First Claim
1. A method operable on a computer for facilitating communications between a user and a sponsor, comprising:
- receiving from each of a plurality of sponsors respective product and contact information;
creating a plurality of topical indicators;
associating with each of the plurality of topical indicators a respective subset of the plurality of sponsors;
receiving from a user an identification of a selected topical indicator of interest to the user; and
transmitting, automatically to the respective subset of the plurality of sponsors associated with the selected topical indicator, using the respective contact information, a communication indicating the user interest.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for facilitating communications and commerce between remote device users and merchants or sponsors, particularly adapted for small-screen portable devices such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants. The invention enables sponsors to quickly and easily, without the requirement for specialized or expensive equipment, establish Web sites to advertise their products and services. The invention provides unique, intuitive graphical interfaces enabling users to find Web sites of interest easily and quickly amongst many sites. In addition to real-time, direct sponsor-user communications, the system further includes features such as response time prioritization, which enable users to quickly determine the relevance of a sponsor response.
66 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method operable on a computer for facilitating communications between a user and a sponsor, comprising:
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receiving from each of a plurality of sponsors respective product and contact information;
creating a plurality of topical indicators;
associating with each of the plurality of topical indicators a respective subset of the plurality of sponsors;
receiving from a user an identification of a selected topical indicator of interest to the user; and
transmitting, automatically to the respective subset of the plurality of sponsors associated with the selected topical indicator, using the respective contact information, a communication indicating the user interest. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for facilitating communications between a user and a sponsor, comprising:
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means for receiving from each of a plurality of sponsors respective product and contact information;
means for creating a plurality of topical indicators;
means for associating with each of the plurality of topical indicators a respective subset of the plurality of sponsors;
means for receiving from a user an identification of a selected topical indicator of interest to the user; and
means for transmitting, automatically to the respective subset of the plurality of sponsors associated with the selected topical indicator, using the respective contact information, a communication indicating the user interest. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for facilitating communications between a user and a sponsor, comprising:
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a memory containing control instructions; and
a processor connected to the memory and operative with the control instructions in the memory to perform the steps of;
receiving from each of a plurality of sponsors respective product and contact information;
creating a plurality of topical indicators;
associating with each of the plurality of topical indicators a respective subset of the plurality of sponsors;
receiving from a user an identification of a selected topical indicator of interest to the user; and
transmitting, automatically to the respective subset of the plurality of sponsors associated with the selected topical indicator, using the respective contact information, a communication indicating the user interest.
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18. A method operable on a computer for facilitating communications between a user and a sponsor, comprising:
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submitting to a system information relating to a product for grouping with like products by topic and for transmission to a plurality of users;
submitting to the system contact information; and
receiving from the system automatically, as part of a group of communications based upon the expression of interest in a topic by a user, a first communication from an anonymous user of the system, the anonymous user having viewed the information relating to the product. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for facilitating communications between a user and a sponsor, comprising:
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a memory storing control instructions;
a processor connected to the memory and operative with the control instructions to perform the steps of;
submitting to a system information relating to a product for grouping with like products by topic and for transmission to a plurality of users;
submitting to the system contact information; and
receiving from the system automatically, as part of a group of communications based upon the expression of interest in a topic by a user, a first communication from an anonymous user of the system, the anonymous user having viewed the product information.
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23. A system for facilitating communications between a user and a sponsor, comprising:
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means for submitting to a system information relating to a product for grouping with like products by topic and for transmission to a plurality of users;
means for submitting to the system contact information; and
means for receiving from the system automatically, as part of a group of communications based upon the expression of interest in a topic by a user, a first communication from an anonymous user of the system, the anonymous user having viewed the product information.
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Specification