RECIPROCAL DATA FILE PUBLISHING AND MATCHING SYSTEM

• US 20070150302A1
• Filed: 03/06/2007
• Published: 06/28/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RelaPhi LLC
• Original Assignee: Digital Discoveries, Inc.
• Inventors: McCall, Danny, Evans, Kimberly, Kolda, Kenneth, Hurt, Christopher, Thorndike, Karl, Kitzmiller, Sean, Merrick, Martin, Ivey, M., Pecoraro, Alexis
• Granted Patent: US 7,519,594 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/148 File search processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2468 Fuzzy queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/194 Calculation of difference between files
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 7/023 Learning or tuning the parameters of a fuzzy system
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1053 Employment or hiring
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A method of reciprocally publishing and matching data files is disclosed. The method includes facilitating the creation of Category A and Category B data files having a respective sets of characteristics defined utilizing a common language architecture, associating enhancement objects with each data file, identifying characteristics in each data file which must be met by other data files, weighting characteristics in each data file differently from other characteristics in the same data file, enabling the selection of participation levels for each data file in marketspaces, and matching Category A data files participating in particular marketspaces to Category B data files participating in the same marketspaces using the common language architecture, the enhancement objects, the weights and the required characteristics.

Claims

1. A method of reciprocally publishing and matching data files, comprising the steps of:

storing a plurality of Category A data files, each corresponding to a Category A user and each having a set of characteristics;

storing a plurality of Category B data files, each corresponding to a Category B user and each having a set of characteristics;

enabling a first Category A user to select a participation level for a first Category A data file with regard to the Category B users, wherein the participation levels comprise;

a first participation level, in which the Category B data files are available for display to the first Category A user and the first Category A data file is automatically available for display to the Category B users, and

a second participation level, in which the Category B data files are available for display to the first Category A user but the first Category A data file is available for display to each Category B user only upon the selection of a Category B data file, corresponding to the respective Category B user, by the Category A user; and

enabling a first Category B user to select a participation level for a first Category B data file with regard to the Category A users, wherein the participation levels comprise;

a first participation level, in which the Category A data files are available for display to the first Category B user and the first Category B data file is automatically available for display to the Category A users, and

a second participation level, in which the Category A data files are available for display to the first Category B user but the first Category B data file is available for display to each Category A user only upon the selection of a Category A data file, corresponding to the respective Category A user, by the Category B user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

displaying the first Category A data file according to the participation level selected, wherein the first Category A data file is displayed to all of the Category B data files if the first participation level is selected for the first Category A data file, or only to those Category B users corresponding to Category B data files selected by the first Category A user if the second participation level is selected for the first Category A data file.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of:

displaying the Category B data files to the first Category A user, wherein each Category B data file is displayed to the first Category A user only if the respective Category B data file is available for display to the first Category A user.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of:

displaying the first Category B data file according to the participation level selected, wherein the first Category B data file is displayed to all of the Category A data files if the first participation level is selected for the first Category B data file, or only to those Category A users corresponding to Category A data files selected by the first Category B user if the second participation level is selected for the first Category B data file.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

displaying the Category B data files to the first Category A user, wherein each Category B data file is displayed to the first Category A user only if the respective Category B data file is available for display to the first Category A user; and

displaying the Category A data files to the first Category B user, wherein each Category A data file is displayed to the first Category B user only if the respective Category A data file is available for display to the first Category B user.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein if the second participation level is selected for the first Category A data file, and if the second participation level is selected for the first Category B data file, further comprising the steps of:

preventing the first Category A data file from being viewed by the first Category B user; and

preventing the first Category B data file from being viewed by the first Category B user.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein if the second participation level is selected for the first Category A data file, each Category B data file is displayed only if its corresponding Category B user selects a participation level in which the respective Category B data file is available for display to the first Category A user.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

if the first participation level is selected for the first Category B data file, displaying the Category A data files to the first Category B user; and

if the second participation level is selected for the first Category B data file, preventing the Category A data files from being displayed to the first Category B user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein if the first participation level is selected for the first Category B data file, each Category A data file is displayed only if its corresponding Category A user selects a participation level in which the respective Category A data file is available for display to the first Category B user.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of imposing a charge on the first Category A user according to the participation level selected.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of imposing a charge on the first Category B user according to the participation level selected.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of enabling the first Category A user comprises enabling the first Category A user to select a participation level for the first Category A data file from among at least three participation levels, wherein the participation levels include the first participation level, the second participation level, and a third participation level in which the Category B data files are available for display to the first Category A user but the first Category A data file is unavailable for display to any of the Category B users.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of imposing a charge on the first Category A user according to the participation level selected.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of enabling the first Category B user comprises enabling the first Category B user to select a participation level for the first category B data file from among at least three participation levels, wherein the participation levels include the first participation level, the second participation level, and a third participation level in which the Category A data files are available for display to the first category B user but the first Category B data file is unavailable for display to any of the Category A users.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first participation level for the first Category B data file comprises:

an automatic participation level in which the Category A data files are available for display to the first Category B user and the first Category B data file is automatically available for display to all of the Category A users; and

a selective participation level in which the Category A data files are available for display to the first Category B user but the first Category B data file is available for display to each Category A user only upon the selection of a Category A data file corresponding to the respective Category A user by the Category B user.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of comparing the first Category A data file to the first Category B data file.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the comparing step occurs only if the first Category A user selects a participation level in which the Category A data file is available for display to the first Category B user, and if the first Category B user selects a participation level in which the first Category B data file is available for display to the first Category A user.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of comparing the first Category A data file to a plurality of Category B data files.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, for each Category B data file, the comparing step occurs only if the first Category A user selects a participation level in which the Category A data file is available for display to the Category B user corresponding to the Category B data file, and if the Category B user corresponding to the Category B data file selects a participation level in which the Category B data file is available for display to the first Category A user.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the Category A data files describes a job-seeker and each of the Category B data files describes a job, or each of the Category A data files describes a job and each of the Category B data files describes a job-seeker.