On-line geographical directory
First Claim
1. A method of categorizing businesses, organizations and individuals in order to facilitate geographically-based searching over the Internet, comprising:
- entering in a database names of businesses, organizations or individuals;
for each name entry, registering a geographical location identifier, the geographical location identifier indicating a geographical location at which the named business, organization or individual is located;
for each name entry, registering contact details and a description of goods or services offered by the named business, organization or individual;
for at least one of the name entries, adding credential information with respect to the named business, organization or individual, or the goods or services offered by the named business, organization or individual,wherein the credential information is selected from one or more of the following;
an indicator of one or more brands of goods and services that are offered by the named business, organization or individual;
an indicator of one or more credit cards, each associated with a particular credit card provider, that are accepted by the named business, organization or individual;
an indicator of one or more professional or industrial organizations of which the named business, organization or individual is a member; and
financial data pertaining to the named business, organization or individual, andthe credential information is added by another named business, organization or individual registered in the database that is different from the named business, organization or individual with which the credential information is associated.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method is provided for categorising businesses, organizations and individuals in order to facilitate geographically-based searching over the Internet. The method includes entering in a database the names of businesses, organizations and/or individuals, for each name entry registering a geographical location identifier, the geographical location identifier indicating the precise geographical location at which the corresponding business, organization or individual is located, for each name entry registering further information such as contact details and a description of the goods or services offered by the business, organization or individual, and for at least some of the name entries adding credential information in respect of the business, organization or individual, or the goods or services offered by the business, organization or individual. A user interrogates the database by nominating a catchment area by reference to one or more geographical points to identify name entries within the catchment area nominated by the user.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of categorizing businesses, organizations and individuals in order to facilitate geographically-based searching over the Internet, comprising:
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entering in a database names of businesses, organizations or individuals; for each name entry, registering a geographical location identifier, the geographical location identifier indicating a geographical location at which the named business, organization or individual is located; for each name entry, registering contact details and a description of goods or services offered by the named business, organization or individual; for at least one of the name entries, adding credential information with respect to the named business, organization or individual, or the goods or services offered by the named business, organization or individual, wherein the credential information is selected from one or more of the following; an indicator of one or more brands of goods and services that are offered by the named business, organization or individual; an indicator of one or more credit cards, each associated with a particular credit card provider, that are accepted by the named business, organization or individual; an indicator of one or more professional or industrial organizations of which the named business, organization or individual is a member; and financial data pertaining to the named business, organization or individual, and the credential information is added by another named business, organization or individual registered in the database that is different from the named business, organization or individual with which the credential information is associated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for facilitating geographically based searching for businesses, organizations and individuals over the Internet, the system comprising:
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an administration module for managing registration of a plurality of subscribers each corresponding to a business, organization or individual; one or more databases for storing information relating to subscribers including at least a name entry and one or more of a geographical identifier indicating the geographical location at which the subscriber is located, contact details and a description of the goods or services offered by the subscriber, and credential information in respect of a first subscriber, the credential information being added by a second subscriber that is different from the first subscriber; and a map server for graphically displaying the geographical location of each subscriber on an electronic map and for enabling geographically based interrogation of the database based on location information. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification