INTERNET BILLING METHOD

• US 20100235255A1
• Filed: 05/27/2010
• Published: 09/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/1995
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: EGENDORF, ANDREW
• Granted Patent: US 7,970,703 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/16 Payments settled via telecommunication systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, equipment operable to establish a communication session over the Internet between equipment of a vendor and equipment of a customer enabled by a communications link of equipment of a third party, receive during the communication session a communication indicating that the customer initiated an order for a product or service from the vendor, submit to the equipment of the third party transactional information relating to the purchase transaction without submitting a billing request to the equipment of the third party, and receive a portion of the transaction amount in accordance with a remitting arrangement without submitting the billing request to the equipment of the third party. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. An Internet billing method by a vendor, comprising:

establishing a first communication session between equipment of the vendor and equipment of a third party;

establishing during the first communication session a remitting arrangement with the third party to remit to an account associated with the vendor a portion of a transaction amount billed to at least one billing account associated with at least one customer of the third party for products or services other than Internet access, purchased over the Internet by the at least one customer from the vendor;

establishing a second communication session over the Internet between the equipment of the vendor and the equipment of the at least one customer, wherein the second communication session over the Internet is enabled by a communications link of the equipment of the third party;

receiving during the second communication session at least one communication over the Internet indicating that the at least one customer initiated an order for a product or service from the vendor and authorized a purchase transaction for said product or service for a transaction amount;

directing the equipment of the vendor to initiate a delivery of the product or service to the at least one customer after receiving the at least one communication and without submitting a billing request to the equipment of the third party with respect to the purchase transaction; and

receiving a portion of the transaction amount at the account associated with the vendor in accordance with the remitting arrangement without submitting the billing request to the equipment of the third party.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the product or service is delivered to the at least one customer by mail, courier service, or by electronic transmission over the Internet.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the equipment of the third party initiates a charge to a billing account of the at least one customer responsive to the purchase transaction without communicating over the Internet billing information associated with the at least one customer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the equipment of the third party receives transactional information comprising one of identifying information relating to the at least one customer, the transaction amount, or a reference number to identify the purchase transaction.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the transactional information is submitted to the equipment of the third party by one of the equipment of the at least one customer, or the equipment of vendor.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the equipment of the at least one customer establishes communications with the equipment of the third party by way of an Internet access network operated by a party unaffiliated with the third party, and wherein the equipment of the third party, not the Internet access network operated by the unaffiliated party, enables the equipment of the at least one customer to communicate over the Internet with the equipment of the vendor.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one billing account associated with the at least one customer is charged the transaction amount by way of equipment of the third party or equipment operated by a party other than the third party.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the billing account associated with the at least one customer is managed by the third party or the party other than the third party.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the account associated with the vendor belongs to the vendor or a party other than the vendor.

10. An apparatus managed by a vendor, comprising equipment operable to:

establish a communication session over the Internet between equipment of the vendor and equipment of the at least one customer, wherein the communication session over the Internet is enabled by a communications link of equipment of a third party, wherein the third party and the vendor are different parties;

receive during the communication session at least one communication over the Internet indicating that the at least one customer initiated an order for a product or service from the vendor;

initiate a process to deliver the product or service to the at least one customer after receiving the at least one communication and without submitting a billing request to the equipment of the third party;

submit to the equipment of the third party transactional information relating to the purchase transaction without submitting the billing request to the equipment of the third party; and

receive a portion of the transaction amount in accordance with a remitting arrangement without submitting the billing request to the equipment of the third party, wherein the remitting arrangement directs the third party to remit to the vendor the portion of the transaction amount billed to at least one billing account associated with the at least one customer for products or services other than Internet access, purchased over the Internet by the at least one customer from the vendor.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the product or service is delivered to the at least one customer by mail, courier service, or by electronic transmission over the Internet.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the equipment of the third party initiates a charge to a billing account of the at least one customer responsive to the purchase transaction without communicating over the Internet billing information associated with the at least one customer.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the transactional information comprises one of identifying information relating to the at least one customer, the transaction amount, or a reference number to identify the purchase transaction.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the equipment of the at least one customer establishes communications with the equipment of the third party by way of an on-line services network operated by a party unaffiliated with the third party, and wherein the equipment of the third party, not the Internet access network operated by the unaffiliated party, enables the equipment of the at least one customer to communicate over the Internet with the equipment of the vendor.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one billing account associated with the at least one customer is charged the transaction amount by way of equipment of the third party or equipment operated by a party other than the third party.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one billing account associated with the at least one customer is managed by the third party or the party other than the third party.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the account associated with the vendor belongs to the vendor or a party other than the vendor.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium managed by a vendor, comprising computer instructions to:

establish during a first communication session a remitting arrangement with equipment of a third party to remit to the vendor a portion of a transaction amount billed to at least one billing account of at least one customer of the third party for products or services other than Internet access, purchased over the Internet by the at least one customer from the vendor;

establish a second communication session over the Internet between the equipment of the vendor and the equipment of the at least one customer, wherein the second communication session over the Internet is enabled by a communications link of the equipment of the third party, and wherein the equipment of the at least one customer is communicatively coupled with the equipment of the third party over an Internet access network;

receive during the second communication session at least one communication over the Internet indicating that the at least one customer initiated an order for a product or service from the vendor;

initiate a process to deliver the product or service without submitting a billing request to the equipment of the third party with respect to the purchase transaction;

submit to the equipment of the third party transactional information relating to the purchase transaction without submitting the billing request to the equipment of the third party; and

receiving a portion of the transaction amount according to the remitting arrangement.

19. The storage medium of claim 18, wherein the Internet access network belongs to a party unaffiliated with the third party.

20. The storage medium of claim 19, wherein the equipment of the third party, not the Internet access network operated by the unaffiliated party, enables the equipment of the at least one customer to communicate over the Internet with the equipment of the vendor.