DIGITAL CONTENT PURCHASE MANAGEMENT

• US 20110060660A1
• Filed: 08/31/2010
• Published: 03/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Nolan, Sean, Bhambri, Vikram, Warren, Susan Moore, Bivani, Raj, Hempey, Matthew D.
• Application Number:
  US12/872,619
• Publication Number:
  US 20110060660A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/27.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0617 Representative agent
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces

Abstract

A multi-merchant purchasing system is configured to identify downloadable products selected by a user for purchase. The identified downloadable products are offered by multiple merchants. The multi-merchant purchasing system enables the user to purchase multiple downloadable products in a single transaction. Specifically, the multi-merchant purchasing system determines payment information associated with the user and, with little to no user-interaction, sends the payment information to applications associated with the merchants for processing. The multi-merchant purchasing system may also be configured to receive purchase information from the merchant applications and maintains the purchase information for the user in a locker. The multi-merchant purchasing system may further be configured to automatically download and install the purchased product onto the user'"'"'s computing device through a software assistant. To promote privacy and security, the multi-merchant purchasing system may include a credit card quarantine module to secure credit card data.

Claims

1. A system for managing purchased digital content comprising:

a data store comprising purchasing information about one or more products purchased by a user through the system;

a purchasing module configured to determine which of the purchased products comprise a downloadable product; and

a locker module configured to provide purchasing information about the downloadable product to the user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the locker module is configured to receive a request for performing an operation related to the downloadable product.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the operation is performed based, at least in part, on the purchasing information about the downloadable product.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the locker module is configured to update the purchasing information about the downloadable product with data associated with the performed operation.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the locker module is configured to send a download link to the user, the download link corresponding to a download location of the downloadable product.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the locker module is configured to send a hash value to the user, the hash value indicative of an authenticity of the downloadable product.

7. The system of claim 1, comprising an application associated with a merchant, the merchant providing the downloadable purchased product to the user, wherein the locker module is configured to receive the purchasing information about the downloadable product from the application.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein at least one of the locker module and the application is configured as a web service.

9. A system for managing purchased digital content comprising:

a data store comprising purchasing information about one or more products purchased by a user through the system; and

a locker module configured to provide purchasing information about a purchased product to the user, the locker module configured to send a download link and a hash value to the user, the download link corresponding to a download location of the purchased product, the hash value indicative of an authenticity of the purchased product.

10. The system of claim 9, comprising a purchasing module configured to determine whether the purchased product comprises a downloadable product.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the locker module is configured to receive a request for performing an operation related to the purchased product.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the operation is performed based, at least in part, on the purchasing information about the purchased product.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the locker module is configured to update the purchasing information about the purchased product with data associated with the performed operation.

14. The system of claim 9, comprising an application associated with a merchant, the merchant providing the purchased product to the user, wherein the locker module is configured to receive the purchasing information about the purchased product from the application.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein at least one of the locker module and application is configured as a web service.

16. A method comprising:

identifying a user associated with a commerce application, the commerce application connected with a merchant;

facilitating a purchase of a product from the merchant through the commerce application; and

providing a download link and a hash value to the user, the download link corresponding to a download location of the product, and the hash value indicative of an authenticity of the product.

17. The method of claim 16, comprising determining whether the purchased product comprises a downloadable product.

18. The method of claim 16, comprising retrieving purchasing information associated with the purchased product from the merchant.

19. The method of claim 18, comprising providing at least some of the purchasing information about the purchased product to the user.

20. The method of claim 18, comprising providing at least some of the purchasing information about the purchased product to an application associated with the merchant.